Review: Greta Gerwig Brings ‘Barbie’ to the Screen, with Brights, Colors, and Emotion You May Not Expect

It’s a day that will go down in cinema history — and who would have thought it would of consist of Barbies and atom bombs. The coined term ‘Barbenheimer’ has been everywhere. There hasn’t been buzz like this at the cinema for a long time; and after the pandemic grounded cinemas to a halt, it’s a welcome sight to behold seeing cinemas busy again. We are focusing on “Barbie,” which out of the two has had the biggest marketing strategy. It’s generated the most noise, with every company wanting to get in on the action, from Burger King to Build a Bear.

In this modern world, it’s very hard to sell a decades-old doll; but yet this take on the iconic figure has ignited excitement with audiences of all ages. The question on everyone’s minds’ is: what is this version of “Barbie” about and who’s it for?

A Great Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling

Margot Robbie — playing double duty as a producer alongside her husband Tom Ackerly and as the main star of the film — shines in the titular role of ‘Stereotypical Barbie.’ She describes in the movie that “when you think of Barbie, you think of her.” Everything in her life in Barbieland is going perfect. She wakes up and it’s the best day every day, and she has Ken (Ryan Gosling) pining for her attention, and it all seems to be going well.

However, she starts to have dark thoughts and things start to go wrong in her life — like her perfectly-heeled feet sitting firmly on the ground and halting a blowout party by asking the other Barbies if they ever think about dying. With this she visits Weird Barbie (played by Kate McKinnon), who instructs her to go to the real world to find her purpose, and Ken comes along for the trip. The real world, Barbie and Ken find out, is the opposite to Barbieland, where men rule the world. Ken takes this back with him, and Barbie finds out who she truly is.

Gerwig Weaves Feminist Lessons Against the Hype

What surprises people about this film are the deeper messages behind it, and also how emotionally they play out. This is particularly true around America Ferrera’s character, who plays a human in the real world who’s begun playing with Barbie’s when her teenage daughter chucked them out. On the face of it, when you hear about a Barbie movie being made you can expect a fun kids film; but this is Greta Gerwig’s version of “Barbie,” and Gerwig has previously been praised for feminist films such as “Lady Bird” and “Little Women.” Her feminism plays a strong theme in this telling of “Barbie.” Apart from these messages, another main attraction is the two leads, Robbie and Gosling, who are perfect in their roles; you can’t think of anyone else but them playing these parts.

Overall, the film is a welcome surprise and cements Gerwig as one of the best directors working today. And Robbie has finally found a role that works for her after a host of Box Office letdowns such as “Amsterdam” and “Babylon.” Barbie is on target to make the biggest domestic Box Office record for the opening weekend this year — not bad for a film about a doll.

 

 

 

 

Currently, “Barbie” is only available to watch in theaters.