Over the past couple of years, movie-lovers all over the world have been waiting with immense anticipation for one of the most exciting films of 2023, that being Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie”.
July 21st of 2023 will forever be a date remember by the cinema-going industry as the day that not only one, but two highly anticipated movies began their theatrical runs. Others will know it as Barbenheimer.
Gerwig is without a doubt one of the hottest new directors within the industry right now. Her two movies prior to Barbie (Little Women and Ladybird) received various honours from the film community, as well as numerous Academy Award nominations.
So, when it was announced that the actor-turned-filmmaker would be producing a movie where the iconic doll we all know as Barbie would be brought to life by none other than Margot Robbie, tickets were already sold before the camera started rolling.
For months on end, fans sat and waited patiently as though they were puppies waiting to be fed as their owner slowly and painfully fills up their bowls. But when July 21st finally came around, those puppies were far from disappointed.
One thing that must be mentioned about this film is that Gerwig certainly had some bold decisions to make in how she was going to convey Barbie as a strong and independent woman that would be seen by many young girls around the world.
The last thing that the filmmaker would’ve wanted to do would be to portray Barbie as an unlikeable and miserable character that only plays on her appearance and willingness to impress her fellow Barbies and Kens.
Although there are some questions to be asked as to whether Gerwig made the best decisions in regard to how she achieved this, at the end of the movie it goes without saying that the character of Barbie can be seen as an inspiration to young girls around the world.
Before seeing the movie, audiences could have genuinely written an essay full of questions that they had about this film.
Will Barbie be a doll or a real person?
Will Barbieland be a real place or fictitious?
What themes will the storyline play on?
Will the film come across appealing to older audiences?
All valid questions that were genuinely left up in the air right until the moment the film began.
The movie begins by the narrator (aka Helen Mirren) briefing the audience about the history of Barbie and how all the different Barbies have gone on to do great things and can be seen as an inspiration to young girls everywhere.
And this essentially sets the tone for the entirety of the film.
The storyline is more or less an advertisement for promoting feminism as well as encouraging women to be their own person, and that despite any flaws or insecurities that they may have, nobody is perfect and it’s just part of being a woman.
This theme is exemplified perfectly through the form of an intense and moving monologue delivered superbly by America Ferrara’s Gloria, who throughout the film represents all working Mothers who are at a difficult point in their lives.
There are a variety of solid performances in this film, but the stage is stolen by Ryan Gosling who delivers and funny and light-hearted performance as Ken. There are very few roles that have been more perfectly cast than Ryan Gosling as Ken and Margot Robbie as Barbie.
Speaking along those lines, there are few films that come to mind when thinking of films that are better cast than Barbie as a whole.
Notable mentions go out to Simu Liu, America Ferrara, Kate McKinnon and Will Ferrell who all do exceptional jobs in bringing their characters to life.
One negative aspect to this movie is that it can be very easy for the average adult moviegoer to become bored within this storyline and find themselves ridiculing the movie as a whole.
At the end of the day, it’s a movie about Barbie, so there has to be some child-like aspect to the production to the point where it appeals to younger audiences. And where you achieve this, you also run the risk of losing the interest of most adult audiences.
There seemed to be a real lack of adult humour scattered throughout the Barbie movie which came to a huge surprise to myself and others. We have seen Disney productions achieve adult humour successfully across various movies over the years’ time and time again.
And given the humour that Gerwig layered into both of her previous films, I was surprised to see myself fail to laugh throughout this movie, which inevitably was a disappointing factor.
Generally speaking, Barbie does a brilliant job at it’s #1 task, that being to promote feminism to younger audiences whilst also having a good time along the way.
The movie is far from perfect, but for those who are entertained by the strong themes in this film, as well as the stunning production and costume designs, you won’t go far wrong with Barbie.
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