Movie Review: Barbie (2023)

Given all the losses Warner Bros. has been taking thanks to their DC movies, Barbie is a massive win for them.  

This review contains mild spoilers, so if you haven’t seen Barbie, it means you won’t care for the spoilers. So enjoy. 

So I finally watched Barbie, and contrary to many opinions, I enjoyed it. I felt it was worth the hype. 

I was even excited to see Barbie at the cinema, but then life happened, and I couldn’t. Time passed, so I didn’t bother going again. Instead, I waited patiently for it to be released online. 

Yes, it was silly (it’s a movie about a doll; of course, it’d be silly), but it also had some heavy scenes that adults can appreciate. It makes the movie work for both kids and adults. 

Thanks to its brilliant casting and insane marketing campaigns, Barbie was a smashing success, grossing over 1.4 billion dollars at the box office and crossing the billion-dollar mark in just two weeks of its release. It’s currently the highest-grossing film of the year and the highest-grossing movie by a female director (Greta Gerwig). 

Barbenheimer

It was the most anticipated film of the year. The Barbenheimer phenomenon led to most cinemas encouraging audiences to watch both films as a double feature. This marketing strategy was brilliant because the two movies are extreme opposites. The phenomenon was so great that it even overshadowed Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, which was still showing at the time. Oppenheimer definitely benefited more from the Barbenheimer phenomenon because I’m sure not many people heard about the movie before the memes and social media discourse. 

Okay, back to the movie. 

The plot follows Barbie’s exciting journey as she embarks on an adventurous quest to solve her existential crisis and save Barbieland from an impending disaster—the Patriarchy.

You see, Barbieland is a matriarchal society with all the Barbies in control, while the Kens are accessories who spend all their days playing at the beach. Ryan Gosling’s Beach Ken leads the pack of Kens, who’s only happy when Barbie smiles at him or hangs out with him. So, when he goes with Barbie to the real world and sees how different things are from Barbieland, he returns home and changes things. 

Kenergy

I honestly don’t blame Ken for his actions. He felt ignored and disrespected all his life. I loved his growth. You could see his character’s journey and see him evolve. You could see how hurt he was that he was an afterthought for Barbie—only ever existing as a Barbie accessory. It was impressive. I doubt any other actor would have done Ken justice the way Ryan Gosling portrayed him. (I see why there were talks about a Ken spinoff). It’d be fun to watch. 

Margot Robbie is stereotypical Barbie (meaning she’s the original version before all the other versions were released), so it’s understandable to watch her question her existence. She has nothing to do besides look good and go to parties with the other Barbies. The later versions have careers, like Black President Barbie, Diplomat Barbie, Doctor Barbie, Journalist Barbie, Physicist Barbie, and more, to make them more diverse and culturally relevant. But Barbie, girl, why would you choose the real world where you’re guaranteed to die over an endless life of fun and parties in Barbieland?

Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling were born to play Barbie and Ken. They were both brilliant in their roles. Margot Robbie can make anything look hot, even Birkenstocks. Besides these two gorgeous humans, the film also features an ensemble cast that includes Issa Rae, America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Will Ferrell, and more. I bet the actors enjoyed making this movie because it looked really fun. I loved the dance sequences, especially the dance-off/battle between the Kens. That was genuinely hilarious. 

The movie was a 114-minute advertisement for Mattel, with all the various Barbie toy lines and accessories. Even though sometimes it felt like they were over-flogging the whole patriarchy thing, I still enjoyed the movie. It was hard not noticing the number of times they mentioned or referenced the patriarchy. 

Given all the losses Warner Bros. has been taking thanks to their DC movies, Barbie is a massive win for them.  

Notable Mentions

The soundtrack was awesome, with tracks from Lizzo, Bille Eilish, Dua Lipa, Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice, Charli XCX, and more. I loved the Barbie album.  

I also loved the rivalry between Ryan’s Ken and Simu Liu’s Tourist Ken. It was prime entertainment.  

Final Verdict 

It’s a silly movie you don’t have to take too seriously. But if you do, that’s on you, and you probably have no business watching a film about dolls in a fantastical world. And even with all the silliness, Barbie had its deep moments and showed how, sometimes, humans tend to make things up just to deal with how uncomfortable life gets. It also showed how anyone could evolve or grow out of something when it no longer serves them.  

Do I wish I lived in Barbieland? Hell yes! The world is fucked up, so who wouldn’t want to live in a Utopia where all you had to worry about was the possibility of getting flat feet or cellulite. 

Although to be fair, I’d probably get bored after a while of doing the same thing every day. 

Would I be watching Barbie again? You bet I would!