generally interesting and captivating story that serves as an easy watch suitable for all audiences. i think the pacing was stellar and stroke a fine balance between entertainment and cohesiveness. of course there are certain plot holes and definitely a lot more things which i wish could have been expanded a lot more on: for example towards the ending where the conflict resolution just seemed a little rushed. however its also important to note that the main focus in barbie isnt about the big picture or the whole story per se, but rather the characters' development and interactions. i particularly enjoyed the nods to shared childhood memories, historic details and the story of barbie's origin as well, like sugar daddy ken and weird barbie. not to mention the humour and jokes injected into the storyline!
tbh i really have to give it to the costume and set design department because they blew my mind with how amazing everything looked. of course id heard of the barbie dreamhouse set before watching the movie but seeing it in all its glory just made it even more impressive. the costume design was also deeply satisfying and i liked how there were multiple outfits included in the movie, much unlike other animated barbie movies/shows where she mostly just has one regular outfit. very glad that they had a larger budget to work with because lets be for real isnt the best thing about playing with barbies dressing her up xx
however i do have my qualms with greta gerwig's directive decisions and personally, her vision just seems short of what id expect of such a movie. the themes it explores just about borders on being liberal, but fails to commit to it. the main theme of barbie is of course, feminism and gender theory, and it explores what it means to be a woman or a man in the context of the patriarchy or otherwise. it even devotes time to incorporating a certain degree of inclusivity outside of just the gender spectrum - you can see barbies in wheelchairs and characters of colour. however, i have this unsatisfactory feeling that the movie failed to elegantly tackle what goes beyond greta's reality: being a white, cishet woman. the main characters are also very much "stereotypical" ken and barbie and other, more diverse characters are mostly used to push their narratives forward. i enjoyed watching characters like allan and weird barbie - characters who have been "left out" of the binary of ken vs barbies, thus representing the queer community. unfortunately, we don't get to see much of their narrative and they only become relevant towards the end, when they inevitably become involved in the messy conflict.
something i also really liked about barbie was the casting i know everyone feels this way too but seriously margot robbie and ryan gosling are such a power duo and they fit their roles really well! and ofc the other roles + cameos were also pretty well planned i'd say! thoroughly enjoyed watching their interactions and all the gags
so all in all id give barbie a 4! was thinking of giving a 3.5 but honestly im just so glad that it's gotten so much success and i hope that this will be the start of more feminist and female-centric films in cinema too
- j