[Review] Barbie (8.5/10)

 

Title - Barbie
Production - Warner Bros. Pictures, Heyday Films, LuckyChap Entertainment, Mattel Films
Starring - Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, Alexandra Shipp, Michael Cera, America Ferrera, Ariana Greenblatt, Rhea Perlman, Will Ferrell, Helen Mirren, Emma Mackey, Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Ncuti Gatwa, Hari Nef, Sharon Rooney
Writer - Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach
Director - Greta Gerwig
Release - 20 July 2023

I have seen this twice now in the cinema, and the second experience was just equally as great as the first time; if not better.

I was grinning ear to ear from start to finish, on both times - and that's not a lot of movies are able to achieve.

What Margot Robbie did here, though not her best work, but she brought Barbie to life and made her important; and made the audience cared for her through her point-of-view.

But what Ryan Gosling did here, equally importantly, gave the viewers a window into their world of dolls and also presented an important narrative that should be studied. I may have exaggerated but Gosling's performance here is one of his most entertaining. His acting toed the line between serious and goofy, never becoming exaggerated but still bringing the humour. Every time he started singing I could not help myself but be in glee.

And, every time the cast broke out in dance, I just felt so elated that I could watch an entire Barbie movie if it was just song and dance. Can we have that as a sequel?

Some American audiences are unforgiving with some of the subject matter - those that were being "feministic" and "attacking the men". But from where I'm sitting, this wouldn't have been a subject if it wasn't the world we live in. And the way Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach wrote these scenes and dialogue, not being subtle and not mincing words; I think it had to be done that way so that the chauvinistic community can actually understand that is how they present themselves in this world.

In the third act, the "rallying" scenes were actually a little shaky. "Using the ego of the men against themselves", that plot point wasn't presented as strongly even though it was used to present another flaw in the male counterpart. And to have Ariana Greenblatt's character deliver part of the pep talk beside Kate McKinnon felt forced and cringy. 

But, together with Oppenheimer, that week had two of this year's best movies released; and it's quite unlikely that we will have such a blockbuster event again anytime soon.

Also, I love how I will never hear Matchbox 20's Push the same way ever again.