A kid’s first gift. A mother’s collection becomes an heirloom as it passes to the next generation. That one dude who watched too much grown folks TV using it to give his G.I. Joes something to “hunch.” There aren’t many lives Mattel’s Barbie doll hasn’t touched in some way.
After 64 years of ruling toy store shelves, she finally gets a live-action turn on the big screen with one of the best women writer-directors in the business, Greta Gerwig, at the helm and mega-talent Margot Robbie as the lead. Barbie takes us to Barbie Land, where Stereotypical Barbie (Robbie) begins to experience disruptions to her usually perfect life and requires a trip to the real world to straighten things out.
While the Barbie doll continues to be a mainstay in childhoods and households worldwide, getting a live-action Barbie film to screen has been a 13-year struggle that went through various studios, filmmakers, etc. Can Gerwig and Robbie find the path to make the icon’s live-action debut into cinematic gold?
The first thing that jumps out about Barbie is its incredible aesthetics. That applies to both the human talent as well as the inanimate pieces. The main cast and the extras represent every shape, shade, size, etc. If a person exists, they’ll see themselves among the people of Barbie Land, and everyone looks amazing.
The costumes are mindblowing. Oscar-winning costume designer Jacqueline Durran uses variations of Barbie’s signature pink along with a little high fashion to provide a wardrobe that is both a nod to the character’s impact on style and pretty much a character of its own. Durran should clear her calendar for whatever date the 2024 Oscars land.
The set design will garner some awards season love as well. Oscar-nominated production designer Sarah Greenwood designs of the Dream House and Barbie Land in general is sure to evoke all many memories from hours of make-believe play with smaller versions of those structures.
However, there’s way more to Barbie than visuals. Gerwig shows why she was the perfect choice to run the Barbie show from the director’s chair. She gives the film plenty of well-placed easter eggs and fan service for those who played with or collected the dolls and maintains the fun one would expect from a Barbie film.
Yet, the script she wrote with her partner, Oscar-winner Noah Baumbach, is the best part of her effort. The duo crafted a script that’s clearly a feminist story but presents feminism in a way that isn’t often seen or discussed. While there are several jokes and digs at the expense of men and calling out toxic masculinity, Gerwig and Baumbach go a step further by presenting feminism and equality as something beneficial for everyone.
Another high mark for the writing duo was how they confronted the duality of Barbie head-on. They acknowledge what the character means as an inspiration. Still, they also avoid shying away from the toy's negative impacts on women’s self-esteem. The dialogue spoken by America Ferrera’s Gloria late in Barbie’s second act about what it takes to be a woman is powerful and captures those sentiments perfectly. It’ll still be on your mind when you leave the theater.
On the acting side, Robbie is the star, and casting her as Barbie was a no-brainer given the ability to play coy but with more than meets the eye as she did as Harley Quinn. That said, Ryan Gosling carries the movie. Gosling’s Ken is close to his Holland March character in The Nice Guys, sans a few IQ points. He’s hilarious when his cluelessness is apparent, but he also finds a way to make you empathize with him as he searches for his place in Barbie’s world.
It took what felt like forever to get here, but thanks to incredible writing, masterful work in costuming and set design, and solid work from the leads, we finally have a Barbie movie. It makes no apologies for leaning into and connecting with a woman audience, but it pacts enough humor and education to be a must-see for men as well.
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