Barbie (2023). `Gret Gerwig's surprise hit. First 15-20 minutes are insufferable. Then it hits its stride and is pretty funny. Margot Robbie is gorgeous, and Ryan Gosling adds a lot of humor as Ken. Note: everyone is named Barbie or Ken, except Allan. There are a lot of references to actual Barbie/Ken outfits that were recreated. Stylistically it is really well done, not CGI, but a throwback creation that really looks like a real life Barbie world. Is it a uber-feminist "girl power" movie. Yes, sort of. Lots of "patriarchy" references, but I think the message is much more nuanced. Ultimately, Kens need Barbies and Barbies need Kens.
Since everyone has seen Barbie or at least knows the plot by this point, I won't use the "spoiler alert" feature, but spoiler alert.
This is a good movie that is not nearly as clever or biting a satire as it thinks it is. It tries to have it both ways, both mocking its source material doll line while also using the source material to make a statement about society. Fine, but most of the jokes are obvious and kind of low hanging fruit. The movie is not particularly insightful, and leans heavily on jokes based on stereotypes, particularly when it comes to the Kens. I am not sure what to make of the difference between Gosling's moronic Ken and Simu Liu's sarcastic, cooler Ken.
Gosling's Ken's insecurity is funny and interesting, but seems to come from the fact that Barbie takes him for granted and no one respects him. Rather than explore that, the movie makes Ken the villain with a bunch of over-used tropes about patriarchy, when there is something more interesting but complicated to say about the role of men and women in modern society. Instead, there is a ridiculous plot twist with Ken taking over Barbieland, and the movie spends the second half of the movie sexualizing the female barbies, and then has America Ferrara give a long, expositional monologue explaining what the movie means because I think even the writers realized they had kind of missed an opportunity with the movie (Ferrara's monologue also felt a little derivative of a speech Mila Kunis gave in Bad Moms). It is also a little disappointing that the Barbies regain their power in a "feminist" movie by using sexuality and dishonesty to manipulate men into violence.
I don't get the point of Will Farrell's character at all. On the other hand, the movie misses an opportunity with Rhea Pearlman's Ruth Handler. Ruth Handler is a really interesting and complicated real-life person, an entrepreneur and role model female executive in an era where there were virtually none, but also someone who admitted to fraud. With such an interesting real feminist behind the creation of Barbie, why did the movie spend so much time mocking the creation of Barbie?
The acting was so good that I think that is part of why the movie seems better than it really is. Robbie is good, and Gosling is as good as the reviews say, but Simu Liu is a legitimately good actor, which is surprising for a guy that was an accountant into his 20's. He is one or two good movie choices from A list.
I enjoyed the movie on a surface level, but it is not Oscar caliber, and not as good as other movies that cover the same ground, like Bad Moms or, going back further, 9 to 5.
