Barbie Movie Review: Margot Robbie-Ryan Gosling’s Candy Coated Doll Comedy Is A Pink Fever Dream With An Ode To Womanhood

Barbie Movie Review: Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling led 'Barbie' is developed from a screenplay of Mettel's 'Barbie World' and brings an interesting cast with a toy story-real life twist. The film promises to give a taste of the magical 'Barbie Land' with hair, makeup, and costumes not just accessories but standing out to be the definition of 'perfect life.'

The film also questions a bunch of stereotypical situations, where a comical conversation between our Barbie and a schoolgirl takes an emotional turn filled with fascism and consumerism where our Barbie cannot stop crying.

Plot

'Barbie' is a simple story of Margot Robbie essaying the role of the lead Barbie in the film who starts experiencing weird changes in her daily routine because of a fault in design by its creator, Mettle in the real world. Therefore, to find the answers to her problems, Barbie and Ken travel together and enter the real world only to discover the perils of being a woman, where both acknowledge the mere stereotypes attached to a woman in society and get a crash course on patriarchy.

Review

The film starts with a low-pace commentary on women and dolls setting the tone for the film and highlighting the subjects concerning female agency with interesting dialogues such as 'Barbie can be anything, thus women can be anything.' The film marks justice to this sentence and delivers it as one of its important messages.

The film perfectly manages to capture the fairytale shown to us in our childhood and in the Barbie-animated films with guys turning into cheerleaders and being equivalent to power, but Greta Gerwig found an interesting way to narrate the tale with dignity and respect. The film shows us ample sweet moments in the film, with an elderly woman assuring Barbie at a bus stop and telling her 'how beautiful and brave she is' which embarks a spark inside the lead Barbie proving the importance of her existence.

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What Worked For The Film

The problems faced by Barbie in the film from her body parts malfunctioning to the point she hits puberty and getting introduced to the world of eve-teasing, one can relate the similarities in the real world with reconciling with the power of womanhood and self, the film comes to a full circle.

The director uses Barbie as a symbol of capitalism to comment on various issues faced in society from beauty standards to patriarchy, making her one of us, and also underlining the fact that though Barbie is designed to make girls feel better about themselves, she does not know anything better and is also a victim of this malicious society.

What Did Not

This feminist adventure gets a tad carried away for a while until it finds its motive. It is a shame for a bit as the first half was filled with dazzling doll houses and a funny vision on the edge with the second part losing the glamor and completely entering the real world which takes an off guard turn.

However, one cannot not have a whole film out of an artificial world, thus Greta Gerwig's plot filled with twists and some tension airlifts us out of Barbie Land and threw us down into the real world making us understand the everyday struggle of high maintenance of a woman, going through inside and outside their homes.

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Performances

Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling steal the show with their Barbie and Ken charm and pulled off-the-screen looks perfectly in every scene. Margot Robbie has forever taken the tag of 'Barbie' and is a stellar performer proving that the film is just made for her. She's not just pretty in the film, but this Barbie is feisty with a spirit that is filled with emotions and power.

Ryan Gosling's Kenergy at times overtakes the scenes from Barbie's character as in a 'Barbie' story, Ken never becomes the prominent part, but Ryan Gosling is now ready to change that, adding another feather to his resume. The actor is born to do this role and surely mesmerizes with his one-liners, comic expressions, and his true love for his one and only 'Barbie.'

Final Verdict

This pink revolution with giggles comes with a humanoid doll bringing unexpected truths about the real world into the limelight. With the breaking out of Barbie's doll house, the film proves that an artificial toy can hold a deep meaning to its owner and is filled with attachment and emotions one which buries in the depths of one's childhood and at times come at a cost filled with traumas.

The film is a minute-to-minute joyous ride neatly summing up one great illusion of capitalism which states 'that creations exist independently from those that created them.' 'Barbie' proves to be silly, fierce, and sly in its way with a social commentary on feminism in a heavy act that is pretty but filled with flaws and rather comes heavy-handed to the society.

Cast: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Emma Mackey, Simu Liu, Kate McKinnon, Greta Gerwig, and Michael Cera.

Director: Greta Gerwig