Barbie Review – Entertaining evolution of Toy Story!
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Watching “Barbie” turned out to be quite an experience. The theater was filled with a lot of girls, boys, men, women wearing pink. If you weren’t in pink, you’d feel like you missed the dress code memo for a theme party!
Directed by Greta Gerwig, who co-wrote the script with Noah Baumbach, the 2023 movie “Barbie” stars Margot Robbie as the ‘stereotypical Barbie’. She lives in Barbieland, a fantastical place inhabited by various Barbies, such as lawyer Barbie, doctor Barbie, astronaut Barbie, president Barbie, and many others, along with Kens and other Mattel dolls. In this world, everything is beautifully bright, shiny, and perfect for the stereotypical Barbie, until she starts to show signs of humanness – contemplating mortality, developing flat feet, and even cellulite! In order to regain her perfect self, she goes to the real world to find answers. Accompanying her on this adventure is Ken, played by Ryan Gosling, who sneaks into her car and insists on joining her.
The opening scene is a hilarious introduction to the Barbie’s history, where cute little girls smash their old baby-shaped dolls after Barbie’s arrival. In a nod to the first Barbie unveiled in 1959, Margot Robbie is dressed in the same black-and-white striped swimming suit. The scene then transitions to a glitzy pink Barbieland, resembling a giant glitter bomb, a utopian joyland run by gorgeous women of all shapes, sizes, and colors. The cinematography is lavishly delicious, with sets and costumes inspired by real dollhouses. While this isn’t exactly a musical, there are plenty of songs and they were all in line with the plot’s theme. Interestingly, the Kens in this world serve as cheerleaders of the Barbies, creating a subtle but clever reversal of traditional gender roles. Thus, the journey to the real world with its thriving consumerism, capitalism and sexism becomes an eye-opening experience for both Barbie and Ken.
With Mattel CEO (Will Ferrell) wanting to put Barbie back in a box, she receives help from Mattel employee Gloria (America Ferrera) and Gloria’s teen daughter (Ariana Greenblatt) to escape the executives trying to stop her mission. Margot Robbie delivers an impeccable performance as the sweet and stereotypical Barbie, who yearns to be more than just someone else’s creation. It’s hard to imagine anybody else play the life-size doll once you watch the film. From casual confidence, sheer joy to heart-breaking vulnerability, Margot masters each little emotion expected out of her with perfection.
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Ryan Gosling as Ken, constantly under Barbie’s shadow, discovers a new way to look at gender hierarchies once he is out of Barbieland. He is animatedly unreal and fabulous as Ken, an insecure man constantly seeking validation from the girl he loves, and trying to gain some sense of control in his life. There’s a scene where he serenades Barbie, and you realize why Greta Gerwig was so insistent that he play Ken. It will bring back memories of his romantic lead hero charm from hits like “Notebook” and “La La Land”.
The creators break the fourth wall to humorously acknowledge that Margot may not have been the obvious choice for a role where they wanted to portray someone feeling insecure about their body. In fact, Greta Gerwig and her team infuse the movie with numerous pop-culture jokes and references that will tickle the viewers’ funny bones. “Barbie” isn’t solely about a doll discovering the human world; it’s also an incredibly fun feminist tale that delves (not too deeply) into gender roles, power imbalances, and how even utopian wonderlands treat men and women differently. A small tribute to the doll’s creator towards the climax felt contrived and could’ve been avoided; it made the movie feel too much like a Mattel ad, even though the script does take ample digs at the company. However, the ending was in line with a classic fairy-tale, and the absolute last scene was hilarious, wrapping the fantasy comedy with one last joke!
Disney revolutionized the way kids perceived their playthings with “Toy Story,” the 1995 movie in which toys come to life whenever humans are absent. “Barbie” takes that beloved fantasy to the next level and presents a colorful, fun-spirited comedy packed with numerous underlying themes. The amount of hooting, cheering, and laughter echoing throughout the theater brought back memories of watching “Spider-Man: No Way Home” on its release day; that’s how ecstatic the audience was.
Watch the movie in a theater if you can.
