Film Review: Barbie (2023)

Whether the pre-COVID Hollywood blockbuster paradigm has been rescued from extinction by the Barbenheimer phenomenon or merely granted a stay of execution remains a matter of debate. Nevertheless, what transpired in cinemas worldwide in July 2023 was genuinely unusual: a single studio releasing two radically different films simultaneously, yet instead of cannibalising each other’s box office, Barbie and Oppenheimer became one of the rare successful examples of counterprogramming – even a double feature. This is a notable achievement given both films’ excessive running times. Of the two, Barbie is the more conventional Hollywood blockbuster: a family-friendly fantasy satire based on a beloved toy line. What makes its existence even more surprising is that the creative forces behind it – director Greta Gerwig and her husband and co-writer Noah Baumbach – were previously known primarily for low-budget independent arthouse dramas such as Lady Bird and Marriage Story.

The film, narrated by Helen Mirren, opens in Barbieland, a universe conjured from the imagination of girls playing with Barbie dolls. The protagonist, known as “Stereotypical Barbie” (Margot Robbie), lives there alongside numerous variants of herself, various Kens, and assorted Barbies discontinued by Mattel for their unorthodox traits. Barbieland is a matriarchal society where women – or “Barbies” – hold all positions of power and responsibility, while men – or “Kens” – such as “Beach Ken” (Ryan Gosling) simply loiter about, though Beach Ken secretly yearns for a closer relationship with Barbie.

One day, the protagonist is suddenly afflicted by thoughts of death, cellulite, bad breath, and flat feet. The only person who understands what is happening is “Weird Barbie” (Kate McKinnon), who identifies the source as the child playing with her doll in the real world. To cure herself, Barbie must find that child and travel to the real world, with Ken accompanying her.

Barbie and Ken arrive at Venice Beach, where Barbie tracks down the doll’s owner, Sasha (Arianna Greenblatt), a teenager who accuses Barbie of making girls and women feel inadequate about unrealistic beauty standards. It transpires that the source of the problem is Sasha’s mother, Gloria (America Ferrera), who had dark thoughts while playing with the doll. Gloria nevertheless decides to help Barbie and, after assisting her escape from pursuing Mattel executives who want to box her up, travels to Barbieland. Complications arise when Ken, having become enamoured with the patriarchy and masculine orientation of the real world, decides to recreate it in Barbieland by taking over. Barbie must therefore reprogramme all the other Barbies.

Barbie is the most iconic doll in the world, and attempts to turn her into the protagonist of a live-action film date back to the 1980s, beginning with Cannon Films. Yet for decades the idea never reached production, unlike the series of animated children’s films. Actual development began in 2009 when Mattel signed a deal with Universal, but the project remained in development hell until it landed at Warner Bros. with Margot Robbie – arguably the most celebrated female film star of our times – expressing interest in the lead role. With her on board, the project was entrusted to Gerwig and Baumbach.

On a strictly superficial level, Barbie looks like a typical summer blockbuster: a family-friendly spectacle based on well-known intellectual property with a dedicated fan base of children and some of their parents. Gerwig, given a substantial budget, does not shy away from displaying it – primarily through visually impressive CGI-assisted surrealism of Barbieland, plenty of bright colour, ingenious imagery, a cool soundtrack, and numerous cinephilic references, most notably the opening homage to the “Dawn of Man” sequence from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Robbie is enthusiastic in her role, which cannot be said for Gosling, who is burdened with a one-dimensional and poorly written character. Arianna Greenblatt and America Ferrera are far more effective as the protagonist’s guides in the real world. Will Ferrell is wasted as the fictional Mattel CEO – the writers seemingly unable to reconcile the idea of presenting him as a hypocritical corporate semi-villain while simultaneously appeasing the film’s real-life corporate sponsors. Rhea Perlman provides one of the more memorable roles of her career as the ghost-like presence of Barbie’s real-life creator, Barbara Handler.

While a degree of feminist overtones was always to be expected from this female-centric film, and such content was arguably inevitable in the hyperpartisan, ideologically driven “woke” Hollywood of the post-Trump years, Barbie nevertheless not only wears its radical feminist and left-wing ideology on its sleeve but delivers it to the audience with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. There is hardly a tenet of modern-day US progressivism that is not, explicitly or implicitly, endorsed by the characters. Barbieland is presented as a matriarchal utopia where men know their proper place as mere decoration, while “girlbosses” such as President Barbie (Issa Rae, channelling Kamala Harris) run the entire place. The character of Sasha, representing the future of America, calls Barbie and other “moderates” “fascists”. The opening scene depicts young girls destroying their old baby-like dolls, explicitly rejecting motherhood in line with radical progressive feminism and the “childfree” movement.

The character of Ken and his ilk are poorly written: on one hand, pathetic, worthless losers who must come to the real patriarchal world to experience it as paradise, and then, despite their inferiority, somehow seduce all the women and install patriarchy in Barbieland. Many have observed, not without irony, that Barbie is actually more explicitly political than Oppenheimer, despite the latter dealing with real-life issues of nuclear warfare.

A serious issue with Barbie is its pacing. The film runs almost two hours, which may not be appropriate for its target audience of young children. Much of the budget was spent on an unprecedented advertising campaign that paid off handsomely. Barbie became a major commercial success, easily surpassing Oppenheimer, itself a surprise commercial hit. Yet critics were far more appreciative of Nolan’s work, and this was reflected in its Oscar triumphs. Considering Barbie is a deeply flawed and disappointing film, that fate was well-deserved.

RATING: 4/10 (+)

(Note: The text in the Crotian version is available here.)

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