IMDB: 7.4/10
Wow. I saw this movie on July 23rd and I've been thinking about it ever since. Right off the bat, the first thing that has to be mentioned is the absolutely stunning and wildly impressive set design. The backdrops, the houses, all of the set decoration in Barbieland is PERFECTION. All of the travel sequences are so fun and beautiful and creative. I would love to believe that Barbie can help usher in a new era, where we can go back to at least having some movie with real honest to god set design in a sound stage, without so much CGI. Set Dec is 10/10
Next, I have to talk about Greta Gerwig's clear love of cinema. From the opening sequence that starts with a perfect 2001: A Space Odyssey parody which they absolutely nailed, to a hilarious Matrix reference, an explosive The Godfather attack, and then the overarching clear love of old Hollywood and especially those old school classic musicals. The dance and musical numbers here are just an absolute BLAST!
Then there is the acting. It almost feels wrong to say it, but there's no denying that Ryan Gosling steals every scene he is in. His comedic timing is a triumph and the fact that we haven't gotten to experience more of this in his film history is a travesty. Margot Robbie is absolute perfection, the most obvious casting for Barbie ever in the history of the world, but don't let that fool you. Her balance between comedy and the emotional scenes are unmatched by anyone else here. She really is one of the best actor of this generation. The rest of the cast also absolutely kills it; America Ferrera Simu Liu, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Will Farrell, etc etc etc, everyone holds their own in this incredible ensemble performance. Acting is 10/10
THE MUSIC!!!! It is so iconic and obvious and perfect that we get a full original Barbie album for this film. I'm not always a hard pop music kind of person, but it went so perfectly with this film, that I had to order myself a vinyl copy. But best of all, Ryan Gosling's performance in "I'm Just Ken." The dance sequence in this one is so freaking fun and good and hilarious. I can only pray that it is nominated for Best Original Song at the Oscars so that we can be blessed with a live performance of this gem, can you imagine it?!? Music is 10/10
And finally, the script. See how I managed to make it this far in the review without even bringing up what all of those insecure baby men on the internet seem to only be able to focus their tiny brains on? This script is hilarious, SO smart and witty, and deeply poignant and emotional. It hits home so hard on so many points while still being able to poke fun at this doll that has captivated the imagination of children for the last 64 years. I love that even though Barbie has caught some heat in the last decade or so for destroying the body image of women everywhere(I personally did not find that to be the case for me, I was perfectly happy to compare myself to all of the other fellow 10 year old girls in my age group to do that for me) we are able to also look at how the ambitions of this doll, all of her careers, the fact that there was an Astronaut Barbie before there was a woman working at NASA, etc.
Of course I have to mention the dreaded wish to take down the patriarchy!! If anything in this movie seemed false or offended you, I don't even know what to tell you. This felt like a very real and true example of what its like to walk through this world as a woman. So many women have shared America Ferrera's monologue, and the entire set of scenes after that were some of the funniest scenes in the entire movie. And I say that as a big Matchbox Twenty fan!
All in all, this movie for me is a masterpiece, it's stunning, hilarious, emotional and the most fun I may ever have had in a movie theatre. Cannot recommend strongly enough! Easily my favourite movie of 2023, can't imagine how anything else could come close.
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