Barbie (film)

Barbie
"It is the best day ever. So was yesterday, and so is tomorrow, and every day from now until forever." — Barbie
Genre: Fantasy Comedy Directed By: Greta Gerwig Produced By: David Heyman Margot Robbie Tom Ackerley Robbie Brenner Written By/Screenplay: Greta Gerwig Noah Baumbach Based On: Barbie Starring: Margot Robbie Ryan Gosling America Ferrera Kate McKinnon Issa Rae Rhea Perlman Will Ferrell Distributed By: Warner Bros. Pictures Release Date: July 21, 2023 Runtime: 114 minutes Country: United States Language: English Budget: $145 million Box Office: $1.4 billion

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Barbie is a 2023 American fantasy comedy film directed and co-written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach. After 42 computer-animated direct-to-video and streaming television films based on Mattel's Barbie fashion dolls, it is the first live-action Barbie film.

Plot

Stereotypical Barbie (Barbara Handler) enjoys a lovely life every day in the vibrant Barbie Land. She shows symptoms of being a human one day. She chooses to travel to the Real World to discover the cure and make herself perfect once more.

Why It's A Barbie Girl, In A Barbie World

1. Despite the absurdity of the concept, the movie isn't a big theatrical commercial to encourage viewers to buy Barbie dolls unlike The Emoji Movie and Playmobil: The Movie. It feels like a proper movie with Barbie in it.
2. For Mattel's second movie based on the popular toy line of the same name, is a massive improvement over the infamous 2016 film Max Steel.
3. The movie isn't just whimsical and light-hearted all the time, there are also messages of patriarchy and sexism that can appeal to adults as well.
4. The sets look very amazing and like a fairytale due to the saturated colors. It was so amazing that there was a worldwide shortage of pink paint.
5. Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling have very good chemistry and performances as both Barbie and Ken.
6. Very snazzy costumes, especially Barbie and Ken's cowboy costumes.
7. Great acting, especially by Margot Robbie (who also portrayed Harley Quinn in the DC Extended Universe and voiced Flopsy Rabbit in the live-action Peter Rabbit duology.), Ryan Gosling, and Will Ferrell (the titular character of Megamind and Bob Oblong from The Oblongs). Helen Mirren also does a great job voicing the Narrator.
8. The ending gave a good message and was very heart-wrenching to watch. Barbie also decides to stay in the real world and gets a job. Sound familiar?
9. Amazing soundtrack, the particular highlights being "Dance the Night" was done by Dua Lipa, and "I'm Just Ken" was great to listen to and has good lyrics. "Barbie World" by Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj (ft. Aqua) is also great as well.
10. Many heartwarming moments and memorable quotes.
    • "My job, it's just beach."
    • "Humans only have one ending. Ideas live forever."
    • "Do you guys every think about dying?"
    • Gloria's monologue was also heart-wrenching, to the point where it even made the men cry on set.
11. Many hilarious moments like Barbie awkwardly pausing her dance party, Barbie drinking expired milk, the random dance battle with Ken, Barbie, and Ken stealing clothes they are wearing, the Mattel CEO and his workers riding on roller blades in an attempt to get to Barbie Land, and President Barbie openly cursing with her mouth censored by the Mattel logo.
12. Entertaining side characters, such as the fictionalized version of the late Ruth Handler and the Mattel CEO (based on Chairman and CEO Ynon Kreiz).
13. Overall, the movie proved to the world that a Barbie movie can be great, winning a million dollars, even to the point of shockingly surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Qualities That Aren't Kenough

1. The fact that they made Ken a surprise villain in this alliteration of Barbie feels like a very unusual choice. Thankfully he learns his lesson at the end. But that doesn't stop him from becoming unlikable. This is also the second incarnation of Ken to be villainous, with the first one being Ken from Pixar's Toy Story 3.
2. The fact that they made Barbie a PG-13 movie is also a very unusual choice. It would've probably been better if it was made for a PG audience.
3. Some of the humor can range from funny at best and inappropriate at worst, even by Barbie's standards.
4. Sasha can be quite unlikable at times, particularly in the scene where she and her friends make fun of Barbie and hurt her feelings, which makes her cry.

Reception

Controversies

Despite getting positive reviews, many Christians and Conservatives hated it and were burning Barbie dolls, asking people to boycott the film for being "anti-men" and full of "transgender and homosexuality". Their tactics backfired as the movie was a smash hit. In reality, the movie is far from "woke garbage" as there is no evidence the movie is pushing such agendas.

It has also gotten so bad to the point where Ben Shapiro has made three videos of the Barbie movie as of now, including a long-hour rant.

Trivia

• The movie spawned lots of memes on the internet such as "Tickets to Barbie, please", Barbie movie poster parodies, and Barbenheimer due to its same-day release as Oppenheimer.
• The film was banned in Kuwait and other Islamic countries due to its content that "promotes homosexuality and other Western deviances", in Vietnam, it was banned because of maps featuring the "nine-dash line."
  • However its ban on Lebanon was reverted after they found no reason to ban it, giving it a release in August.

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