4/5
The first thing that one needs to know before entering the Barbie movie is that it’s really not a “Barbie” movie. Yes, the medium is the same, and yes, Barbie is the topic of focus, but it doesn’t stand for any of the biases that one might associate with Barbie. If there is, there’s always a statement on society undercutting it. Superficial dance segment? Check, but there’s also an entire inner meaning about the “bubble” the Barbie characters live in. Bright colors, particularly pink? Yes, but there’s, once again, an undertone of the belittling of females overall. It’s very hard to merge the space between commerciality and layered cinema, but once in a while a movie does comes along.
Barbie is that movie because the director is Greta Gerwig. A brilliant filmmaker that’s directed wonderful movies like Little Women and Ladybird, movies that showcase complex themes and have an undercurrent of standing up against the patriarchy, takes the helm. Its really important that Gerwig decided to direct Barbie because, evidently so, she’s interacted with them from a young age and seen the damage that Barbie creates. As my sister was describing in the car, it’s really hard when every Barbie looks ideal and reinforces the stereotype of every woman looking a specific way. Deconstructing it a level further, and we get at the point that the world is run by ideas; the idea of Barbie, the idea of patriarchy, the idea of egos. Gerwig takes these two points, accompanies it with a commercial coating of comedy, and spins a entertaining and layered tale.
PLOT:
Barbie (Margot Robbie) lives in Barbieland, a separate world where the women hold most of the roles and everything happens in tandem with the real world. Barbie, along with the other Barbies and Kens, live in a dream like state repeatedly. However, aspects of Barbie’s perfect life begins to fall apart, and along with one Ken (Ryan Gosling), they take on the real world of Los Angeles and uncover themes of patriarchy, toxic masculinity, and sexism amongst many more. The repercussions of this form the rest of the story.
WRITING:
The first thing Gerwig’s writing does so correctly, and something completely new for her as well, is comedically writing some amazing and rib-tickling scenes. Little Women and Lady Bird are stoic and serious movies that deal with the aforementioned topics in a very structured and focused manner; Barbie does the same, but the branding of Barbie means that it can’t be that serious. Plus, Gerwig’s idea of the Barbie universe is fun and high-octane throughout, with bright colors and cheery faces. Her comedy in the movie is meta and superbly well written throughout. There’s small voiceover bits, comedy blocks, utilization of characters to bring out natural and in the moment laughs, all done very nicely by Gerwig. Along with Noah Baumbach, Barbie’s constant stream of comedy is what Barbie thrives in for the most part and what keeps the movie so entertaining.
Without referencing scenes from the movie, Ryan Gosling’s interactions with the real world for the first time show this. The way he goes about the world and the way he figures out very tangible ideas, ideas that could have been easily shown with a more serious light, keep the movie very funny and very fresh for one. Approaching topics that are deep and complex with a comedic light only serves to heighten the impact; and Gerwig fully understands that. Hence the way the topics unravel is not only very humorous, but keeps the focus of the movie pertinent without wavering. It’s a thin line to use comedy as a tool to do that rather than take away from it, and Gerwig brings out all of her funny bone to present very cohesive comedy that organically sprouts from scenes.
The plot itself in very simple and without much of a hassle. Written concisely without spending too much of time dragging out things, tracking the journey of Barbie into the real world where masculinity reigns supreme makes up the movie. There’s a clear Truman Show inspiration where the real and ideal become disjointed. The characters are written well; Barbie’s arc from the beginning and when she meets America Ferrera’s character of the representation of a working woman, her relationship with Ken and how the two are distinct ideas, Gerwig details her characters and their progressions quite succinctly and focusedly. Even Ken gets his own arc, as Gerwig makes it a point to go into the characters and their insecurities beyond the comedy and sometimes through the comedy. I wish Michael Cera as Alan, a character that had a lot of potential to talk more about gender, had a more clear arc. But one of my favorites was the way a mother-daughter relationship was done so subtlety, but so powerfully; when a hardworking mother hears from her daughter that she loves her the way she is, the movie doesn’t dwell on it but we do. It’s the way the characters aren’t just one note streams and have their own defining arcs that gives Barbie it’s soul and its plot the wings.
But beyond the surface, Gerwig’s writing leads itself into a stream of layered and complex topics, making a social statement on them so well. Through the character of Barbie, she explores the toxic masculinity of nowadays society without a tinge of unrealistic elements, but rather the juxtaposition of a society where everything is flipped and the impact that our society can have on others. Ideas are permanent, Gerwig said in the first trailer, and boy are the ideas permanent. The patriarchy, referenced to great effect and equated to horses at a point in the movie, is broke down in multiple scenarios; rural America, corporate America, even domestic America. Ferrera’s monologue is striking with dialogues that sparkle. By setting up the ideal societies of the Barbie’s and flipping the story on its head, Gerwig raises very important questions without ever explicitly raising them, a skill she’s mastered much before. Sometimes, the themes are a bit on the nose with their writing to reinforce the point. But minor gripes overall. As said before, merging it in the commercial space is often a struggle for filmmakers, but she’s nailed it right on the tooth.
Her defining moments, though, come in the climax. It’s an absolutely beautiful ending, when Gerwig mixes the meta elements of her writing with the concept of Humans aren’t permanent, but ideas are. She takes this topic and subverts it completely as the characters and Barbie as a whole rediscovers herself, an ending that works on so many levels and sparks the correct ending to so many themes. Paired with a brilliant Robbie performance, its charming and heart-touching.
Gerwig and Baumbach never let their screenplay take away from the main point, despite effective comedy throughout. Scene after scene, the screenplay methodically takes us through the lives of both of the characters and reveals each of the events quite well; there aren’t any surprises but the real versus the ideal plot points that brings us into the plot. The screenplay does go through the events quite fast to keep the underlying commercial layer that Barbie stands for, something that the first 20 minutes of the movie stumbles on a little bit. I wanted to see a little bit more of Barbie and the status quo before the striking event, but that isn’t established too well in the sense that it comes and goes quickly with the striking event coming out of thin air; I wish it warped us into the world more, which it does but something to improve. In the end, that’s what remains a little bit of a gripe; more writing wouldn’t have hurt.
But with whatever writing they have, Gerwig’s direction blows it out of the water. Even beyond all of the very pertinent and multi-faceted themes, at the core its such an entertaining tale that Gerwig infuses with a high-octane tone to it to progress it so well. The scenes make sure to keep the focus on the characters, events, and themes, without distracting us much from the main point. In the midst of that, adding a comedic undertone and pacing the movie quite well is a masterstroke from Greta to keep audiences hooked throughout.
DIRECTION:
As a director, Gerwig is on the top of her game. Gerwig smoothly directs most of the scenes without making them too over the top and cringe, but more and so entertaining throughout with energy that seeps through and fills us to as an audience. Some scenes have the subtlety that are needed, some scenes have the exuberance, but never once does Gerwig take her story for granted. She gives Barbie the respect that it deserves and never makes it seem like a gimmick; visually, it’s her voice in the frame of Barbie.
Within seconds, the epic feel of the scale of the movie speaks so many words. A giant Margot Robbie, babies destroying dolls, a superb score, and the surprising location and production design is insane; and this is the first frame itself. Authenticity speaks volumes, and there’s never a general and predictable feel to the movie despite the writing relying on somewhat simple lines.
Speaking of authenticity, the voice of Greta speaks miles in this movie. With the big backing of a studio and her own personal writing, its very easy to have the voice of Greta Gerwig lost in the motions and lost in translation. Her direction is crystal clear, however, and it’s very easy to grasp what she is saying. Classic Greta stamps of direction are evident throughout the movie; scenes such as the fitting of real-life Barbie in a box and the way the chase scene is framed, Gerwig absorbs us into both the worlds of Barbie and Los Angeles quite well. Despite the writing not being enough initially, the way the world is brought towards to the plate is enough to get the job done.
To an angle, Barbie may seem very superficial (as the concept itself is based on imaginary dolls), but Gerwig does a great job of grounding it in action. There’s a realistic tone throughout it all that doesn’t let it go out of hand as Gerwig visually breaks down for us the feeble nature of many themes and the more pressing nature of more themes. Equipped with the quick screenplay and witty writing, Greta brings to the front an entertaining ride that itself speaks a thousand words without any of the scenes.
A scene and the location of the Barbie-Dream House comes to mind. Its not a big one, but Gerwig localizes it very quickly for us throughout the scene. What’s more, is that it becomes a motif for politics and the shift in power dynamics, which is very palpable for us but visually represented becomes quite well. It’s with this that the narrative function of Barbie finds it strength; fun, grounded, but so complex as well.
The direction reaches a peak at the last 15 minutes of the movie, where we’re able to feel the characters emotions on screen. Paired with very good writing that wraps it up well, as an audience the various camera angles, zoom ins, and performances are all complemented well. It speaks loads for Greta as a director that even during a movie that commercially has some tropes, she subverts them all in their writing and brings in a proper depth to the filmmaking visually. Some trips up? Yes. But, leave the attempt being commendable, the execution also reaches beautiful points.
PERFORMANCES:
Performances are the strength of the movie. Margot Robbie is visually stunning (there’s even a joke about this when she’s supposed to look “ugly”) and fits the role of Barbie to a T; but more than that, her performance is standout. The character of Barbie that Greta Gerwig designs and visualizes has a lot of shades in it throughout, nuance and depth throughout the events. Robbie portrays them all so well, nailing the cheery sese of Barbie we all associate her with. But, in the more personal points of the movie, there’s an unspoken depth in her performance that stays throughout. Gerwig puts the camera on her so many times, but her emotions sparkle in each scene. A really good performance to supplement her outstanding work in Babylon. Ryan Gosling is another riot; his portrayal has a childish base with he nails. His innocence makes the comedy works, his façade makes the drama work, and his screen presence is really good, especially in scenes where he’s amidst many people but needs to stand out like a funny fight in the later portions. America Ferrera is a riot, her monologue being one of the “wow” moments of the movie. Simu Liu holds his own, Will Ferrell is funny in his own style, and the rest of the cast also fits the bill well. I wish Michael Cera got more of a role, as there was a lot of potential as the identity confused and ignored Alan, but he did good in what he got.
TECHNICALITIES:
Technicalities are on point. BGM and music is a plus point; the songs really helped the movie through its different stages while the BGM fits the bill. Production design is superb, with the Barbieland being really visually outstanding throughout. The production design really is a bright spot. Dialogues are witty and quick, meta references really helping. Editing is very good, with some of the cuts working really well with the movie. Production values from Warner Bros are superb as always; Hollywood production companies have their work usually down to the T.
SUMMARY:
Barbie surprised me, even if I knew Greta Gerwig was at the helm, because of how it tells many stories in the guise of one and explores so many different themes. The depth of a movie is always attracting, and Barbie scores on that, but for even fans of the Barbie line the movie has plenty of tribute moments if you can say so and a good story to outline. The trailer hit the bullseye when it said this movie is for lovers and haters of Barbie as it addresses both concerns with comedic writing that is almost perfect and direction that is distinctly unique. Give it a watch for sure, and I think the box office should be secured given that the commercial name of Barbie and promotions work in favor!
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