The much anticipated Barbie movie is the latest movie directed by Greta Gerwig, and it has been gaining significant popularity on social media due to the “Barbenheimer” marketing. As soon as the word got out that there was going to be an upcoming live action Barbie movie fans went crazy and the anticipation leading up to the film was unheard of. But the movie has been getting mixed reviews, with some people absolutely loving the message of the movie, and others hating it.
The basic story of Barbie is simple: Barbie has to adventure into the real world to cheer up her owner whose mood is affecting Barbie in negative ways. While looking for her owner, Ken learns more about the real world, which negatively affects Barbie Land. The story sounds very simple, but things get more complicated, as Barbie has to deal with the patriarchy, although the way it is handled is excellent. For kids, the movie is an enjoyable experience, and for more mature audiences it’s an interesting take on the patriarchy and various problems with society. The acting is very good with great performances by Margot Robbie as Barbie, whose dialogue at the end is particularly noteworthy. Ryan Gosling as Ken was very fun to watch even if you don’t agree with him as much towards the end. Micheal Cera as Allan was fun to watch and got a lot of laughs at the theater. Will Ferrell as the CEO was also very fun to watch.
The music in this movie is very upbeat and fun to listen to outside of watching the movie. The most notable songs, like Dance the night, by Dua Lipa, made the opening dance scene funny. Other songs included Speed Drive, by Charlie XCX, which is a fun upbeat fast song; I’m Just Ken, sung by Ryan gosling, which is a good singalong songs; Man I Am, by Sam Smith; Barbie World, by Nicki Minaj; and Ice Spice, a good song to end the movie with. There was also Watati, by Karol G, which is very danceable and interesting to hear. One of the fan favorite tracks is ‘What was i made for” by Billie Eillish because of the message of the track and to ass to that the amazing music video that she made along with it. Although I enjoyed Lizzo’s Pink, it doesn’t hold up well outside of the movie.
Another great thing about this movie is that most funny moments really hit, like when Barbie hits a guy that touches her inappropriately. The sad moments also really hit, like when the creator of the toy brand, Ruth Handler, tells Barbie that mothers have to stand still for their daughters to see how far they’ve come.
Although, there are some things that I don’t enjoy. The total runtime is almost two hours long, if they could have found some way to reduce that time it would have only improved the movie in my opinion. Though, it’s still a great movie that is a fun watch and can be enjoyed by multiple people.
