Barbie suffers a crisis that leads her to question her world and her existence.

‘Barbie’ (or one half of ‘Barbenheimer’ as it and fellow July release ‘Oppenheimer’ have been dubbed) is one of the biggest successes of the summer and it’s only been in cinemas for a few days, with it managing to capture the attention of children, teenagers and adults alike, including, yes, middle aged men such as myself. It’s testament to the marketing but also to Greta Gerwig that it’s generated such a buzz, and her approach to what is still at heart a movie about a popular children’s doll is has played a big part in filling cinemas with people from just about every demographic. Does it live up to all this hype?

Margot Robbie stars as ‘Barbie’ (because who else would you cast as ‘Barbie’?!), or stereotypical Barbie to be more specific, one of many Barbie’s who live in Barbieland alongside a series of Ken’s (Ryan Gosling, brilliantly playing the main ‘Ken’) and one man called Alan (Michael Cera, because why not I guess?). They live a harmonious existence where the barbies run Barbieland and the Ken’s essentially exist to look good and be dumb, with Gerwig having a lot of fun with jokes about the patriarchy and how much better the world would be if it was run by woman. This existence is challenged when our main Barbie is directed on a journey to the real world to find the child who owns her doll, opening her eyes to a world where things don’t work quite as perfectly as they seem to do in Barbieland. Even worse, Ken’s along for the ride and he sees new opportunities for the Ken’s in Barbieland – pitting us into a satirical comedy about the patriarchy, stereotypes of men and women and believing in yourself.

Gerwig has to strike the right balance in several ways – it’s trying to be subversive while still being a brand driven movie about a toy; it’s trying to make political points while still appealing to kids. I think she mostly manages to find the right balance and she’s aided by some terrific performances from both the extensive supporting cast, as well as leads Robbie and Gosling who are superb – Gosling in particular bringing most of the laughs. From a visual perspective it looks stunning, with bright colour palettes (a lot of pink) bringing Barbieland to life, providing a neat contrast with the dullness of the real world. It is funny, but only to a certain extent, and I felt its jokes did start to wear a bit thin as time went on and I felt it overstayed its welcome somewhat by the time it concluded. That being said, this is better and more interesting than a ‘Barbie’ movie had any right to be and I did (mostly!) enjoy it.

Rating: 3/5

Directed By: Greta Gerwig

Starring: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Michael Cera, Ariana Greenblatt, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef, Sharon Rooney, Ana Cruz Kayne, Ritu Arya, Dua Lipa, Nicola Coughlan, Mette Narrative, Marisa Abela, Lucy Boynton, Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Scott Evans, Ncuti Gatwa, John Cena, Rob Brydon, Tom Stourton, Rhea Perlman, Helen Mirren, Will Ferrell, Connor Swindells, Jamie Demetriou and Emerald Fennell

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1517268/