When this movie was released few days ago, my wife and I were on holiday where the country banned it from playing there. So we only got the chance to see it after we return from our trip. All right then, let's get right to it.
Brief Story Line
Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie - Babylon, Birds of Prey etc) and all the other version of Barbies were living in the Barbieland where they hold the important jobs like president, lawyer, doctor and other professions. They always thought they were the ones who inspired girls in the Real World to be successful. Meanwhile the males represented by Kens seemed to only have fun, such as Beach Ken (Ryan Gosling - The Gray Man, La La Land etc) who was always competitive with another version of Ken (Simu Liu - Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Simulant etc).
Their joyful life was disturbed when Barbie suddenly have an existensial crisis. As advised by Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon - The Spy Who Dumped Me, DC League of Super Pets etc) to go to the real world, Barbie with Ken who tagged along, realized it was different from what they thought would be. Their journey brought them to a teenaged girl Sasha (Ariana Greenbalt - Love and Monsters, The Boss Baby: Family Business etc) and her mother Gloria (America Ferrera - How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Superstore TV series etc). Barbie and Ken's appearance also raised the worry of Mattel's CEO (Will Ferrel - Daddy's Home 2, Elf etc) who wanted to ensure they returned to Barbieland.
So what would happen to Barbie? And how would the story conclude? You could find them all in this movie.
End of Brief Story Line
Well that was a bit unexpected. I saw the trailer to this movie few times before and I already knew the plot would be about Barbie having existensial crisis. But never had I thought that it would be this heavy. Yes there were a lot of times in the beginning where my wife and I could laugh out loud on several things like the many versions of Barbie and Ken shown and their perfect daily life, or when they came to the real world for the first time. However, as the movie progressed, it became clear that this was not just a light comedy film and got a very deep story.
For a movie that was based on very popular dolls by Mattel, obviously there were a lot of their products shown here (sometimes put purposely as part of the humor). Those who play these dolls as they grew up would probably find it pleasant to see them came to life and might bring some nostalgic feeling as well. But audience who were looking for some fun might be in for a surprise as this was not simple adventure movie about Barbie in the real world. I think it should not be too shocking as it was directed by Greta Gerwig (director of Lady Bird and Little Women which earned her Academy Award nominations) and written by her together with Noah Baumbach (writer of Margot at the Wedding, Fantastic Mr. Fox etc). And this time critics enjoyed the movie too as proven by its high praises.
The movie's setting was something that I admired, with the Barbieland seem real and their costumes department really did amazing job with the Barbies and Kens looked so convincing as the dolls. The choosing of Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken I think was brilliant as they really nailed their roles. Oh there were sooo many other cast in here as the other versions of the dolls like Issa Rae (Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse etc) as President Barbie, Alexandra Shipp (X-men: Dark Phoenix etc) as writer Barbie, Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education TV series etc) as one of the Kens, Michael Cera (The Lego Batman Movie etc) as Allan, just to name a few. In addition, there was also the voice of Helen Mirren (Fast X etc) as the narrator, the appearance of Rhea Perlman (Cheers TV series etc) and to our surprise, John Cena.
As a movie that was categorized as fantasy comedy, this certainly fit into the category of fantasy, though the comedy part was not the kind you would expect. It was rated PG-13 (R-13 in Indonesia) which I thought really suit the film as it is not something so light that children would appreciate. After finishing this movie, my wife and I were of the opinion that despite its hype, it is definitely not for everyone. Personally to me this one was unique, got a great story but it's got a bit too much singing for my taste. While my wife felt it to be a bit too heavy for a movie about Barbie as she was a bit emotional at certain times and wished it to be lighter. Btw, the movie had a duration of 114 minutes including closing credits that showed some of the Barbie's old/discontinued models, but no mid or post end credit scene.
Overall, I could understand the appeal of this movie to the audience as Barbie dolls were so popular (from what I read, there has been more than a billion dolls sold worldwide!). Some people might just go to the cinema to see the film because of the brand, while others just want to see what the hype was all about. For me though, even if I could appreciate the wonderful cinematography and apparent high production value, I would probably enjoy it more if the film was more adventurous (not as light as the animated version aimed for kids or teens). So if you want to see Barbie and Ken come to life, then you could see them here, but you need to be ready with the heavy topic.
Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
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