Entertainment - Media News Watch originally published at Entertainment - Media News Watch
Margot is brilliant in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, despite the fact that Ryan Gosling’s Ken could steal the show.
PLOT: Things aren’t going great for Barbie (Margot Robbie). Barbie is constantly thinking about her mortality, even though life in Barbie Land appears to be perfect. She must travel to the real-world to get back to her perfect Barbie life. When her arches drop, and GASP! she develops cellulite. She’s followed by the love-lorn Ken (Ryan Gosling) who develops an existential crisis of his own.
REVIEW: Greta Gerwig’s Barbie has, perhaps unexpectedly, become the water-cooler movie of the summer even before it opens. Everyone has an opinion about it, and box office projections are sky-high, with forecasters expecting a smash. Indeed, having finally seen the film for myself, I can confidently say that Gerwig has made Barbie into a quietly provocative but still family-friendly and fun movie. Is it as good as some thought it would be (or hoped it would be)? Nope. But Barbie works much more often than it doesn’t and has some huge belly laughs (as well as an affectionate shot at a director that now has a contentious relationship with WB).
The best thing about the movie is Barbie Land. Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, who wrote the screenplay with Gerwig, use the idea that it exists because of a time fissure. Barbie Land is a world where all the people are toys that children use. They have a relationship with their owners and this affects them. Margot Robbie plays a character in the movie called “Stereotypical Barbie,” which is the blonde, beautiful model most associated with the Barbie brand. Barbie Land has a variety of Barbies, just like Mattel did. Issa, Hari, Alexandra Shipp, and others all play Barbies. Simu Liu is the classic “Beach Ken”, while Kingsley Ben-Adir, Ncuti Gatwa, and Simu Liu are all Ken. All the Kens are the same, as they have no agency or purpose in life. Kens are also left out of the picture, with no agency and no purpose in life.
When Margot’s Barbie has a crisis due to her human owner’s depression, she goes into the real-world to maintain her stereotypical Barbie status. Ken follows her, and is blown away by the society in which men seem to have the upper hand.
I’m going stop here, because the fun in the movie is finding out how far Gerwig takes this premise. Suffice it to say she’s made a very smart
Barbie
movie with much to say about society and our roles in it. This is not the movie that many people think it will be. The film is more about individualism, and how we can all be more than the world has made us, regardless of gender. It’s the same for Ken and Barbie. Margot Robbie’s role is perfect for many reasons. The most obvious is that she looks like a real life Barbie. Helen Mirren’s narration even mentions how beautiful the actress is. Yet, Robbie can also evoke vulnerability and even pathos while never abandoning the “fun” aspect of the role.However, it’s ironic that in a movie called Barbie
, everyone, inevitably, is going to walk out of this raving about Ken. Ryan Gosling is given one of the most memorable roles of his career. If the Academy ever embraces comedy he will be nominated for best supporting actor. He’s hilarious and shows off a killer sense of humor, while never losing Ken’s sweet side. The film ends with a stunning musical number/dance sequence, which is one the most spectacular cinematic sequences of recent times (which WB almost ruined by releasing a part of it in a promo clip called “Just Ken”) Gosling is at his best in the middle of the film when Ken becomes ultra-macho, modeling himself after an 1980’s glamor photo he saw of Sylvester Stallone.
Robbie, Gosling, and the supporting cast are all excellent. Simu Liu, the cool, acrobatic Ken, is the standout, while Kate McKinnon, as Weird Barbie, steals the show. America Ferrera and Ariana Gleablatt are the people Barbie connects with and they ground the movie emotionally, even though they’re not necessary. The movie is best when the Barbies who are leading converse with the neglected or discontinued characters. Michael Cera’s Allan was a short-lived friend for Ken, who never really sold. There are many winks and nudges towards Mattel and the consumerist culture, as well as how Barbie is a fish out water. But it’s all been done. When they’re in Barbie Land, the movie is magical, but too much time is spent in “reality,” with one of the weirder aspects being that Will Ferrell plays the human CEO “villain,” almost the exact same part he played in The Lego Movie.
In the end,
Barbie feels like 70% Greta Gerwig’s pink fantasia, Barbie-infused fever dream (that’s the good part), with the other 30% is just another variation on a formula that’s been done to death (the fish out of water comedy). There’s enough genius in here to make Barbie
an easy recommendation, but if they make more Barbie movies, and they certainly will, there’s no need ever to leave Barbie Land.7
Entertainment - Media News Watch originally published at Entertainment - Media News Watch
Entertainment - Media News Watch originally published at Entertainment - Media News Watch
Margot is brilliant in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, despite the fact that Ryan Gosling’s Ken could steal the show.
PLOT: Things aren’t going great for Barbie (Margot Robbie). Barbie is constantly thinking about her mortality, even though life in Barbie Land appears to be perfect. She must travel to the real-world to get back to her perfect Barbie life. When her arches drop, and GASP! she develops cellulite. She’s followed by the love-lorn Ken (Ryan Gosling) who develops an existential crisis of his own.
REVIEW: Greta Gerwig’s Barbie has, perhaps unexpectedly, become the water-cooler movie of the summer even before it opens. Everyone has an opinion about it, and box office projections are sky-high, with forecasters expecting a smash. Indeed, having finally seen the film for myself, I can confidently say that Gerwig has made Barbie into a quietly provocative but still family-friendly and fun movie. Is it as good as some thought it would be (or hoped it would be)? Nope. But Barbie works much more often than it doesn’t and has some huge belly laughs (as well as an affectionate shot at a director that now has a contentious relationship with WB).
The best thing about the movie is Barbie Land. Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, who wrote the screenplay with Gerwig, use the idea that it exists because of a time fissure. Barbie Land is a world where all the people are toys that children use. They have a relationship with their owners and this affects them. Margot Robbie plays a character in the movie called “Stereotypical Barbie,” which is the blonde, beautiful model most associated with the Barbie brand. Barbie Land has a variety of Barbies, just like Mattel did. Issa, Hari, Alexandra Shipp, and others all play Barbies. Simu Liu is the classic “Beach Ken”, while Kingsley Ben-Adir, Ncuti Gatwa, and Simu Liu are all Ken. All the Kens are the same, as they have no agency or purpose in life. Kens are also left out of the picture, with no agency and no purpose in life.
When Margot’s Barbie has a crisis due to her human owner’s depression, she goes into the real-world to maintain her stereotypical Barbie status. Ken follows her, and is blown away by the society in which men seem to have the upper hand.
I’m going stop here, because the fun in the movie is finding out how far Gerwig takes this premise. Suffice it to say she’s made a very smart
Barbie
movie with much to say about society and our roles in it. This is not the movie that many people think it will be. The film is more about individualism, and how we can all be more than the world has made us, regardless of gender. It’s the same for Ken and Barbie. Margot Robbie’s role is perfect for many reasons. The most obvious is that she looks like a real life Barbie. Helen Mirren’s narration even mentions how beautiful the actress is. Yet, Robbie can also evoke vulnerability and even pathos while never abandoning the “fun” aspect of the role.However, it’s ironic that in a movie called Barbie
, everyone, inevitably, is going to walk out of this raving about Ken. Ryan Gosling is given one of the most memorable roles of his career. If the Academy ever embraces comedy he will be nominated for best supporting actor. He’s hilarious and shows off a killer sense of humor, while never losing Ken’s sweet side. The film ends with a stunning musical number/dance sequence, which is one the most spectacular cinematic sequences of recent times (which WB almost ruined by releasing a part of it in a promo clip called “Just Ken”) Gosling is at his best in the middle of the film when Ken becomes ultra-macho, modeling himself after an 1980’s glamor photo he saw of Sylvester Stallone.
Robbie, Gosling, and the supporting cast are all excellent. Simu Liu, the cool, acrobatic Ken, is the standout, while Kate McKinnon, as Weird Barbie, steals the show. America Ferrera and Ariana Gleablatt are the people Barbie connects with and they ground the movie emotionally, even though they’re not necessary. The movie is best when the Barbies who are leading converse with the neglected or discontinued characters. Michael Cera’s Allan was a short-lived friend for Ken, who never really sold. There are many winks and nudges towards Mattel and the consumerist culture, as well as how Barbie is a fish out water. But it’s all been done. When they’re in Barbie Land, the movie is magical, but too much time is spent in “reality,” with one of the weirder aspects being that Will Ferrell plays the human CEO “villain,” almost the exact same part he played in The Lego Movie.
In the end,
Barbie feels like 70% Greta Gerwig’s pink fantasia, Barbie-infused fever dream (that’s the good part), with the other 30% is just another variation on a formula that’s been done to death (the fish out of water comedy). There’s enough genius in here to make Barbie
an easy recommendation, but if they make more Barbie movies, and they certainly will, there’s no need ever to leave Barbie Land.7
Entertainment - Media News Watch originally published at Entertainment - Media News Watch
