The Mosley Review: Barbie
Ever since her inception into the zeitgeist of the toy industry, Barbie has always been the gold standard in fashion, ideology and creativity for countless young girls all around the world. Even as young boy I knew this, but of course I was more focused on Star Wars, G.I. Joe and Transformers toys. I never was one to hate on the doll because it wasn’t meant for me. It was a girls toy and that was the end of it. Like the other aforementioned toys, the day Barbie would get the live action treatment was anticipated for decades. Well, here we are and it was a Barbie film for about 45 minutes while the rest of it was sometimes an unfocused and sociopolitical mess of a story. I truly went in with the smallest of expectations and was thinking that maybe this film will become something like a fantasy film about life in Barbie World and how it would focus on the feminist message that she stood for. The fact that women could do and be whatever they wanted to be if they work hard and uplifted each other. Perhaps a coming of age story about Barbie coming to the real world and meeting a girl that needs some guidance or becoming a more grown up and experience person through the child or teen? Does that sound too much like the Disney films Life-Size or Enchanted? Maybe, but the point is that this film got maybe half of that before becoming a toxic feminist film about how men don't understand anything except violence and power, how the patriarchy supplants women, the traditional women is bad and men just simp for unattainable women and women should manipulate them to become their slaves. All of that and more is blasted across the screen while trying to tell a fantastical existential story for Barbie and attempting to reignite that childhood joy in someone that lives in the actual world where not everything is pink. Did I mention how much of a mess this film was? Don't get me wrong, there were some great comedic moments of dialogue, social commentary and stunning visuals, but it just felt like the point of Barbie has been tainted by today's social climate.
Its rare for a film to have perfect casting across the board these days and this was by far one of the best casts films of the year. Margot Robbie was perfect as "Stereotypical Barbie" and I liked her journey from being to perfect to imperfect. The majority of her story was something that started off and ended special with her learning about her life outside of her world. I liked that she evolved over the course of the film and her comedic timing was great. Margot can truly deliver heartbreak in her eyes so well and then that curious shimmer of hope in the next. Ryan Gosling as Ken was outstanding and hilarious. I've always wanted to see a classic style romantic comedy about Ken trying to woo Barbie and we got that for a bit. His side eye looks and over the top expressions were great and he nearly steals the film. The chemistry between them was the highlight of the film, but it comes crashing down once we get to the real world. I hated how Barbie treated him for the majority of the film as she still was blind to his passes and then quickly manipulates him into destructive behavior. I really liked Ken's growth as he finally discovered a version of manhood. Simu Liu was excellent as a perfect rival to Ken Prime as Ken #2. The back and forth fight between them was hilarious as their battles become more and more like Singing in the Rain meets West Side Story. Kate McKinnon steals the film as Weird Barbie. She was funny, quirky, real and down right a blast every moment she was on screen. Her breakdown of how the real world works through the perfect Matrix reference was on point and needed. Ariana Greenblatt was good as the angsty teen that hates everything, Sasha. For the majority of the film, she delivers that "Barbie is an unrealistic view of woman and should be destroyed" attitude that made me really not like her. Its a testament to her stellar performance, but man I did not relate to her. America Ferrera was wonderful and fun as her mother Gloria. Her relationship with her daughter was not the greatest and I didn't really feel the connection there. What I did love was her genuine spark of joy when she meets Barbie for real. Its a glimmer of what the film could've been. Like in Elf when the adults see Santa for real. Speaking of which, Will Ferrell was fun as always and I liked his ernest if not spoofy version of the CEO of Mattel. He was larger than life, but quickly became a spoof as the film went on and almost an after thought. Rhea Perlman was wonderful as the "ghost" of the Barbie’s creator, Ruth Handler. She drives home the heart of the film and I wish that her interactions with Barbie were the point of the film. The talks about the origins of Barbie and beauty of being a human was fantastic.
The score Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt was serviceable, but their collaboration during the many musical numbers were fantastic. Like I said before, this film also acts as a tribute to the classic technicolor musical films of the 1950's. The visuals alone were sometimes overwhelming as it all felt like a fever dream come to life. The design of Barbie World and the costumes were marvelous. With all that being said, it still stands that this film had the chance to deliver a story about Barbie not only being a beacon of empowerment for women and little girls, but also a chance to deliver a story about coming together and working toward something better. She could've come back to her world and had a revelation of maybe men and women could work together instead either sexes trying to assort dominance over each other. The grand old message of equality could've been refreshing in the current man hating society we're in now, but alas we get a film that goes no where by the end. Everything goes back to square one and nothing really memorable is accomplished here. So what was the point of this film? Was the film about women empowerment? Yeah. Does it push the message of toxic feminism toward men? Definitely. Maybe inspire young girls and boys to be good to one another and work together? Not really. Call me what you will, but the point still stands that this film has some moments of pure joy and laughter, but it is solely a massive waste of talent and completely misses the mark of what Barbie stood for. I didn't hate this film, it just was a forgettable one. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!
