Welcome back to the blog readers. Well, "Barbenheimer" is finally here, and I am saddened to report that I had to see Barbie first. If you knew me at all, you would know that Oppenheimer was my most anticipated film of the year. Due to an unforeseen circumstance, I was not able to see that first like I wanted, so all I did was take advantage of an unfortunate situation and see Barbie first. Now I had some optimism going in, due to the talent both in front of and behind the camera. So, would my mild interest relate to a good time at the movies? Stick around to find out.
Barbie was directed by Greta Gerwig from a screenplay by her and Noah Baumbach. The film stars Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, with an ensemble cast that consists of America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Ariana Greenblatt, Simu Liu, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell, among others. In the film, Barbie and Ken adventure to the real world and embark on a journey of self-discovery following a sudden existential crisis suffered by Barbie.
As I said before, I had a mild interest in Barbie due to the talent both in front of and behind the camera. Greta Gerwig floored me with her 2020 film Little Women, which I found to be fantastic and put her on the map for me. She is also an actor, with one of her starring roles being in her husband's film White Noise from earlier this year (check the blog for my review of that film). So now what would I think about her next outing? Well, I'm still quite not so sure what I think yet. Don't get me wrong here. There are good things about the film, but then there are bad things about the film. I will go into as much lavish pink detail as I can.
I want to start with what I did like about the film. First and foremost, someone said "Give Ryan Gosling an Oscar" for his performance as Ken, and I absolutely 100% agree. Ryan Gosling was fucking brilliant and the perfect choice to play the main Ken. He plays Ken with such a bravado and a macho that his performance is undeniable. Certain moments in the film would not have worked if not for Gosling's infectious charisma that oozes into a retrospective performance about the male's place in the social hierarchy.
I also enjoyed the performance of Margot Robbie as "Stereotypical Barbie." As with Gosling, she brings so much passion and charisma to the role of Barbie that makes you root for the character. The chemistry that Robbie and Gosling have is unmatched, and it really makes you buy in to their long-distance relationship. I truly believe this film could catapult Robbie to a dark horse Best Actress nod at the Oscars.
But undoubtedly the star of the film is America Ferrera as Gloria. She is responsible for the events of the film due to having her existential crisis, and later on becomes the hero of Barbieland. She brings incredible heart to the role, and delivers a very strong case on existentialism and later discovering one's identity. Her bubbly charisma sells me on the character and I want to see more of her in the future. She may be a dark horse Best Supporting Actress nominee this winter, so keep an eye out for her.
One final positive I have on the film is the message and themes. Going in, I had a feeling that because Greta Gerwig was the director there would be something more to the film. I do not think as many people would have signed up to make (and later watch) this film if it were exclusively made for children. In fact, there is a clear message and I figured it out as soon as Barbie mentioned the idea of death. There are clear themes of existentialism and individualism, and I love when stories can get these ideas right. There was also a very prevalent theme of identity, which the unexpectedly emotional ending hits on the head very well.
Now let us point out the negatives. I would not be surprised to see people agree with me on this point, but I think the story itself is pretty weak. To me, that is the big thing holding the film back from being its best. It felt to me like a copy-and-paste story about a fish out of water tied in with an identity crisis that truthfully has been done better in other films. I can understand if you disagree with me on this, so please feel free to comment below explaining why you do (and STAY CIVIL!).
And my final negative point is that of the music. While I do like some of the tracks ("I'm Just Ken" and a cover of Matchbox 20's "Push" by Ryan Gosling, "What Was I Made For?" by Billie Eilish, and "Dance the Night" by Dua Lipa, for example), others felt very out of place. Fo example, "Man I Am" by Sam Smith was just shoehorned into the film very abruptly, as was "Pink" by Lizzo. I have not heard the rest of the soundtrack I will let you know when I do. So I will only be judging the songs I know I heard in the film.
To conclude my thoughts, Barbie hits a home run with brilliant acting and themes, but strikes out enough with story and music to drag it down a couple of notches. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for my reviews of Oppenheimer and the finale of Secret Invasion.
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