‘Barbie’ is Greta Gerwig’s ‘mainstream masterpiece’ [Review Round-Up]
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On July 21, 2023, Greta Gerwig‘s highly anticipated “Barbie” movie was released by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film follows Barbie (Margot Robbie) entering the real world alongside a tagalong Ken (Ryan Gosling) to locate the girl playing with her, hoping to restore her picture perfect life. The film has received rave reviews, resulting in a 91% freshness rating at Rotten Tomatoes. The critics consensus reads, “‘Barbie’ is a visually dazzling comedy whose meta humor is smartly complemented by subversive storytelling.”
The ensemble cast includes Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Hari Nef, Dua Lipa, Helen Mirren, Alexandra Shipp, John Cena, Simu Liu, Nicola Coughlan, Kingsley Ben-Adir, America Ferrera, Will Ferrell and Michael Cera. The film was written by Gerwig and Noah Baumbach. Read our full review round-up below.
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Ross Bonaime of Collider says, “Barbie could’ve easily been little more than a toy ad, but through director and co-writer Greta Gerwig, it becomes an existential look at the difficulties of being a woman, the terrifying nature of life in general, the understanding that trying to be perfect is absurd, while also encapsulating everything that Barbie has meant to people—both good and bad. But amongst all this, Gerwig makes Barbie one of the funniest comedies of the year, a delightfully strange adventure that gets weirder at every turn.”
Peter Debruge of Variety states, “Gosling is a good sport to play the slightly predatory, sartorially helpless pretty boy, as the spray-tanned ex-Mouseketeer parodies his popular ‘hey girl’ persona, flexing both his muscles and a range of facial expressions all but lacking from his recent work. If Robbie’s Barbie sets an impossibly high bar for young women, then Gosling’s Ken reps an equally formidable male model, with his chiseled abs and cheekbones.” Debruge adds, “Meanwhile, by showing a sense of humor about the brand’s past stumbles, it gives us permission to challenge what Barbie represents — not at all what you’d expect from a feature-length toy commercial.”
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Coleman Spilde of The Daily Beast writes, “So of course, in Gerwig’s capable hands, even a movie about the one of most popular toys of all time eludes expectations at every turn. ‘Barbie’ is her mainstream masterpiece, a dazzling dream that will touch the souls of everyone who sees it, even if they’ve never picked up a doll.” Spilde adds, “Gerwig and Baumbach’s delightfully dry wit is omnipresent, and with so much to look at in Barbieland’s enchanting environment, it’s easy to miss these little jabs at how women are expected to operate in a man’s world…Their scripts have always masterfully coated irony with a thick layer of sincerity. Through nods to a kaleidoscopic list of cinematic references (their screenplay is ‘The Red Shoes’-meets-‘The Truman Show,’ through a Barbie-fied lens) and Robbie’s truly versatile performance, Barbie’s biting cultural commentary works in both small doses and big swings.”
Tatiana Hullender of Screen Rant praises the film, stating, “Much has been made of Gosling’s commitment to becoming Ken, and his performance certainly lives up to the hype. He is not alone in Kendom, and every actor from Simu Liu to ‘Sex Education’s’ Ncuti Gtawa is delightful as their version of Barbie’s male counterpart, but Gosling goes above and beyond what is required of the role. Barbie’s growing awareness is complemented by Ken’s utter obliviousness, but the laughs eventually give way to a heartbreaking climax that would fall apart in the hands of a lesser actor. If Barbie’s internal conflict stems from the doll’s shifting worldview, then the external conflict is born from Ken’s, which elevates him far beyond the typical rom-com male lead.” Adding, “Speaking of Robbie, her performance is what makes or breaks Barbie. One cannot argue against her physical resemblance to the doll that lives in our cultural zeitgeist, but she has to do more than simply replicate the Mattel icon. She gracefully toes the line between playing into Barbie stereotypes and breaking free of them, infusing each scene with a sincerity that borders on comical.”
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