‘Barbie’ Review: Greta Gerwig Finds Humanity In Dolls
Margot Robbie in Barbie. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures © 2022 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Since the announcement of Barbie and during the major discourse surrounding the film, few have treated it seriously, jokingly calling it “cinema,” thinking it can’t be anything other than a comedy starring actors they like. However, that isn’t at all the case with Barbie, the latest film from acclaimed auteur Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird, Little Women). The film opens with a montage (a shot-for-shot creation of the opening of 2001: A Space Odyssey) narrated by Helen Mirren that takes us back to the “dawn of time” and the introduction of the Barbie doll. In the present day — after the Barbies have evolved and we meet the Kens — all the dolls live in Barbieland, where every day is perfect, and so is every day after that, and after that, and after that. That is, unless thoughts of death pop into your mind, as just so happens to our lead Barbie, played by the inimitable Margot Robbie.
Ryan Gosling (left) & Margot Robbie in Barbie. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures © 2022 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Robbie’s Barbie is the Barbie blueprint, described in the film as “Stereotypical Barbie” — she was the first, but not the last. Barbieland is filled with a diverse population of Barbies (and Kens), including dolls with a variety of professions (including president (Issa Rae, who has the film’s unchallenged best line), physicist (Emma Mackey), mermaid (Dua Lipa), weird (Kate McKinnon), doctor (Hari Nef), and writer (Alexandra Shipp), to name a few). Their society, unlike ours, is a matriarchy. The Barbies are in charge and have jobs, and the Kens, for better or for worse, just beach. They’re not lifeguards. Their job is just beach, whatever that means. For a while, it seems like all is and will forever be perfect in the land of Barbies — that is, until, Stereotypical Barbie starts to have thoughts of mortality and death. Those thoughts aren’t supposed to enter the Barbie mind, forcing Barbie, joined by Ryan Gosling’s Ken, to venture to the real world in hopes of finding the source of her problem.
Barbie’s screenplay, written by (director) Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, is the film’s driving force, pushing the line of genre and tone to an extreme, ultimately creating something that is: (a) exactly what we expect it to be, (b) exactly what we don’t expect it to be, and (c) truly brilliant, doing exactly what it needs to do — and more. Gerwig and Baumbach surpass expectations, and their strong, witty commentary on the systems of power existing in our own world is deftly threaded into the film, enlightening as opposed to lecturing. It turns Barbie from what could’ve been a straightforward comedy into a delicately crafted commentary on our culture, leaning into the banality and oppressiveness of our society, at least when viewed under the right lens.
Emma Mackey (left), Simu Liu, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, & Kingsley Ben-Adir in Barbie. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures © 2022 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
That’s not to say that Barbie’s script can be reduced to a commentary, because it’s much more than that. Gerwig and Baumbach clearly knew what movie they were making because the script is so self-aware (and critical of itself at times) that you can’t help but laugh with it, not at it. While Barbie feels topically and thematically current, it’s crafted with the structure of an early 2000s movie of the same genre — it’s simply a coincidence that this one features Will Ferrell, with all of the Elf-esque moments and plot beats, let alone the story as a whole. To address all ends of the spectrum, there’s some questionable third-act logic regarding the absence of some characters, but it’s not detrimental to the story as a whole. Gerwig and Baumbach make sure to take this opportunity — being handed massive, worldwide IP — and use it for something more than just laughs.
Gerwig, once again, serves as a multi-hyphenate on the film, her third effort as a writer/director in recent years, following 2017’s Lady Bird and 2019’s Little Women. For a director who’s tackles difficult, conversation-provoking topics with ease, she displays the careful, calculated precision of a veteran, more than one whose first true feature was a mere six years ago. She’s clearly comfortable in this role and with this material, and the actors’ performances are so strong that they (once again) show Gerwig’s prowess beyond genre.
In regard to the (incredibly large) cast, Margot Robbie shines as the lead Barbie. She leans into the comedic aspects of the role, with a particularly emphatic delivery of “Cellulite?!” Though she’s given the most screentime and emotion-heavy opportunities, the true standout of Barbie is Ryan Gosling: His scene-stealing Ken, complete with many outstanding comedic moments, is directly attributable to Gosling’s heavy commitment to the bit. Though he’s one of many Kens in the film, Gosling isn’t afraid to stand out from the group — his role makes it easy to do — and add himself to the ever-growing roster of fan-favorite himbos. His Ken serves as a catalyst for much of the film’s message, and the character’s arc of learning the differences between Barbieland and the real world, is simply hilarious. His performance — likely to earn him a well-deserved Oscar nod next year — backs up the writing on all levels. America Ferrera’s third-act monologue is a showstopper, setting the film’s climax in motion with a speech likely to resonate with many people, especially women who live with others’ feet on their necks.
Margot Robbie in Barbie. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures © 2022 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
One of the genius aspects of the film is the way that Gerwig and Baumbach weave their ending into the story from the beginning. It’s in no way a predictable ending, but it’s clearly the best one for the character and for the movie. In the act of creating the movie, Gerwig makes inanimate objects, well, humans — or at least humanoid. The characters find issues within their lives because they begin to experience humanity, the good and the bad. They want to escape it, ultimately understanding that you can’t escape the inevitable but can only appreciate what you have while you have it.
This underlying connection between the film’s beginning, middle, and end not only ties the film together as a whole but adds a layer to it that allows us — real living, breathing people — to connect with these characters, who are, in almost every way, plastic. Still, at its center, Barbie remains wholeheartedly a comedy, a fact made explicit when Helen Mirren’s narration undercuts one of the main emotionally driven moments, though the laugh it gets is completely worth it.
Like Gerwig’s previous films, both of which are coming-of-age stories, Barbie tells a coming-of-age story in the only way it knows how. It’s hard to delve into the specifics of this part of the film’s narrative without leaning too heavily into spoiler territory, but this is to say that though Barbie tackles the coming-of-age of its characters in an unconventional manner, it still manages to address the tropes, develop its characters with strong, sound arcs, and make a clear case as to why IP can be used for more than just studio-driven projects.
(L-R) Ana Cruz Kayne, Sharon Rooney, Alexandra Shipp, Margot Robbie, Hari Nef, & Emma Mackey in Barbie. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures © 2023 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
On a technical level, Barbie is a masterclass in the prioritization and realization of physical sets over digitally-created environments, going as far as creating an international shortage of pink paint. Sure, not the entire Barbieland set is physically created, but the parts that matter are. Gerwig and Production Designer Sarah Greenwood went all-out on designing the Dreamhouses, making doors that look like the plastic from the dolls’ boxes and wall-less houses because, as Gerwig puts it, “Dreamhouses assume that you never have anything you wish was private—there is no place to hide.”
This neighborhood, one that resembles Palm Springs’ cul-de-sacs, is everything you’d expect it to be, life-size recreations of toys and all. Barbie’s costumes (designed by Jacqueline Durran, who won an Oscar for Little Women) are incredibly impressive, not only because of their perfect doll-likeness but also because of the sheer amount of them. Significant thought went into creating the various locations that the film utilizes, but nothing surpasses the clear craft behind Barbieland. When kids play with dolls, do they walk them down the stairs from the Dreamhouse bedroom to their car? No, because they have better things to do. So the film floats the Barbies down to their cars, gives them waterless showers, has them brush their teeth without toothpaste, and shows them waking up with perfect hair that can change into one of many other perfect ‘dos instantaneously.
Barbie is Gerwig’s lightest film, maintaining a tone that, though there’s a clear and powerful subtext, makes it an easy watch. When you look at any aspect of the film, there’s an obvious, meticulous craft behind all of the moving pieces. It’s energetic and, at times, downright iconic. It’s a top-tier college thesis and the funniest movie you’ve seen in a while. Though Barbie may not feel as personal as Lady Bird or be as soul-crushing as specific parts of Little Women, it’s a whole lot of fun and is the perfect summer movie.
Barbie arrives in theaters on July 21.
This review was made possible thanks to Warner Bros., who invited us to an advance screening of Barbie for review.
Director: Greta Gerwig
Writers: Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach
Principal Cast: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Michael Cera, Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 1hr 54m
Genre: Comedy/Narrative
