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BARBIELAND — I hope you're ready to don your bestest pink cowgirl/boy outfit because "Barbie" is now in theaters and prepared to welcome you to its dream house.
"Barbie" stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling and has had many moviegoers curious about the odd direction the film seemed to take based on the previews. The movie is now in theaters and ready to satiate that curiosity, but how is it? For me, "Barbie" is a fun movie that just missed the mark of being something great.
Here are a few reasons I liked "Barbie" and a few reasons it left me wanting.
The good
Funny
For the most part, "Barbie" is a comedy, which means I expect to laugh. I am happy to report that "Barbie" had me laughing quite a bit — even got me laughing out loud on more than one occasion. My wife and I will be reciting some great one-liners for quite some time. One line, that breaks the fourth wall, is the best joke I have heard in a long time.
The movie isn't constant laughs, but it is funny, and that's the most important thing to me when it comes to comedy.
Ryan Gosling as Ken
I'm not sure everyone knows this, but Ryan Gosling is a fantastic comedic actor. He stood out in "The Nice Guys" and is the best part of "Barbie." His portrayal is hilarious — you keep waiting for him to come back on screen whenever he's absent.
There are other fun performances from Robbie, Will Ferrell, and Kate McKinnon, but Gosling steals the show. My favorite part of the movie may have been his musical number about Ken's existential crisis. All the Kens get involved, but this is Gosling's rodeo.
The bad
Change in tone
"Barbie" is a movie with a particular message. The message is important, but I don't love how they delivered it.
Possible spoilers ahead.
The "Barbie" movie's primary focus is on the empowerment of women, and it's a personal message to me. I want my daughters to know how much potential they have and that the world is their oyster. I am the proudest husband of my brilliant wife, and I embarrass her constantly because I take every chance I can to brag about the fact that she's a doctor. Speaking of, did you know my wife is a doctor?
I love the message "Barbie" has, but the mode of delivery felt clunky and uneven. The film started out with a fun and funny vibe and wove the message in expertly. Then, at one point in the movie, we hit the brakes, full stop, and changed the tone to deliver the message in a much more serious and nonsubtle way. We went from clever to boorish on the delivery, which threw me out of the world we started in and not in a great way. Then, toward the movie's end, they try to throw us back into the fun satire, and the transition doesn't work.
Smart satire is tough to do, and "Barbie" was doing it well for a time and then seemed to leave all that behind, which was unfortunate.
What parents should know
"Barbie" is officially rated PG-13 and this feels like the correct rating. The movie shows a lot of skin between perfectly shaped Barbies and Kens, but nothing gratuitous. And there is no language except for a specific word bleeped out at one point. The small amount of violence is absurd and not really violent, just funny.
However, there is a fair amount of misogyny, and it shines an exaggerated light on the issue that could be uncomfortable for some younger viewers. This movie is for a little more mature audience. The content is not too heavy for younger kids, but a few jokes that will likely go over their heads are in there, and they may get bored.
Conclusion
Overall I enjoyed "Barbie."
I laughed and thought the message was a good one, though, a bit heavy-handed at times, and the change in tone left me wanting an entire movie that was more in line with how we started. I like the idea of my girls feeling empowered by the film. Still, I worry that my son would walk away thinking that men are useless, egotistical and oppressive humans whose place is in the back, never to see the light of day.
Understand, the satire is not lost on me that this is how women have felt for many years, and, ethically, that's not right. Still, I also don't think it's right to show my son he should be ashamed of his gender instead of finding equality and balance.
"Barbie" is officially rated PG-13 for suggestive references and brief language.
