Journalist Elizabeth Birkner takes us inside one of the largest blockbusters of the summer
The new Barbie movie is an intriguing film with a unique moral twist. I watched it twice in the theatres at the beginning of August. The second time I watched the Barbie movie,I wondered if my opinion the first time I watched it would change. I also tried to watch the movie the second time through a different perspective.
Overall, I enjoyed the Barbie movie. I loved how the directors showcased and represented Barbie dolls and this magical world they are perceived to live in. For example, when Barbie moves between stories in her dreamhouse, she floats. This is because when a child plays with a Barbie doll, they simply pick her up and place her in a spot instead of making the doll walk. Intricate details like this added so much to the movie, and I could tell the production designers and directors put a lot of time into making their movie an accurate representation of how real Barbie dolls would look and act.
Something else I appreciated about the Barbie movie was the casting. Margot Robbie was the perfect actress for Barbie because she is very collected and has the sparkly attitude that Barbie often displays. Another casting that I loved was the actress cast as Sasha, the sassy tween who hates Barbie. Ariana Greenblatt was cast as Sasha, and it was an amazing decision because she frequently plays characters with bold attitudes. The only casting I was not a fan of was the casting for Ken. Ryan Gosling is a great actor, but I felt he looked too old to be playing Ken. Apart from Ken, I thought the casting for Barbie was flawless and perfect.
The plot in the Barbie movie was what prevented me from raving about this movie. When you think of Barbie, you think of pink and sparkles and this perfect doll who lives in her dreamhouse in a perfect world. The movie was far from any of this. It talked about sexism, thoughts of death, depression, and several other problems our society experiences. I never would have thought that any of this would come to mind when thinking of Barbie. Watching this movie required me to think past the innocence of the toy because the Barbie is acting out scenarios that are more adult, and this is a childhood toy! Though the plot was meaningful, it was very unexpected. None of the previews alluded to what this movie would ultimately address.
After considering the new Barbie movie and watching it twice, I am not sure if I would choose to watch it again. Even though I was not a huge fan of the theme, however, I can appreciate that it took a lot of hard work to create a plot in a Barbie movie that discusses serious topics. I am not sure what age group to recommend the Barbie movie for, because even though it is a movie about Barbies, many subjects that were discussed I found alarming. What I do know is that the Barbie movie is a very detail-oriented movie that finds a bridge between a perfect world and a human world while analyzing the fusion, and it will have you contemplating your own life until the movie ends.