A mix of somewhat funny summer-movie and social commentary. But it's all over the place.
A commercial stretched into a full-length feature film.
Barbieland, as an inversion of the real world with which it s mentally connected had a lot of potential. However, Barbie (both the doll and the film) is primarily a corporate product, and it's evident that the creators were not given freedom to explore the material in a more sophisticated way.
The film explores several social issues (feminism, patriarchy, sexism, ...) in a way that may seem too preachy, in-your-face or even off-putting. I'd say that these topics are intentionally depicted with a child-like mindset and it may take a while to wrap our adult heads around such approach.
Despite this, thanks to the vibrant cinematography, over-the-top social commentary, skillful direction, and great performances (Gosling as Ken rules), Barbie manages to entertain, albeit in a somewhat absurd way.
Nevertheless, I expected more from it.
Barbieland, as an inversion of the real world with which it s mentally connected had a lot of potential. However, Barbie (both the doll and the film) is primarily a corporate product, and it's evident that the creators were not given freedom to explore the material in a more sophisticated way.
The film explores several social issues (feminism, patriarchy, sexism, ...) in a way that may seem too preachy, in-your-face or even off-putting. I'd say that these topics are intentionally depicted with a child-like mindset and it may take a while to wrap our adult heads around such approach.
Despite this, thanks to the vibrant cinematography, over-the-top social commentary, skillful direction, and great performances (Gosling as Ken rules), Barbie manages to entertain, albeit in a somewhat absurd way.
Nevertheless, I expected more from it.
- Gelaos
- Sep 19, 2023