Right from the bat you can tell that everyone who worked on this movie put their heart and soul into it. The color palette, nostalgic costumes, choreographed dance numbers and diverse characters echo the childhood memories of this iconic doll line. With bright pastels, splendid acting and a great mix of campy humor and tear jerking scenes, the movie takes us on a deep dive into the meta verse of Barbie and all the things society loves and hates about her.
Unfortunately to the films detriment it does try to be everything for everyone at once. Fun colors and comedy is juxtaposed with harsh reality and sometimes agonizingly long social commentary. That mixed with a lack in backing score sometimes leaves dry monologues that drag and action scenes that feel tired throughout the almost 2 hour window. Ken also had one musical number towards the end, and as good as it is, it makes me wish the film would have fully committed to be a musical or not at all. The song is somewhat disjointed and confusingly placed within the movie.
There are 3 main story arcs in the movie relating to Barbie, Ken and a mother daughter duo. All of these characters go on a journey of self discovery, but Ken’s growth isn’t particularly great. In fact the whole idea of exploiting mens vulnerabilities and making them negligible didn’t sit right with me. The fact that these are lazily addressed at the end, didn’t leave the best impression of the story.
Overall I loved the attention to detail, the characters and controversies sprinkled into the script and the overall aesthetic of the film. There’s some very moving scenes that really tug at your heart strings sometimes. It’s definitely going to be a cult classic that needs to been seen at least once to appreciate the time and effort to bring the world of Barbie to life.
8/10
Written by: Dena Due
Photos: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
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Things Dena likes: sharks, crocheting, cryptids, movies and playing bass for Ash Asylum.
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