Barbie (2023)
Country: US/GB
Technical: col/2.00:1 114m
Director: Greta Gerwig
Cast: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Ariana Greenblatt, Michael Cera, Will Ferrell
Synopsis:
All is well in Barbie Land, until stereotypical Barbie begins to be affected by a mother in the real world who passes her insecurities onto her.
Review:
Opening with a hilariously accurate homage to 2001's Dawn of Man prologue, Gerwig and Baumbach's wry, referential, post-feminist de-and-reconstruction of the Barbie phenomenon has nowhere to go but down. A two-hour lesson in how hard it is to be a woman, and how shallow it is to be a man, it is cheerful and colourful, like Who Framed Roger Rabbit? crossed with Les demoiselles de Rochefort. If it raises a smile, it may well be the kind of indulgent grin that eventually develops into an aching jaw before we get to the long anticipated conclusion, in which the resurgent Barbies use their sex to unsettle the menfolk and turn them against each other, incidentally explaining the cause of warfare through the ages. It's the kind of playful toying with ideas that litters the movie, and can also be enervating. One may also hanker after a fully-fledged character, though Robbie does do a grand job with what she gets.
Country: US/GB
Technical: col/2.00:1 114m
Director: Greta Gerwig
Cast: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Ariana Greenblatt, Michael Cera, Will Ferrell
Synopsis:
All is well in Barbie Land, until stereotypical Barbie begins to be affected by a mother in the real world who passes her insecurities onto her.
Review:
Opening with a hilariously accurate homage to 2001's Dawn of Man prologue, Gerwig and Baumbach's wry, referential, post-feminist de-and-reconstruction of the Barbie phenomenon has nowhere to go but down. A two-hour lesson in how hard it is to be a woman, and how shallow it is to be a man, it is cheerful and colourful, like Who Framed Roger Rabbit? crossed with Les demoiselles de Rochefort. If it raises a smile, it may well be the kind of indulgent grin that eventually develops into an aching jaw before we get to the long anticipated conclusion, in which the resurgent Barbies use their sex to unsettle the menfolk and turn them against each other, incidentally explaining the cause of warfare through the ages. It's the kind of playful toying with ideas that litters the movie, and can also be enervating. One may also hanker after a fully-fledged character, though Robbie does do a grand job with what she gets.
Country: US/GB
Technical: col/2.00:1 114m
Director: Greta Gerwig
Cast: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Ariana Greenblatt, Michael Cera, Will Ferrell
Synopsis:
All is well in Barbie Land, until stereotypical Barbie begins to be affected by a mother in the real world who passes her insecurities onto her.
Review:
Opening with a hilariously accurate homage to 2001's Dawn of Man prologue, Gerwig and Baumbach's wry, referential, post-feminist de-and-reconstruction of the Barbie phenomenon has nowhere to go but down. A two-hour lesson in how hard it is to be a woman, and how shallow it is to be a man, it is cheerful and colourful, like Who Framed Roger Rabbit? crossed with Les demoiselles de Rochefort. If it raises a smile, it may well be the kind of indulgent grin that eventually develops into an aching jaw before we get to the long anticipated conclusion, in which the resurgent Barbies use their sex to unsettle the menfolk and turn them against each other, incidentally explaining the cause of warfare through the ages. It's the kind of playful toying with ideas that litters the movie, and can also be enervating. One may also hanker after a fully-fledged character, though Robbie does do a grand job with what she gets.