Draven

I took it as a company like Mattel actually recognizing that one of their flagship brands is problematic. And to their credit, they have tried to address this before (changing Barbie to more realistic proportions, etc.) But as has been said, Barbie was an astronaut before women could get a credit card without a husband. That's worthy of celebration. And the movie handles both sides of the issue.

Troy Stiffler

The movie was sharp and hilarious. The comedy was made for a guy like me. Packaged in a Barbie movie to reach everyone. It could have just as well be rewritten as a mumblecore movie that nobody sees.

Gerwig and Baumbach are gonna have a giant line of credit after this. Curious to see what they do next. This is basically her Batman Begins.

Decker

She's doing Chronicles of Narnia for Netflix next.

Dan

Harsh but fair

20 Scathing Critiques I Have of the Barbie Movie

https://hard-drive.net/hd/list/20-sc...-barbie-movie/

Troy Stiffler

Sounds great. It's been a long time. But it was disappointing that they never finished the story.

DaveNinja

I saw it a second time today and still loved it.

clappj

After all this time?

TomOpus

Enjoyed the hell out of the movie. My showing had a wide-range of people. 2 couples in their 70s/80s (right in front of me) and families with little kids (right behind me). I guess Will Ferrell was okay but I'm still not a big fan. Rest of the cast was very good. Loved that final scene.

Troy Stiffler

Because of how cerebral the movie is (yea who would have thought), where do they go with a sequel?

Crazy as it sounds, Barbie is an accessible movie really packed with ideas. I think of comparisons like The Matrix, V For Vendetta, and Fight Club. Now ... Barbie.

DJariya

Saw this nugget posted just now.

ntnon

Matrix & V are Warner (not sure about FC) - that just begs for a (proper*) crossover!

*Clearly Rhea Perlman was aping the Oracle.

ntnon

Easy.

Act 1 - Picks up immediately after the first film: Barbie's in the real world, experiencing reality for the first time. Fish-out-of-water comedy moments juxtapose with searing outsider insights into just how nonsensical much of modern life is. Much pathos. Many chuckles.

Act 2 - An emissary arrives to recruit her because Ken (or all the Kens) has/have departed Barbieland for Parts Unknown and their absence is actually being felt, causing the matriarchy to soft-question not making things fully equal after the Kentriarchy takeover some weeks earlier.

Act 3 - She saves everyone.

Depending on the writers, Mattel and other factors, Act 3 can reveal where (the) Ken(s) went to be: a) part of the real world, b) OTHER or c) another Mattel toyworld, allowing for the Mattel Universe to be begun... did he stay with Polly Pocket? He-Man? UNO?*

*d) Space Jam 2 and the LEGO films have also pseudo-tied the Warner properties into a loose multiverse. Ken getting life lessons from Batmen or Dumbledore or Neo could be a (terrible) possibility. NEO & UNO, a match made in heaven.

Troy Stiffler

I mean how many movies do that though? We often get something like Winter Soldier or X-Men with themes and ideas sprinkled around. But not too many are packed full like the examples I gave.

There was so much information I need to go see it again. It’s wonderful.

DJariya

Twitter

faust69

Saw it and loved it. I saw Oppenheimer the weekend before and now I see how they work together as a double-feature of Barbenheimer.

Crocker Jarmen

I loved how the movie looked, so refreshing to see something that isn't dark and murky, but I was left very underwhelmed. After seeing those exciting trailers, there wasn't much left in the movie that felt fresh. I was waiting for it to end about fifteen minutes before it did. Glad I saw it, mostly for how hilarious it was when after the trailer for Priscilla, the ten year old looking boy sitting next to me said, "What the fuck is that?"

Shannon Nutt

Finally saw this last night. Wow - this movie was so uneven. Some scenes were really entertaining; others fell completely flat. Things also got really annoying toward the end when America Ferrera's character was given this long, preachy speech about what all the Barbies were fighting for that really sunk my opinion of the film (hey, we GET IT...you don't need to spell it out, underline it, and add an exclamation point).

Still, the set design was fantastic, Robbie was really good, and Gosling was simply great (his musical numbers made me wish they had just made this whole thing a musical). They really misfired with Will Ferrell - none of his scenes are funny, nor is his character all that important. I guess maybe they felt they needed one more "name" in the cast?

So a mixed reaction from me and a rather "meh" feeling about the movie. I did enjoy parts of it, but I'm unlikely to sit through it again.

ntnon

Highlighting and underlining the Real World Message was necessary because it's rarely ever spelled out that precisely - especially on screen - but is a reality lived by many that seems nevertheless completely ignored by the country/world. Often wilfully, sometimes naively, and sometimes in this way - 'we know this - move on' - which is arguably worse: if it's known (and seen to be a problem), why does it persist? Call it out! Shine a spotlight. Stage protests. Make changes.

The three or four main characters seemed well-cast, Alan and President Barbie were able supporting cast members, but I was underwhelmed with pretty much everyone else... I imagine many were stunts/cameos for a target audience that just passed me by, but they all seemed a little underwhelming to me.

fujishig

Seeing some of the reactions to that speech (not here) makes me think that maybe it needed to be spelled out a little more because a lot of people STILL didn't get it.

Troy Stiffler

Does Tik Tok work on here? Marc Maron basically said what I said. Only better, of course.

https://www.tiktok.com/@marcdmaron/v...75264602344747

It's an accessible mainstream movie, loaded with a creative thesis on feminism.

I would like to see more movies do this.

Shannon Nutt

The way Anna Greenblatt's character (and her school friends) go after Barbie's impact on females in society is SOOO much more effective because it feels real and natural. America's speech feels scripted. It has nothing to do with content, it has to do with how it's presented in the plot.

fujishig

I get that. I'm just responding to the notion that it was over the top and not needed because it's hitting people over the head, though maybe the people being hit over the head and still not getting it never will anyway.

Shannon Nutt

I'm pretty sure that the people who NEED hit over the head aren't coming to see Barbie anyway.

dex14

Unless someone's "producers dragged [them] to see" it.

asianxcore

Saw this yesterday evening.

Although a bit uneven, I enjoyed it quite a bit and absolutely loved the overall message.

John Cena's cameo was wonderful