For years, movie companies have been trying to come up with ideas for new and different films. So it makes sense they would try and mine the toy market. Transformers, GI Joe, and many others have been made into big-budget motion pictures. It’s an obvious decision to turn one of the biggest girls’ toys in history into a movie. That’s why Barbie was made, but it isn’t what little girls and their moms think it is.

When Warner Brothers greenlit, this movie with Greta Gerwig attached and her husband Noah Baumbach writing the script, they weren’t going to get some superfluous version of this iconic doll. They were going to get a film with an idea about people. The outer look of women, what men think of women, and how men have reacted to women trying to take over the world in the same way men have for decades. That’s the only way these guys were going to do a Barbie movie. And that’s what we got.

Barbie (Margot Robbie) is living her best life in Barbie Land. She has parties at her Dream House and dances and sings while at the same time ignoring the advances of Ken (Ryan Gosling) When she starts to have issues, one of which is flat feet she seeks help from the discarded or discontinued Barbie, Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon) She tells her she needs to go to the real world and see what little girl has been playing with her and how she’s changing her. What she gets when she arrives in the real world is an eye-opening experience. Nothing like what she expected.

She brought Ken along as well for the company, and he also finds out things about himself and how men are treated in the real world. So, he brings his ideas back to Barbie Land and starts to take over. All the Ken’s played by Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben Adir, and others start to get an idea that they should rule Barbie Land instead of the Barbies. The Barbies have no choice but to follow along because they dont’t know anything different. This doesn’t go over so well with the stereotypical  Barbie, though.

While Ken is trying to take over Barbie Land, the stereotypical Barbie is in the real world learning what it’s like being a role model and idol to millions of little girls. It’s not what she thought it would be. Girls resent her for making them think this is what they are supposed to look like. All girls don’t have bleach-blonde hair, blue eyes, and a perfect figure. Some do but most look completely different than this. Stereotypical Barbie finds out this the hard way, as well as rules in the real world are vastly different than in her world.

Even though this film is about a doll,  millions of girls grew up playing with as children, it’s also about body shaming, being self-aware of who you are, and being confident in what you look like. Women and girls of all ages should be happy with the body they have whether it’s a little bit bigger than the quote-en-quote version that is perceived to be the norm in society. There are brunettes, redheads, and various women and girls of different races and creeds. They can be confident in who they are. They can even be a mother who is a businesswoman with children. It’s okay to be what you want to be in society as long as you have the drive to do so. Or if not just be who you are. And that is good enough in today’s world.

This film has some interesting product placement not included in the villain being Mattel executives who by the way are all men. While their secretary is a Latino woman played by America Ferrera. Coincidence I think not.  Mettel is the parent company of Barbie so go figure Gerwig and Baumbach would make them look like the bad guys here. That being said, Chevrolet is everywhere as well. They just want to get in on the women who are strong and confident and so they have a new SUV to show off. For women to drive I’m guessing.

When the idea of a Barbie movie came up it had to be discussed how the filmmakers were going to make Barbie Land come to life. I don’t know if it’s CGI or real practical sets and props or not but the production design is off the chain here. It may be a combination of both but this movie looks amazing nonetheless. The hair and makeup, costumes are also very accurate to the toys they are copying. This is definitely a contender in multiple Academy Awards below-the-line categories. I was mesmerized by how beautiful this entire movie looked.

As far as the actors go Robbie and Gostling are terrific. They play their roles as earnestly as they can considering the roles they are playing. They give a lot of genuine emotion to their characters. Even though this a bit of a corny film it has a lot of heart. It took these toys and gave them important things to say and do regarding the film their in. They even sing and dance. Ken’s song is very catchy and Barbie’s song is emotional and bubbly and happy. Robbie and Gostling were perfectly cast in these roles. I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing characters and they both understood their assignment regarding the film they were in.

I’m glad this Barbie movie was made and Gerwig, Baumbach, Robbie, Gosling, and company signed on for it. They all knew the significance of making this film was going to be. And it has been. Film fans, women,  and girls, of all ages have been looking forward to it ever since it was announced. Men as well as film critics are usually stuffy old guys like me. We knew the importance of this movie as well. The world needed this film to take a look at itself and realize there are more important things to worry about other than our outside appearance. And our personality. We should all be proud of who we are and if we need help seek it out in family, friends or medical personnel who are experienced in matters of this nature. Nobody’s perfect and once we realize that the world will be a better place.

4 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen