Saw it today, a bit of a letdown in terms of funny. There were some good jokes, just not enough. Pros: Margot Robbie Ryan Gosling was most of the laughs and really stole the movie Cons: Feelings Mother/daughter conflict and resolution storyline The whole Men are bad! And brainwash women! plot was a little tired in 2023 Michael Cera and Will Ferrell could have been used more for humor Overall I understand that I’m not the demo here but I’ve watched much funnier chick flicks with a message. I’ll give it a C+.
I'm just glad for Margot Robbie, whose films since Tarantino's "Hollywood" have been stank, and worldwide box office, because sequels and superheroes have gone stale.
Haven't seen it yet, but that's incredible box office. I grew up with a Dad who was a film fanatic, and I love going to the movies. At one point during the Depression, he worked as an usher at a theatre in Houston for 5 cents an hour. Said he loved that job and lucky to have it. During the 1950's, we would go to a drive-in at least once during the week, sometimes twice, and an indoor one on the weekend if he wasn't working. Anyway, while Barbie may not be the greatest movie to come down the pike, it's putting butts in the seats, which I like to hear. The incredibly hot weather (over 102 degrees in Austin every day for the next week-106 right now) is adding to it, IMO. I can't believe how hot it is. It's just cooking some of our outdoor plants.
Just saw it. I’m not sure who the target audience is either as it’s not for little kids. Took my 12 yo daughter and her friends and they liked it well enough. It is funny and the social messaging was accurate. Would have liked to see the Ken and Will Ferrel characters drive a little more home that there are plenty of insecurities and contradicting difficult expectations men face as well. It’s a damn hard world to navigate for all of us.
Interesting. I just took the Mrs, and she liked it well enough. I thought it was fine and I'm just happy somebody tried to do something big, creative and ambitious, whether or not I enjoyed every minute. Thought Robbie was actually phenomenal and Gosling was just okay. Spoiler Funny about your 12 year old -- my favorite scene was bitter junior high or high school kids ripping Barbie a new one until she started crying. Hahaha. I also loved the very ending, as in the last 30 seconds. Good surprise, to me at least.
Okay, sorry, more. A. I am really glad I didn't do Barbenheimer and try to see both of these movies in one day. That sounds awful, now that I've seen both. B. If you can see this at an Alamo site, you'll do yourself a favor. The pre-show is excellent, with lots of old Barbie ads of relevance to the movie, and even some "barbie-izing" of other Gosling movies like drive, which is hilarious and worth the price of admission. C. This movie has surprisingly stuck with me and it has stuff to chew on. I really think it might be more cerebral than Oppenheimer, which I enjoyed much more. Spoiler The Barbie initial dreamland is a critique of modern feminists high-fiving each other, designing new T-shirts and not staying pragmatically involved in the political reality of our times. The overnight take-over of Kens could kind of be read as the Supreme Court changes, Dobbs, etc. Anyway, I think there's a lot more going on than bubble gum. Haha. Sorry if this is D&D stuff. I'm not expressing a take here, but the film-makers have a take, and they clearly don't mind if they upset certain viewers of a certain political persuasion, so... it is what it is, as they say. I think they or she made an allegory for our times and the failure / asleep-at-the-wheel of modern feminism.
