My Barbie (2023) Film Review

I went and saw the new Barbie movie last night and it was so much fun! It was perfectly cast in every role, the tone was just right, and the soundtrack was amazing!

The only glaring omission from it is that I, personally, think that Kim Petras deserved to be on the soundtrack as well. Maybe she was busy or something, but if they just didn't ask her at all, I don't know why. She oozes Barbie, especially if you've heard some of her earlier work such as I Don't Want It At All or Heart To Break. And I feel like she's a big enough star at this point to fit onto the soundtrack of a major film. But enough of that tangent...it was honestly perfect in every way other than that and that's not even really a criticism.

Margot Robbie was born to play Stereotypical Barbie, in the least mean way possible. She nailed that role to perfection. I also thought Ryan Gosling did a good job as Ken, even though it did seem like he might be too old for the part, he still played it well. Michael Cera as Allan was also a really funny addition to the film. America Ferrera did an excellent job as the sad mother from the real world. And I loved the addition of Hari Nef as Dr. Barbie and thought she nailed that role as well.

I loved how both the narrator and occasionally the music will break the fourth wall in this film. It was definitely the kind of film that barely had a fourth wall to begin with, as the main characters go back and forth between the fictional BarbieLand and the real world. It was funny throughout but also had some emotional moments in it as well that sometimes felt a little too real.

Overall, it was the best version of a Barbie movie that I think there ever could have been. I was surprised by how much Mattel allowed them to make fun of them: calling out the lack of women in leadership at the company and making them hyper-capitalistic. I think the tradeoff was there was a fair amount of product placement throughout the film, but much of it served as nostalgia-bait for millennial viewers.

I thought the film was fantastic and would give it a 9/10. It is simultaneously very grounded for a Barbie film, but also off-the-walls chaos with the fourth wall breaking and constant jokes, but Greta Gerwig nailed that balance and made the best possible film she could make.

Originally posted on Publish0x