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"Barbie," director and co-writer Greta Gerwig ’s summer splash, is a dazzling achievement, both technically and in tone. It’s a visual feast that succeeds as both a gleeful escape and a battle cry. So crammed with impeccable attention to detail is "Barbie” that you couldn’t possibly catch it all in a single sitting; you’d have to devote an entire viewing just to the accessories, for example. The costume design (led by two-time Oscar winner Jacqueline Durran ) and production design (led by six-time Oscar nominee Sarah Greenwood ) are constantly clever and colorful, befitting the ever-evolving icon, and cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (a three-time Oscar nominee) gives everything a glossy gleam. It’s not just that Gerwig & Co. have recreated a bunch of Barbies from throughout her decades-long history, outfitted them with a variety of clothing and hairstyles, and placed them in pristine dream houses. It’s that they’ve brought these figures to life with infectious energy and a knowing wink.

“Barbie” can be hysterically funny, with giant laugh-out-loud moments generously scattered throughout. They come from the insularity of an idyllic, pink-hued realm and the physical comedy of fish-out-of-water moments and choice pop culture references as the outside world increasingly encroaches. But because the marketing campaign has been so clever and so ubiquitous, you may discover that you’ve already seen a fair amount of the movie’s inspired moments, such as the “ 2001: A Space Odyssey ” homage and Ken’s self-pitying ‘80s power ballad. Such is the anticipation industrial complex.

And so you probably already know the basic plot: Barbie ( Margot Robbie ), the most popular of all the Barbies in Barbieland, begins experiencing an existential crisis. She must travel to the human world in order to understand herself and discover her true purpose. Her kinda-sorta boyfriend, Ken ( Ryan Gosling ), comes along for the ride because his own existence depends on Barbie acknowledging him. Both discover harsh truths—and make new friends –along the road to enlightenment. This bleeding of stark reality into an obsessively engineered fantasy calls to mind the revelations of “ The Truman Show ” and “The LEGO Movie,” but through a wry prism that’s specifically Gerwig’s.

This is a movie that acknowledges Barbie’s unrealistic physical proportions—and the kinds of very real body issues they can cause in young girls—while also celebrating her role as a feminist icon. After all, there was an astronaut Barbie doll (1965) before there was an actual woman in NASA’s astronaut corps (1978), an achievement “Barbie” commemorates by showing two suited-up women high-fiving each other among the stars, with Robbie’s Earth-bound Barbie saluting them with a sunny, “Yay, space!” This is also a movie in which Mattel (the doll’s manufacturer) and Warner Bros. (the film’s distributor) at least create the appearance that they’re in on the surprisingly pointed jokes at their expense. Mattel headquarters features a spacious, top-floor conference room populated solely by men with a heart-shaped, “ Dr. Strangelove ”-inspired lamp hovering over the table, yet Will Ferrell ’s CEO insists his company’s “gender-neutral bathrooms up the wazoo” are evidence of diversity. It's a neat trick.

As the film's star, Margot Robbie finds just the right balance between satire and sincerity. She’s  the  perfect casting choice; it’s impossible to imagine anyone else in the role. The blonde-haired, blue-eyed stunner completely looks the part, of course, but she also radiates the kind of unflagging, exaggerated optimism required for this heightened, candy-coated world. Later, as Barbie’s understanding expands, Robbie masterfully handles the more complicated dialogue by Gerwig and her co-writer and frequent collaborator, filmmaker Noah Baumbach . From a blinding smile to a single tear and every emotion in between, Robbie finds the ideal energy and tone throughout. Her performance is a joy to behold.

And yet, Ryan Gosling is a consistent scene-stealer as he revels in Ken’s himbo frailty. He goes from Barbie’s needy beau to a swaggering, macho doofus as he throws himself headlong into how he thinks a real man should behave. (Viewers familiar with Los Angeles geography will particularly get a kick out of the places that provide his inspiration.) Gosling sells his square-jawed character’s earnestness and gets to tap into his “All New Mickey Mouse Club” musical theater roots simultaneously. He’s a total hoot.

Within the film’s enormous ensemble—where the women are all Barbies and the men are all Kens, with a couple of exceptions—there are several standouts. They include a gonzo Kate McKinnon as the so-called “Weird Barbie” who places Robbie’s character on her path; Issa Rae as the no-nonsense President Barbie; Alexandra Shipp as a kind and capable Doctor Barbie; Simu Liu as the trash-talking Ken who torments Gosling’s Ken; and America Ferrera in a crucial role as a Mattel employee. And we can’t forget Michael Cera as the one Allan, bumbling awkwardly in a sea of hunky Kens—although everyone else forgets Allan.

But while “Barbie” is wildly ambitious in an exciting way, it’s also frustratingly uneven at times. After coming on strong with wave after wave of zippy hilarity, the film drags in the middle as it presents its more serious themes. It’s impossible not to admire how Gerwig is taking a big swing with heady notions during the mindless blockbuster season, but she offers so many that the movie sometimes stops in its propulsive tracks to explain itself to us—and then explain those points again and again. The breezy, satirical edge she established off the top was actually a more effective method of conveying her ideas about the perils of toxic masculinity and entitlement and the power of female confidence and collaboration.

One character delivers a lengthy, third-act speech about the conundrum of being a woman and the contradictory standards to which society holds us. The middle-aged mom in me was nodding throughout in agreement, feeling seen and understood, as if this person knew me and was speaking directly to me. But the longtime film critic in me found this moment a preachy momentum killer—too heavy-handed, too on-the-nose, despite its many insights.  

Still, if such a crowd-pleasing extravaganza can also offer some fodder for thoughtful conversations afterward, it’s accomplished several goals simultaneously. It’s like sneaking spinach into your kid’s brownies—or, in this case, blondies.

Available in theaters on July 21st. 

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Barbie (2023)

Rated PG-13 for suggestive references and brief language.

114 minutes

Margot Robbie as Barbie

Ryan Gosling as Ken

America Ferrera as Gloria

Will Ferrell as Mattel CEO

Kate McKinnon as Weird Barbie

Ariana Greenblatt as Sasha

Issa Rae as President Barbie

Rhea Perlman as Ruth Handler

Hari Nef as Doctor Barbie

Emma Mackey as Physicist Barbie

Alexandra Shipp as Writer Barbie

Michael Cera as Allan

Helen Mirren as Narrator

Simu Liu as Ken

Dua Lipa as Mermaid Barbie

John Cena as Kenmaid

Kingsley Ben-Adir as Ken

Scott Evans as Ken

Jamie Demetriou as Mattel Executive

• Greta Gerwig
• Noah Baumbach

Cinematographer

• Rodrigo Prieto
• Alexandre Desplat
• Mark Ronson

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It’s tough to sell a decades-old doll and actively make you question why you’d still buy a toy that comes with so much baggage. (Metaphorically speaking, of course — literal baggage sold separately.) The makers of Barbie know this. They know that you know that it’s an attempt by Mattel to turn their flagship blonde bombshell into a bona fide intellectual property, coming to a multiplex near you courtesy of Warner Bros. And they’re also well aware that the announcement that Greta Gerwig would be co-writing and directing this movie about everyone’s favorite tiny, leggy bearer of impossible beauty standards suddenly transformed it from “dual corporate cash-in” to “dual corporate cash-in with a very high probability of wit, irony, and someone quoting Betty Friedan and/or Rebecca Walker.”

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Except, in the middle of one of their regular super-cool and totally awesome sing-alongs, Barbie blurts out, “You guys ever think about dying?” No one, least of all the shiny, happy person who said it, has any idea where that random bummer came from. The next morning, Barbie’s imaginary shower is cold. Her imaginary milk has curdled. The collective perkiness of her friends and neighbors only seems to highlight her inexplicably bad mood. Her stiletto-ready arches suddenly fall flat. And then, she comes face to face with what can only be described as the Thanos of the Barbie Cinematic Universe: cellulite.

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Once in our world, Barbie will encounter sexual harassment, gender inequity, the benefits of crying, the CEO of Mattel ( Will Ferrell ) and the mother (America Ferrara) and daughter (Ariana Greenblatt) who’ve introduced such morbid thoughts into her brain. Ken will discover horses, Hummer SUVs, and toxic masculinity . She returns with her new human friends to Barbieland in a state of dazed enlightenment. He comes back as a full-blown Kencel, spreading a gospel of full-frontal dude-ity.

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Critical thinking isn’t mind corruption, of course. Nor is pointing out that you can love something and recognize that it’s flawed or has become inflammatory over time, then striving to fix it. It’s definitely not a bad thing to turn a potential franchise, whether built on a line of dolls or not, into something that refuses to dumb itself down or pander to the lowest common denominator. And the victory that is Gerwig, Robbie, and Gosling — along with a supporting cast and crew that revel in the idea of joining a benefic Barbie party — slipping in heady notions about sexualization, capitalism, social devolution, human rights and self-empowerment, under the guise of a lucrative, brand-extending trip down memory lane? That’s enough to make you giddy. We weren’t kidding about the “subversive” part above; ditto the “blockbuster.” A big movie can still have big ideas in 2023. Even a Barbie movie. Especially a Barbie movie.

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Barbie film review — Greta Gerwig’s day-glo comedy gives Mattel the last laugh

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‘Barbie’ Review: Greta Gerwig Goes Way Outside the Box with Her Funny, Feminist Fantasia

Kate erbland, editorial director.

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But just as Kubrick’s apes eventually met by an alien monolith that utterly changed their world and worldview, Greta Gerwig ‘s little girls are about to be descended upon by a world-altering and brain-breaking new entity: a giant, one might even say monolithic, Barbie doll, in the form of a smiling Margot Robbie , kitted out like the very first Barbie doll ever made . And thus spake Barbie . That’s where Gerwig’s funny, feminist, and wildly original “Barbie” begins. It will only get bigger, weirder, smarter, and better from there. Related Stories Disney Leads with R-Rated Fox Franchises as ‘Alien’ and ‘Deadpool’ Sequels Rule the Box Office Jenna Ortega Thought She Was ‘Disassociating’ Seeing Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice: ‘I Had to Stare at My Hands’

Imagine, if you can, a world split in two upon the release of the first Barbie doll in 1959. There’s the real world (known in the film as, of course, “The Real World”), and then there’s the seemingly idyllic (and very plastic) Barbie Land, which exists on the premise that the invention of Barbie (the doll) so drastically, so completely, and so positively impacted the real world that she (the doll) basically solved feminism. As far as the Barbies (and attendant Kens) who populate Barbie Land know, the Real World is a wonderful place for women (because Barbie Land very much is), and the female-forward world they happily clatter through is just a reflection of what happens in the flesh-and-blood universe.

This Barbie (like, it seems, all Barbies) has a great day every day. Her Stereotypical Ken ( a delightfully unhinged Ryan Gosling )? He only has a good day when Barbie pays attention to him, and Barbie is pretty busy. Gerwig guides us through a typical Barbie day with meticulous attention to detail (both impressive and incredibly amusing). Her Barbie Dream House? It doesn’t have windows, or working stairs, or running water. She can get wherever she wants to go by simply jumping (just like a child might move their doll, foisting them from spot to spot with little care for logic). Her hands are stiff. Her food is nonexistent. Her life is perfect. Robbie’s dedication to the gag, along with co-stars Rae, Shipp, Mackey, Hari Nef, and Nicola Coughlan is profound, and boy, does it pay off.

That truth: She must go to the Real World and mend the rip in the temporal fabric that keeps Barbie Land and the Real World distinctly different. And while Barbie, initially resistant to the fate before her, eventually takes on the challenge with verve and vigor, the questions start piling up: How different are Barbie Land and the Real World? If what happens in the Real World can impact Barbie Land, is the reverse true? And why the hell is Ken in the backseat of Barbie’s hot pink car as it cruises straight into La-La Land?

Once in the Real World, Barbie and Ken’s twinned realizations of what it’s actually like unfold at a lopsided pace. Barbie is confused by everyone’s behavior, not just the men who leer and the women who scoff, but especially that of Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt), a sassy teen whom she believes is her longtime owner, the very person suffering from angst so deep it ripped a hole between the Real World and Barbie Land. Gerwig and co-writer and longtime partner Noah Baumbach steadily lift the veil (or, as the case may be, rip their own temporal fabric) as Barbie is beset by the truth of the Real World (not feminist), Barbie Land (also not feminist), and her place in both.

Gerwig and Baumbach’s venture into the Real World is absolutely necessary — it unlocks the film’s thesis after besieging us with diverting fun, gives us the darling Greenblatt and her Barbie-obsessed mom Gloria (America Ferrera, who runs off with the film’s last act), and allows Will Ferrell to go nuts as the wacky (male!) CEO of Mattel. However, it’s not nearly as fun, fantastic, and entertaining as the rich world of Barbie Land — that’s the point. Thankfully, we’re back there soon enough, though it’s been hugely altered by the full force of a returning (and, dare we say it, red-pilled) Ken, who uses all his newfound male rage and patriarchal power to upend what was once a lady-powered idyll. Barbie? She’s having a bad day.

Gerwig, as ever, has assembled a stellar supporting cast. All Barbies delight, but the Kens, appropriately enough, launch a real sneak attack, especially Simu Liu and Kingsley Ben-Adir, and Michael Cera nearly makes off with the whole thing as the singular sidekick Allan. There’s also a murderer’s row of below-the-line talent: Opuses can and will be written about Sarah Greenwood’s production design and Jacqueline Durran’s costumes. “Barbie” is a lovingly crafted blockbuster with a lot on its mind, the kind of feature that will surely benefit from repeat viewings (there is so much to see, so many jokes to catch) and is still purely entertaining even in a single watch.

It’s Barbie’s world, and we’re all just living in it. How fantastic.

Warner Bros. releases “Barbie” in theaters on Friday, July 21.

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• This Barbie is a feminist parable fighting to be great in spite of Mattel’s input

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie is often good and sometimes great, but it always feels like it’s fighting to be itself rather than the movie Warner Bros. and Mattel Films want.

By Charles Pulliam-Moore , a reporter focusing on film, TV, and pop culture. Before The Verge, he wrote about comic books, labor, race, and more at io9 and Gizmodo for almost five years.

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Barbies might “just” be toys, but Barbie™ is an impossibly perfect paragon of glamorous femininity who’s had as many specialized professions over the course of her 64-year-long existence as she has bespoke outfits. There are few pieces of corporate-owned IP that are truly as Iconic (in the pre-social media sense of the word) as the doll that put Mattel on the map and taught children of all genders — but especially little girls — to long for hot pink dreamhouses. That’s why it isn’t all that surprising to see Mattel Studio’s brand protection-minded influence splashed all over Warner Bros.’ new live-action Barbie movie from writer / director Greta Gerwig.

Valuable as the Barbie brand is, it makes all the sense in the world that Mattel would want Gerwig’s feature — a playful, surreal adventure that does double duty as a deconstruction of its namesake and her technicolor, dreamlike world — to play by a set of rules meant to protect their investments. But as well meant as Mattel’s input presumably was, Gerwig clearly came with a bold vision built around the idea of deconstructing some of the more complex realities of what Barbie represents in order to tell a truly modern, feminist story.

Watching the movie, you can often feel how Mattel and Gerwig’s plans for Barbie weren’t necessarily in sync and how those differences led to compromises being made. Thankfully, that doesn’t keep the movie from being fun. But it does make it rather hard to get lost in the fantasy of it all — especially once Barbie starts going meta to poke fun at the studios behind it in a way that seems to be becoming more common .

Along with celebrating innumerable pieces of Mattel’s history, Barbie tells the story of how the most Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie) in all of Barbie Land gains the tiniest bit of self-awareness one day and starts to find her growing sense of complex personhood so alarming that she sets off for the Real World to find out what the hell is going on. Like the vast majority of Barbies who call Barbie Land home, all Stereotypical Barbie knows about her own world is based on the picture-perfect, idealized experiences she and her friends are able to breeze their ways through solely using the power of their imaginations. 

Things don’t just happen to Barbies. They’re very much the arbiters of their own wills who’ve worked hard to become people like President Barbie (Issa Rae), Dr. Barbie (Hari Nef), Lawyer Barbie (Sharon Rooney), and Pulitzer Prize-winning Writer Barbie (Alexandra Shipp). But life for Barbies also isn’t especially difficult or complicated, partially because they’re all dolls living in a plastic paradise. Mainly, though, it’s because Barbie Land’s an expressly woman-controlled utopia reminiscent of Steven Universe ’s Gem Homeworld , where neither misogyny nor the concept of a patriarchy exists because that’s not what Barbie™ is about.

As an unseen Helen Mirren — who seems to be playing a version of herself as Barbie ’s narrator — points out who’s who in the film’s opening act, you can see how Mattel’s willingness to let Gerwig and co-writer Noah Baumbach’s script poke fun at Barbie™ led to some extremely good world-building.

Barbie Land isn’t just a predominantly pink pocket dimension where Life-Size -like dolls live in life-sized, yet still toy-like dream homes. It’s the embodiment of the easy-to-digest, corporate-approved feminism and female empowerment that Mattel and many other toy companies deal in. Only in Barbie Land, the idea of a predominantly female supreme court or construction sites full of nothing but hardworking women aren’t just dreams — they’re a regular part of everyday life. And all the Barbies are better for it because of how it reinforces their belief that they can do anything.

But outside of the Stereotypical Barbie-obsessed Ken whose job is to stand on the beach (Ryan Gosling), none of the other Kens (Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Ncuti Gatwa, Scott Evans, and John Cena) are ever really given personalities to speak of. It’s clearly a purposeful decision meant to reinforce the idea that Ken dolls, which were invented after Barbie dolls, are the Eves to their Adams — accessory-like beings created to be companions rather than their own people. But as solid as the idea is, in practice, it has a way of making the Kens of color feel like thinly-written afterthoughts hovering around Gosling and like Barbie isn’t sure how to utilize its entire cast — a feeling that intensifies more and more as the movie progresses.

Long before Barbie even starts to have her existential crisis and seek guidance from Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon), it becomes painfully clear that there was a strong desire on either Mattel or Warner Bros. parts for audiences to be spoon-fed as much of the film as possible before actually sitting down in theaters. If you’ve watched even a couple of Barbie ’s lengthier ads or the music video for Dua Lipa’s (who plays Mermaid Barbie) “Dance the Night,” you’ve seen a significant chunk of this film and its more memorable moments.

What you’ve seen less of is how often Barbie slows down to have characters repeat jokes and belabor points as if it doesn’t trust the audience to catch beats on their initial deliveries. Some of that can be attributed to the PG-13 movie trying to make sure that viewers of all ages are able to engage because as existentially heavy and slightly flirty as Barbie gets at times, it’s a movie about Barbies, which is obviously going to appeal to a bunch of literal children. But once Barbie’s in the real world being harassed by lascivious men, ruthless teen girls, and a bumbling, evil corporation that the movie goes to great lengths to make fun of, you also get the sense that more than a bit of the movie’s unevenness on the backend stems from Mattel putting its foot down about how it, too, needed to be a part of Barbie’s live-action, theatrical debut.

There’s a time and a place for corporations to try getting in on the fun of events like this by way of meta humor that acknowledges their own existence and the role they play in bringing projects like movies about Barbie dolls into being. But rather than creating the necessary conditions for those kinds of jokes to land, not need explanation, and add substance to Barbie, both Mattel and Warner Bros.’ self-insert jokes work more to remind you how the movie is ultimately a corporate-branded endeavor designed to move products.

That doesn’t keep Gerwig’s latest from being an enjoyable time spotlighting a decidedly inspired performance from Robbie. But it is going to make the rabid Barbie discourse even more exhausting than it already is when the feature hits theaters on July 21st.

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Barbie First Reactions: Witty, Impeccably Designed, Overblown Fun

Critics on social media say gerta gerwig's take on the iconic doll blends camp and social commentary and benefits from a scene-stealing ryan gosling..

TAGGED AS: Comedy , First Reactions , movies

Here’s what critics are saying about Barbie :

Does Barbie live up to the hype?

“Greta Gerwig somehow exceeded my expectations. She tackles the positives and negatives of Barbie so beautifully.” – Jamie Jirak, ComicBook.com

“ Barbie isn’t the home run I was hoping for, or that I think it needs to be given the topics it’s tackling, but it’s still a well made, bold film with a VERY strong voice and vision, one that often made me think, HOW does this movie exist? And that right there is almost always a quality in a film that will win me over.” – Perri Nemiroff, Collider

“It teeters between the camp Barbie movie we expected and a sometimes too on-the-nose social commentary of society that takes away from important subplots and character development… Overall I left wanting a bit more from the film.” – Sharronda Williams, Pay or Wait

“ Barbie is currently my favorite film of the year.” – Jamie Jirak, ComicBook.com

(Photo by ©Warner Bros.)

How are the performances?

“I was living for the dance numbers led by Simu Liu!” – Carla Renata, The Curvy Film Critic

“Ryan Gosling is a scene stealer delivering most of the laughs while Margot Robbie’s heartfelt performance will tug at your heartstrings.” – Sharronda Williams, Pay or Wait

“Give Ryan Gosling an Oscar nomination, I’m dead serious!” – Jamie Jirak, ComicBook.com

What about the script?

“As for the story, that’s where I’m a bit more mixed. I think the film serves Margot Robbie’s Barbie and her journey especially well, but there are other characters experiencing important arcs that needed more screen time to really dig into and explore to the fullest.” – Perri Nemiroff, Collider

“While I enjoyed most of the film the screenplay feels bloated at times.” – Sharronda Williams, Pay or Wait

Anything else impressive about it?

“The craftsmanship is incredible. In particular, the costume and production design includes next-level work that heavily contributes to creating the feeling that these truly are Barbies, their dream houses, and their worlds come to life.” – Perri Nemiroff, Collider

“The production and costume design is stunning.” – Sharronda Williams, Pay or Wait

“Greta Gerwig left me all in my feelings as did the production design, costumes, hair and makeup!” – Carla Renata, The Curvy Film Critic

“ Barbie is witty, heartfelt, and downright fun at times.” – Sharronda Williams, Pay or Wait

“It’s overblown fun with a feminist twist.” – Carla Renata, The Curvy Film Critic

Barbie opens in theaters everywhere on July 21, 2023.

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Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the ... Read all Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans. Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans.

• Greta Gerwig
• Noah Baumbach
• Margot Robbie
• Ryan Gosling
• 1.8K User reviews
• 455 Critic reviews
• 80 Metascore
• 203 wins & 423 nominations total

Top cast 99+

• Weird Barbie

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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• Trivia Barbie is 23% larger than everything in Barbieland to mimic the awkward, disproportionate scale that real Barbies and Barbie activity sets are produced in. This is why Barbie sometimes appears too large for things like her car or why ceilings seem to be too low in the Dreamhouses.
• Goofs Gloria drives a Chevrolet Blazer SS EV, yet during the car chase scene her electric vehicle makes conventional gas engine acceleration noises.

Ken : To be honest, when I found out the patriarchy wasn't just about horses, I lost interest.

• Crazy credits All the actors playing Barbies and Kens are not indicative of which Barbie and Ken they portray, and are simply listed as playing "Barbie" and "Ken", with the exception. (Just for clarification's sake, Margot Robbie plays "Stereotypical Barbie", Kate McKinnon plays "Weird Barbie", Issa Rae plays "President Barbie", Hari Nef plays "Dr. Barbie", Alexandra Shipp plays "Writer Barbie", Emma Mackey plays "Physicist Barbie", Sharon Rooney plays "Lawyer Barbie", Ana Cruz Kayne plays "Judge Barbie", Dua Lipa plays all the "Mermaid Barbies", Nicola Coughlan plays "Diplomat Barbie", and Ritu Arya plays "Journalist Barbie".)
• Alternate versions The IMAX version, released on September 22, 2023, has an extended runtime of two hours.
• Connections Edited from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
• Soundtracks Requiem (1963/65): 2. Kyrie Written by György Ligeti Performed by Bavarian Radio Orchestra (as Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks) and Francis Travis Courtesy of Deutsche Grammophon GmbH Under licence from Universal Music Operations Ltd

User reviews 1.8K

• HabibieHakim123
• Jul 18, 2023

Incredible Looks From the 'Barbie' Press Tour

• How long is Barbie? Powered by Alexa
• July 21, 2023 (United States)
• United States
• United Kingdom
• Official Instagram
• Official Site
• Venice Beach, Venice, Los Angeles, California, USA
• Warner Bros.
• Heyday Films
• LuckyChap Entertainment
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $100,000,000 (estimated)
• $636,238,421
• $162,022,044
• Jul 23, 2023
• $1,445,638,421

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 54 minutes
• Dolby Digital
• IMAX 6-Track
• 12-Track Digital Sound
• D-Cinema 96kHz 7.1
• Dolby Atmos

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'Barbie' review: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling dazzle in hilariously heady toy story

In director Greta Gerwig’s playful hands, “Barbie” is a bedazzled plastic Trojan horse.

Awash in pink-drenched Dreamhouses and plucky dolls, the enjoyably goofy and enormously creative meta comedy imagines what would happen if Barbie and Ken – with Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling being the chef’s kiss of toy casting – got loose in our world. What Gerwig sneakily pulls off underneath that facade, however, is sort of genius: “Barbie” (★★★½ out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters and available to buy/rent on Apple TV , Vudu , Amazon and Google Play ) is really an insightful exploration of humanity, the meaning of life and the cognitive dissonance of a woman living in the patriarchy, all with a really big heart and style to spare.

Barbie Land is a super-cool place where Barbies rule and can be anything they want – from a president (Issa Rae) to a physicist (Emma Mackey) to a Nobel Prize-winning writer (Alexandra Shipp) – and as far as they're concerned, they pretty much solved equal rights and feminism. Also living in Barbie Land are the hypercompetitive Kens, though they’re rather superfluous and primarily good for cheerleading and dance-party backflips.

Is the 'Barbie' movie for kids? Here's what parents should know

Robbie plays Stereotypical Barbie – as the main character explains, “I’m the Barbie everyone thinks of when you think of Barbie” – and her days are filled with saying hi to other Barbies, tooling around in her convertible (pink, obviously) and hosting fun shindigs. (This seems a good time to point out "Barbie" is a technical marvel with its snazzy costumes and brilliant production design. Who wouldn't want to careen down a Dreamhouse slide daily?)

But oddly, thoughts of death (which she reveals in the worst of places, the dance floor!) creep into her noggin, followed by un-Barbie-like bouts with bad breath, cold showers, burned waffles, flat feet and cellulite. She visits Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon) – a Barbie that’s been played with way too hard – and learns there's a "malfunction" in the connection with her person in the Real World and has to go there to put everything back to normal.

The Ken (Gosling) who’s in love with our hero Barbie – and has a load of crippling insecurities – comes along for the ride, and the situation immediately goes sideways because, well, reality isn’t a Toys R Us aisle. They get arrested (twice), Ken becomes very interested in the fact that men rule this world, and Barbie meets her makers at Mattel, where the CEO (Will Ferrell) wants to put her back in a box.

'Barbie': Margot Robbie never thought she'd have 'empathy for a doll'

Robbie's doll also takes flak from young critics for being a poster toy for consumerism and unrealistic beauty standards and gets a crash course in having emotions – like a twist on Pinocchio, Barbie realizes what it’s like to be a real girl, complete with anxiety and sobbing. Along the way, a couple of human folks, Mattel employee Gloria (a great America Ferrera) and her tween daughter Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt), get caught up in Barbie’s existential crisis.

Written by Gerwig and her partner Noah Baumbach, “Barbie” boasts a joyously wry self-awareness akin to the “Lego Movies,” taps into childhood innocence a la “Toy Story,” plus goes deep weaving in actual Barbie history. (Anyone remember pregnant Midge? The discontinued doll, played by Emerald Fennell, pops up in a running gag.) The narrative jostles between extreme silliness and heady self-reflection, with not a lot of middle ground, though Ferrera and a bunch of brainwashed Barbies are front and center for a hilarious and incisive sequence explaining contemporary gender dynamics.

Surrounded by a supporting cast including Dua Lipa and John Cena, the two leads are stellar together, especially in navigating Barbie and Ken’s complicated codependence. Robbie showcases her comedy chops but really shines in those moments when Barbie is overwhelmed by the ruckus she's inadvertently caused. And Gosling throws himself into all things Ken, wearing an increasingly ludicrous wardrobe and artfully crafting a character arc just as essential to the film’s emotional core as Robbie’s.

That old Aqua song was right: Life in plastic, it is fantastic. With a neon-drenched landscape, a heap of nostalgia and charming performances, Gerwig delivers for all the “Barbie” girls and boys.

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Movie Review: She’s Perfect Barbie. He’s Scene-Stealing Ken. Their life in plastic looks fantastic

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Ryan Gosling, left, and Margot Robbie in a scene from “Barbie.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

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This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Margot Robbie in a scene from “Barbie.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Kingsley Ben-Adir, from left, Ryan Gosling and Ncuti Gatwa in a scene from “Barbie.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP).

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Kate McKinnon in a scene from “Barbie.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows, from left, Emma Mackey, Simu Liu, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and Kingsley Ben-Adir in a scene from “Barbie.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Issa Rae, from left, Scott Evans, Simu Liu, Emma Mackey and Ncuti Gatwa in a scene from “Barbie.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Margot Robbie, from left, Alexandra Shipp, Michael Cera, Ariana Greenblatt and America Ferrera in a scene from “Barbie.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Simu Liu in a scene from “Barbie.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

For someone who’s 11.5 inches tall and weighs under 8 ounces, poor Barbie’s had to carry an awfully heavy load over the years on that slender, plastic back of hers.

Welcomed as a trailblazer in 1959 — An adult doll! With actual breasts! — she was nonetheless branded an anti-feminist a decade later when women’s rights marchers chanted “I Am Not a Barbie Doll,” referring to her unrealistic body type (and perhaps ignoring the fact that she was single, a homeowner and a career woman).

As years went by, Barbie had her hits (adopting a more inclusive body type, running for president) and misses (exclaiming “Math class is TOUGH!” — ouch). Through it all, this lightning rod in tiny pink heels remained uniquely talented at reinventing herself.

Which is why it makes sense that now, writer-director Greta Gerwig takes Barbie in more than one direction – in every direction, really – in her brash, clever, idea-packed (if ultimately TOO packed) and most of all, eye-poppingly lovely “Barbie,” the brand’s first live action movie.

Is it a celebratory homage to Barbie and her history? Yes. Also a cutting critique, and biting satire? Yes, too. The film is co-produced by Mattel, and they must have felt skittish about some elements — perhaps not Will Ferrell’s reliably buffoonish Mattel CEO, but a far more serious scene where a young girl accuses Barbie of making girls feel bad about themselves. The movie’s also about gender dynamics, mothers and daughters, insidious sexism ... and more.

But the neatest trick is how “Barbie,” starring a pitch-perfect Margot Robbie — and after a minute you’ll never be able to imagine anyone else doing it — can simultaneously and smoothly both mock and admire its source material. Gerwig deftly threads that needle, even if the film sags in its second half under the weight of its many ideas and some less-than-developed character arcs.

In any case, boy — or should we say, girl — life in plastic looks fantastic.

A head-spinning opening credits sequence begins with a Barbie history lesson, narrated by Helen Mirren. Then it’s off to Barbie Land, where Barbie lives in her flamingo-pink Dreamhouse, surrounded by other Barbies in theirs.

Other Barbies? Well, we know how many Barbie versions exist on store shelves, and Gerwig and her writing (and life) partner Noah Baumbach take this one step further: If they’re all Barbies, that means “Barbie” is all of THEM. There’s no one Barbie — although Robbie, who plays Stereotypical Barbie (and also produced the film), is the focal point.

And every day’s perfect for Stereotypical Barbie, who wakes in her heart-shaped bed, waves to neighbor Barbies, and heads to the shower, which is dry (there’s no actual water, wind, sun or gravity in Barbie Land.) Her day’s outfit awaits, perhaps a Chanel number, protected by shiny plastic as in a Barbie box. Then she swoops down her hot pink slide to the pool-with-no-water. The sky above is painted blue, the mountains purple. Gerwig was inspired by old soundstage musicals. Architectural Digest even did a piece on the house.

Equally stunning is “Beach” — a place, and also the name of Ken’s career. (Sorry Ken, we should have mentioned you before the 11th paragraph, but we had so much to say about Barbie). The beach is also apparently where Ken lives, because, have you ever heard of Ken’s house? In any case, a very blond Ryan Gosling gleefully chews the scenery — or, inhales it — and is never better than when conveying Ken’s forced enthusiasm with an edge of desperation plus a sprinkle of menace. Also, when dancing.

Speaking of dancing, one night at Barbie’s “giant blowout party,” she suddenly starts thinking about … death. The next morning she has bad breath, and OMG, her famously arched feet go flat! Also gravity happens, so she falls off her house.

After consulting with Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon — who else?) Barbie heads to LA to solve a tear in the boundary between Real World and Barbie Land, singing the Indigo Girls’ “Closer to Fine,” her signature road song. (The film’s high-powered soundtrack features Dua Lipa, Nicki Minaj, HAIM, Lizzo, Billie Eilish, and many others.) There, she and Ken encounter a world with a wrinkle: Men have the upper hand. No all-female Supreme Court here! Hmm, thinks Ken.

On the run from Mattel, Barbie encounters Gloria (America Ferrera), mother of tween Sasha, who has mixed feelings about Barbie, not to mention Mom. In her spare time, Gloria sketches ideas for new Barbies — as in Thoughts of Impending Death Barbie (not to be confused with Depression Barbie.) Gloria helps rescue Barbie and also proves of crucial help when they later discover that Ken and the other Kens — Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir and others — are up to no good.

There’s so much more, and we’re over our word limit — which may just be the feeling Gerwig had when trying to fit her ideas under two hours. And all her actors: It would’ve been great to see more Issa Rae as President Barbie, Emerald Fennell as pregnant, discontinued Midge, and Michael Cera as Allan-who-can-wear-Ken’s-clothes. In any case, the snappy pace starts to lag.

Not to discount Ferrera’s eloquent monologue, in which Gloria educates newly conscious Barbie about the landmines women face trying to navigate social rules that don’t seem to apply to men, like how to be a mom and also a professional, the need to be “thin” but call it “healthy,” and other things.

And if, Gloria concludes, all this is true for a doll just trying to represent a woman ... what does that mean for the rest of us? Which is, perhaps, the essential Barbie dilemma — she’s always been judged by rather impossible standards.

Nevertheless, she persists. All 11.5 inches of her. And now she’s Movie Star Barbie.

“Barbie,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release, has been rated PG-13 “for suggestive references and brief language.” Running time: 114 minutes. Three stars out of four.

MPAA definition of PG-13: Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

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Greta Gerwig’s gloriously playful comedy is a pop opera of kitschy joys and biting satire.

Time Out says

Barbie has long been famous for exercising something akin to total mind control on the nation’s female under-sixes, but even so it’s hard not to marvel at the sheer level of meme-ified hype Greta Gerwig ’s Barbie has achieved this summer. Pop-ups, tie-ins, special screenings… Google its stars’ names and a digital sprinkle of fuchsia glitter appears. It was probably quite hard to talk the marketing team down from dyeing the worlds’ oceans pink.

Still, the idea of Gerwig being allowed to play with Mattel’s favourite toy is so irresistible that Barbie probably didn’t need to go to all this effort: This is a director whose films are automatically get-the-gals-together landmark events. And if Barbie doesn’t quite have the emotional sensitivity or the storytelling craft of Gerwig at her best (as seen in Lady Bird or Little Women ), it still has enough archness, weirdness and unabashed femininity to be completely exhilarating.

Gerwig’s signature joke here is to treat the practical ramifications of the actual Barbie toys coming to life with total seriousness. Barbie showers in invisible water, floats into her car from above and hangs out with friends who are all also called Barbie. Sarah Greenwood’s production design is extraordinary, splicing details from every era of Barbie’s style journey into a coherent universe of Dream Houses nestled among the familiar rocky mountain ranges of classic movies, bordered with sparkling transparent plastic seas.  

The opening sequences have the nostalgic sensory overwhelm of being back in a tweenage bedroom, high on the pupil-dilating scent of glitter nail polish, with Barbie and her friends partying in a burst of sequins, light and bubblegum pop. “You guys ever think about dying?” asks Barbie, immaculately realised by Margot Robbie. The music cuts. Existential dread is not on brand for Mattel. But it’s catnip to this film’s twenty and thirtysomething core audience, one that’s fallen for the kind of nihilistic hyper-femininity whose touchstones are Lana Del Ray or Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette .

Barbie’s death wish comes from her real-life owner, and so (on the advice of Weirdo Barbie, played with goggle-eyed zaniness by the wonderful Kate McKinnon) she has to break out into the real world to track her down. And Ken tags along, although he doesn’t add much: “My job, it’s just beach,” says Ryan Gosling, visibly loving getting to explore his funny side. What follows is a warped coming-of-age comedy where poor Barbie has to discover the horrors of sexism, self-consciousness, cellulite, objectification and the omnipresent patriarchy, while Ken has a pretty nice time being the centre of attention for once.

Gerwig’s satire is searching, extending right up to the all-male board of Mattel (the grey-suited villains here) and its bland vision of diversity: You can be whatever you want to be, as long as you’re also a Barbie, with all the aesthetic and political palatability that implies. Inevitably, she struggles to neatly close this Pandora’s box of critique. So instead, she and co-writer Noah Baumbach satirise feminism too, and the way that we optimistically think that articulating the problems with the status quo will actually change things. “By giving voice to the cognitive dissonance of being a woman under the patriarchy you robbed it of its power!” one Barbie tells another, proudly and emptily.

It’s a glorious, nihilistic conclusion to a film that unfortunately takes quite a bit longer to actually finish. The final scenes descend into a mawkish excess of earnestness, and the storyline following Ken’s lurch into men’s rights-type sexism and subsequent rehabilitation is undermined by the fact that while Barbie becomes fully human, he’s never allowed to be more than a spaniel-brained himbo. 

Still, this is a wonderfully fun watch that somehow manages to simultaneously celebrate and satirise the Barbie brand, its feminism and girliness pairing like gorpcore sandals with a floaty pink skirt. It’s Barbie’s world, and it’s a thrill to live in it, at least for an hour or two. In cinemas worldwide Fri Jul 21

Cast and crew

• Director: Greta Gerwig
• Screenwriter: Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach
• Margot Robbie
• Kate McKinnon
• Michael Cera
• Ryan Gosling
• Emma Mackey
• Will Ferrell

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Barbie review: Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig's visual confection plays a little too much like an advertisement

Topic: Arts, Culture and Entertainment

Margot Robbie is a co-producer of the film and approached Gerwig to write and direct it. ( Supplied: Warner Bros. )

Traditional tentpoles just aren't cashing in anymore. Marvel's chokehold at the box office is loosening; Pixar's lost its steam. What's a Hollywood exec to do except throw a wad of cash at some decades-old IP?

This year alone, we've had adaptations based on Beanie Babies , BlackBerry , Tetris , and Air Jordans . Some might even be called films! None, though, have arrived as freighted with expectation as Barbie: the candyland adaptation of the 64-year-old doll that is, depending on who you ask, either the reigning girlboss or the worst thing to happen to children since measles.

Barbie, per its slightly cloying slogan, is aimed at both camps. "If you love Barbie, this movie is for you," its trailer proselytises. Then: "If you hate Barbie, this movie is for you."

Gerwig told ABC RN's The Screen Show, the set was inspired by the painted backdrops of 50s musicals. ( Supplied: Warner Bros. )

For months preceding its release, Barbie's hype machine – simultaneously the most tireless and tiresome of any film in recent memory – has been ensuring its ubiquity, its utter monopoly over the cultural domain.

Spare a thought for the overworked and underslept PR peons behind the scenes: There are Barbie Xboxes , Barbie desserts , and Barbie burgers . There is a Barbie toothbrush set described as " the best oral beauty collection ever ". The tube stop for a certain London arts institution has been renamed the Barbiecan.

All of it, of course, is drenched in a highly specific shade of pink: a hue used so abundantly on the Barbie set that there was a worldwide paint shortage .

Needless to say, this is a work inseparable from its promotion. For its Mattel masterminds – if not necessarily for its director Greta Gerwig ( Lady Bird ; Little Women), who wrote the screenplay with her creative and romantic partner Noah Baumbach ( White Noise ; Marriage Story) – the brand is the point; an adaptation is merely an exercise in puffery.

So is it any good?

Barbie was launched in 1959 by Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler, who named the toy after her daughter. ( Supplied: Warner Bros. )

Well, it is certainly a movie – though it often plays like an extended advertisement, however tongue-in-cheek its screenplay may be.

Its narrative – which has remained notoriously mysterious throughout all of its frenzied marketing – splits time between two settings: There is Barbie Land, and there is the real world.

The former is a coastal idyll of lurid colour and beaming perfection. It is a Barbie oligarchy populated by dolls of all varieties: among others, a president (Issa Rae), a doctor (Hari Nef), a physicist (Emma Mackey) and a diplomat (Nicola Coughlan).

Barbie Land has eradicated the follies and foibles of human society; its inhabitants believe the real world is similarly utopian, constructed in their image. "Who am I to burst their bubble?" a narrator (Helen Mirren) intones.

"[The film] surprises you in the way that … it makes you think about yourself," Issa Rae told ABC RN's Stop Everything! ( Supplied: Warner Bros. )

Unmarred by outside intrusion, the Barbies roam around their isle in splendid harmony. Each male resident is relegated to second-class citizen: an Adonic himbo whose sole purpose in life is "just…beach", as put by Ryan Gosling's Ken, moments after he sprints full-speed towards a plastic ocean wave.

Like that wave, Barbie Land goes to great lengths to demonstrate its artificiality: The clothes sparkle with a CGI twinkle, characters float through the air, the sky is an uncanny shade of turquoise.

At the centre of it all is Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie, who also conceptualised and produced this film), who wakes each morning to a cheery chorus of greetings from her peers.

No sooner have we been plunged into this Edenic setting than strange rumblings begin to emerge. Ken is disgruntled at Barbie's lack of reciprocal affection; Barbie deals with the first glimmers of existential dread. Dolls: they're just like us!

Barbie's world is crumbling: Suddenly, her milk is "expired", her once-arched soles are flat, and she has developed – quelle horreur! – a single patch of cellulite.

(It all feels eerily close in structure to last year's Don't Worry Darling – that other Truman Show-indebted film about a glitching fantasy land.)

Before long, Stereotypical Barbie is whisked away for a rendezvous with Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon): an oracle-slash-outcast, spiky in both hair and manner, who's been exiled to a house in the hills along with her pooch Tanner – based on a defecating dog toy that was discontinued by Mattel in 2006 for its choking hazard.

The real world, Weird Barbie deduces, is leaking into theirs. In an effort to "restore the membrane" between the two realms, Stereotypical Barbie – with a surprise Ken in tow – wends her way past desert highways and frosty mountaintops to arrive in Venice Beach, where the pair bear witness to all the depravities of this place called Earth.

It is here that the film grows unwieldy.

"If people don’t want to play with my Ken, there are many other Kens to play with," Gosling told GQ. ( Supplied: Warner Bros. )

Gerwig, to date, has excelled at tales of relationship tension streaked with neuroticism. As an actor, she garnered a reputation for her downbeat and inept mumblecore heroines. Meanwhile, the titular protagonists of her Oscar-nominated Lady Bird as well as Noah Baumbach's Frances Ha – which she co-wrote – stake their claim in the world with a healthy, mercurial disregard for polite society.

As her star has grown, so too have her films: "Her ambition is to be … a big studio director," her agent told the New Yorker earlier this year.

Barbie, in this sense, is capacious to a fault. It's so abundant in scope that the film often sacrifices Gerwig's greatest talent: observing and replicating human dysfunction.

Barbie and Ken might be caricatures – and rightfully so – but so are the people they meet outside of Barbie Land.

The contrarian adolescent Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt) and her mother Gloria (America Ferrera) – Barbie's human owners – are so thinly sketched that they remain little more than ciphers for great tides of public opinion.

"It most certainly is a feminist film," Gerwig told ABC's 7.30. ( Supplied: Warner Bros. )

Sasha comes armed with every Barbie critique from the past six decades: she's promoting unhealthy bodies, she's an agent of consumerism, she's vapid and anti-intellectual. Gloria holds the exact inverse view; to her, Barbie is a bastion of aspirational womanhood who can – and should – shoulder the responsibility of representation.

Sasha and Gloria, inevitably, become entangled in Barbie's quest as she goes on the lam from her captors at a fictionalised version of Mattel. The mother-daughter duo spearheads a plot to reclaim Barbie Land from Ken, who, having tasted the spoils of patriarchy in the real world, has transformed into an Andrew Tate type – boxing gloves and all – and has brainwashed all the women around him into doting servants with brewski in hand.

It is mythical, operatic in scale.

But the film can't sustain such heaving plot demands, so unfocussed are its aims.

It is a film for kids that exaggerates its hammy antics and slapstick capers. It is an adult meta-comedy about the weight of womanhood – with a few throwaway lines about the Snyder Cut and Stephen Malkmus thrown in for good measure.

"It seems like over the last 64 years, it hasn't taken much for Barbie to ignite conversation or sometimes … revolutions or protests," Robbie told 7.30. ( Supplied: Warner Bros. )

It is for the suits at Mattel – a studio with 45 toy adaptations currently in development, that makes $US1.5 billion in profit from Barbie annually, and indoctrinates any prospective filmmakers via a " brand immersion " experience. It is for reviewers, critic-proofing itself with increasingly tired asides and interjections to attest that yes, it is aware of Barbie's corporate associations.

It nods to camp, in all its aesthetic excess and fuschia hegemony. But the vision that triumphs is as straight and strait-jacketed as it ever has been, any attempts at diversity merely mirroring Mattel's own production line of Barbies – an endlessly iterating range of moneymakers designed to capture an ever-increasing sweep of minorities.

It winks at cinema nerds, proving its bona fides in a slew of visual references to Kubrick , Tati , Demy . But it aims for the general public, with its crowd-pleasing jokes, focus-grouped soundtrack, and one overlong monologue which plays like the best feminist manifesto of 2016.

By its own admission, it is a film for everyone – and therefore no-one.

For all its confectionary diversions, Barbie is a hardened attempt at wholesale appeal: as plastic as its candy-coloured sets.

Barbie is in cinemas now.

• Entertainment
• <i>Barbie</i> Is Officially the Biggest Movie of the Year—And It’s Not Going Anywhere

Barbie Is Officially the Biggest Movie of the Year—And It’s Not Going Anywhere

Barbie is on top of the world. Every week since its release on July 21, it's broken a record: The year's biggest opening weekend ; the largest opening for a female director ever ; Warner Bros.' highest grossing domestic release in history , surpassing Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight . But now, it's breaking a big one: Barbie has become the highest-growing movie of 2023 reaching $575.4 million domestically this week, according to Variety . It has already grossed $1.3 billion globally and will soon surpass Super Mario Bros. in its worldwide gross as well.

It's a big number for any film, but it's especially significant for Barbie . When I wrote a cover story about the film earlier this year, box office prognosticators initially predicted the movie would make $55 million its opening weekend . It nearly tripled that estimate with a $162 million haul in just those first few days after release. It's also the first time Warner Bros. has managed to snag the title of biggest release of the year since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II.

Will Barbie be topped this year? Probably not. Here's why and what it may mean for the future of Hollywood movies.

Read More: Our Cover Story on Barbie

Barbie is Greta Gerwig's unique vision—which means its success isn't easily replicable

Unfortunately, Hollywood tends to take away the wrong lessons from the success of idiosyncratic films. After The Dark Knight became a blockbuster, Hollywood decided that gritty was always good—even if it didn't fit the material (think: Snow White and the Huntsman, the body horror Fantastic Four movie, and Zack Snyder's dark take on Superman, comics' most hopeful superhero). Avatar's history-making numbers spawned a trend of films rendered in 3D for no particular reason. And the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe spawned dozens of imitation cinematic universes, like Universal's failed "Dark Universe" that ended as quickly as it began after Tom Cruise's (gritty) The Mummy remake bombed.

In this instance, the same logic would follow: a toy movie performed well, so toy movies will inevitably proliferate. Mattel executives told me that they had already planned to build the brand's own cinematic universe long before Barbie was ever released, but now other studios are rushing to turn toys into films: Hasbro launched a new entertainment division in August.

Read More: Why It Took 64 Years to Make a Barbie Movie

It's difficult to imagine any other movie based on a toy ever reaching Barbie' s heights. Barbie is an icon. She has name recognition across the world equal to Mickey Mouse and Coca-Cola. And, sure, Hot Wheels may be popular, but won't a Hot Wheels movie just be a racing movie, even if J.J. Abrams is at the helm as executive producer?

Mattel certainly isn't shying away from taking risks: I'm particularly interested in Daniel Kaluuya's involvement with what sounds like a very meta Barney movie (as in, yes, the big purple dinosaur); whether Lena Dunham can find a quirky take on Polly Pocket ; and if a Magic 8 Ball horror movie can actually prove to be scary. And yet just about every girl in the world has played with Barbie at some point and has (often complex) feelings about her. I could be wrong, but I don ' t think many people have strong feelings about the Magic 8 Ball.

Beyond Mattel's film division, other studios are looking for major takeaways. One obvious one, that I've argued before : Make movies for women, and audiences will come! Barbie leans heavily into femininity—the assault of pink has been relentless, and yet people seem to have not tired of it. In a recent Rolling Stone interview , Randall Park hit the nail on the head: "I feel like, just in general, this industry is taking the wrong lessons. For example, Barbie is this massive blockbuster, and the idea is: Make more movies about toys! No. Make more movies by and about women!"

I fear that even if studios heed Park's advice, in the short-term that will mean Disney hyping up the fact that The Marvels is a female-fronted superhero film, even though superhero movies have traditionally catered to a young male audience, regardless of who stars in them. Or studios might paint a sheen of pink on other films without stuffing the stories without Gerwig's complex considerations about male fragility, female frustrations, and whether we can reach a state of equity.

Read More: We're Ignoring the Real Reason Barbie Might Dominate the Box Office

Gerwig happened to make two masterpieces before Barbie about the complex interiority of women: Lady Bird and Little Women . She found a way to pack considerations she has already articulated beautifully in those films into a blockbuster movie, a feat pulled off by a select few artists. ( Ryan Coogler's interrogation of race in the context of an increasingly globalized world in Black Panther and James Cameron's blunt but effective advocacy for saving our dying planet in the Avatar films come to mind.) It's easy to make a blockbuster. It's hard to make a thoughtful one.

Perhaps most depressing for theater owners: Gerwig's next project is a series of Narnia movies...for streamer Netflix.

Barbie was able to pull millions of moviegoers to theaters because it was fun

Barbie was special. Credit the Warner Bros. and Mattel marketing teams that partnered with seemingly every clothing line, decor company, and makeup brand on earth to turn our social media timelines pink.

Read More: Every Single Barbie Partnership That We Could Find

Or praise director Greta Gerwig , who could have made a toy commercial and instead stuffed a fun summer romp with meditations on God and feminism and Sylvester Stallone's bizarre wardrobe.

Or acknowledge that TikTok played a massive role in turning a rivalry between two movies that could not be more different into the Barbenheimer phenomenon that made moviegoing fun again. Think about how many people spent more than five hours in a movie theater—sometimes in the same day—over the course of a hot summer weekend.

In short, Barbie was fun. And we were all in desperate need of fun. Barbie simply had to be experienced in a theater, ideally with friends, and definitely with a flock of other pink-clad moviegoers.

Read More: Why Barbenheimer Mania Is Unstoppable

Barbie pulled people back to theaters just when cinemas needed audiences most. Nearly one-in-five people who saw Barbie either couldn't remember the last time they saw a movie or knew that they had not seen a movie since before COVID-19 spread, according to a survey of more than 1800 people conducted by The Quorum .

Of those people who were returning to the theater for the first time since the pandemic, 40% said that watching Barbie in theaters reminded them of how much they enjoy going to the movies and they planned to go more often. So Barbie could fuel a larger theatergoing boost. It certainly did for Oppenheimer : 6% of people who bought a ticket to the Christopher Nolan movie opening weekend did so because Barbie was sold out. That would seem to suggest a rising tide lifts all boats. Except, there's only one problem with that theory. An additional 45% surveyed said they would go to the movies more often, but cost was an issue and it would take a movie "as exciting" as Barbie to get them back to theaters. That's unlikely to happen.

Many fall movies are moving because of the Hollywood strikes

Many of the movies you have been looking forward to this fall may not hit theaters for a long time. Actors who are members of SAG-AFTRA aren't permitted to promote their movie because of the strike—with very few exceptions. Studios are worried that certain titles might underperform in theaters if their stars aren't walking the red carpet or giving interviews or posting on social media.

In late July, Sony announced that it was pushing the release dates for Kraven the Hunter and the latest Ghostbusters film to 2024. And it's not just potential blockbusters that are moving on the release calendar: Searchlight Pictures has postponed Poor Things to November, while Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer moved Challengers to April of next year. The fact that studios are willing to take a short-term hit on their profits this year by moving these films demonstrates just how dependent they are on actors like Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Paul Rudd, Emma Stone, and Zendaya to actively promote their movies and coax audiences to theaters.

Read More: Fran Drescher on Why SAG-AFTRA Is Striking

Even Netflix, a company that's mostly focused on streaming numbers—as demonstrated by how quickly it pushed Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery to streaming last year, potentially missing out on millions—has delayed a handful of its major releases until 2024, including the Millie Bobbie Brown fantasy epic Damsel , the Nicole Kidman-Zac Efron rom-com A Family Affair , and the Adam Sandler movie Spaceman .

Recent interviews with Hollywood insiders published in Vanity Fair suggest the writers' strike and actors' strike may well drag on until October or November. This means plenty more studios are likely considering pushing their movie star flicks until next year when the actors can hopefully grace magazine covers and post on TikTok about their red carpet looks again.

It's hard to imagine any movie topping Barbie in 2023

A few big tentpoles, including movies like The Marvels and Aquaman 2 , are still on the calendar for the holiday season. But those superhero movies face an uphill climb, especially after Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Flash both underperformed at the box office earlier this year. Superhero fatigue is real, and fans and critics have begun to comment on the notable dip in quality of these properties in the last several years, a problem compounded by the convoluted plots that depend on the audience watching an ever-growing number of movies and shows. For example, in order to keep up with the characters The Marvels , including Brie Larson's Captain Marvel, Teyonah Parris' Monica Rambeau, and Iman Vellani's Ms. Marvel, you'll have to not only watch Captain Marvel , but also WandaVision , Miss Marvel , and probably Secret Invasion .

On the DCEU side, James Gunn and Peter Safran have announced they're blowing everything up . Jason Momoa will reportedly no longer play Aquaman, which begs the question: Why would you go see Momoa in the Aquaman sequel that will immediately lose relevance?

Another major holiday play is Wonka , which at least has the decency to be directed by Paul King, best known for the delightful Paddington movies. But weigh King's involvement against Timothée Chalamet singing, and the fact that Hugh Grant is playing an Oompa Loompa , and it's difficult to surmise whether this movie will connect with families—or eclipsing Barbie .

The biggest threat to Barbie may be Dune: Part Two, a movie that looks tailor-made for the theatrical experience. It's a universe that many fans are eager to see rendered on the largest screen possible, especially since the first installment released during a part of the pandemic when audiences were still avoiding theaters. Though, again, the actors' strike, if it continues, may prove problematic for the sci-fi epic. Director Denis Villeneuve explicitly cast the movie with some of the most promising talent in Hollywood , betting big on future stars. If Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet, Florence Pugh, and Austin Butler can't appear on red carpets and post on Instagram about the film, it may be hard for the studio to lure a big audience—especially Gen Zers—to the film.

That's great news for Barbie' s box office—and perhaps even better news for the movie's Oscar hopes. If prestige autumn films move because of the strike or flounder at the box office because their stars can't promote their projects, then Barbie will continue to stick in awards voters minds not only as a critical success and box office juggernaut, but the most memorable time they had at the movies this year.

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Write to Eliana Dockterman at [email protected]

Breezy ‘Barbie’ is a blast — a smart, funny social commentary dressed up in candy colors

Margot robbie and ryan gosling achieve some sublime moments as the dolls who discover life isn’t easy outside the safety of barbieland..

“Barbie” opens with the title character (Margot Robbie) living in a cheerfully artificial world with boyfriend Ken (Ryan Gosling) but starting to become self-aware.

Warner Bros.

Given the massive waves of admittedly clever and very pink marketing we’ve experienced in the weeks and months leading up to the release of Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” I found myself thinking this better be the “Citizen Kane” of Movies Based on Real Toys or Dolls, and you know what, it is indeed the “Citizen Kane” of Movies Based on Real Toys or Dolls. I mean, who’s going to lay claim to the title? You, “Transformers,” or you, “G.I. Joe,” or you, “Care Bears Movie,” or you, “The Lego Movie”?

OK, so I actually loved “The Lego Movie,” but “Barbie” is next level. Thanks to the creative efforts of director Gerwig (who co-wrote the screenplay with her partner Noah Baumbach), the absolutely pitch-perfect casting starting with the gorgeous and talented humans Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, and a candy-colored, screen-popping production design that transports us to Barbieland and beyond, this is a truly original work — one of the smartest, funniest, sweetest, most insightful and just plain flat-out entertaining movies of the year.

With Helen Mirren providing the narration (including a fourth-wall-breaking aside midway through the film that kills), “Barbie” begins with a prologue proving there’s still some original humor to be mined from paying homage to “2001: A Space Odyssey” as we see little girls reacting with great, um, enthusiasm to the arrival of Barbie, who pretty much breaks the mold when it comes to dolls.

From there, we’re plunged into Barbieland, a self-contained, Day-Glo-colored world that is so cheerfully artificial it makes the town in “The Truman Show” seem downright gritty. Margot Robbie’s Barbie is often referred to — and refers to herself — as “Stereotypical Barbie,” as she mirrors the Caucasian, fashion-conscious, shapely, fun-loving Barbie that was introduced by Mattel Inc. in 1959 and became wildly popular in America and worldwide.

With the brilliant cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (“Brokeback Mountain,” “The Wolf of Wall Street”) lensing and six-time Oscar nominee production designer Sarah Greenwood delivering sets bursting with creative touches, we follow Barbie through her typical day, which is nearly identical to the day before and the day before that, and the day before that. She wakes up looking perfect, takes a shower (there’s no water because this is Barbie’s world), enjoys a breakfast (there’s no milk in that cup because this is pretend-land) and goes about her day, greeting a myriad of other Barbies, including: President Barbie (Issa Rae), Doctor Barbie (Hari Nef), Writer Barbie (Alexandra Shipp), Journalist Barbie (Ritu Arya) and Diplomat Barbie (Nicola Coughlan), among others.

You see, in Barbieland, the women are smart, educated, kind, caring, powerful, upbeat and in control, while the men are useless eye candy. Ryan Gosling’s Ken is a six-packed himbo who preens and poses on the beach, hoping to gain Barbie’s attentions and affections, while engaging in petty bickering with a series of equally dimwitted and hunky Kens played by Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Ncuti Gatwa and Scott Evans. (Nobody ever questions why there are no children or older people in Barbieland. It’s just … Barbieland!)

As usual, the night ends with a raging dance party at Barbie’s dream house — but Barbie stuns the whole gang when she suddenly blurts out, “You guys ever think about dying?”

Uh-oh. Something is going on. Barbie is becoming self-aware.

With the help of Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon), who has been twisted this way and that, and had her hair chopped by the human who played with her, Barbie sets out for the Real World, with Ken along for the ride. Some predictable hijinks ensue, as Barbie quickly learns women are NOT in charge of everything, and Ken becomes enamored with learning about The Patriarchy, and you will never hear the term “The Patriarchy” as often as you’ll hear it in this movie. Will Ferrell does his Will Ferrell thing as the pompous blowhard CEO of Mattel, who directs his (all-male) upper management staff to find Barbie and literally put her in a box so she can be sent back to Barbieland. (Ken is an afterthought because Ken IS an afterthought.)

America Ferrera’s Gloria, a Mattel employee, becomes Barbie’s ally in the real world, while Gloria’s daughter Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt) tells Barbie she set the women’s movement back 50 years and can’t believe her mom is so excited to meet the real Barbie. With plenty of social commentary, not all of it particularly subtle, served up along the way, “Barbie” still never loses sight of its silly and wickedly funny side, especially through a handful of musical numbers, and a ridiculous battle sequence on the Barbieland beach involving waves of Kens using tennis rackets and volleyballs as weapons.

The ensemble cast is terrific, with Ferrera lending great heart and delivering a show-stopping speech about the expectations and pressures and burdens of being a woman. Robbie and Gosling sport some amazing costumes and truly lean into their roles; the acting here should not be underestimated because it’s a “Barbie” movie. There are small moments, as when Robbie as Barbie slumps to the ground and sits and then falls to the side exactly like an actual Barbie doll, that are sublime. Closing with one of the most memorable lines of any movie in recent memory, “Barbie” is a summer breeze of a movie and a pop culture phenomenon.

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New barbie movie being discussed, but greta gerwig & margot robbie reportedly aren’t thrilled.

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14 Upcoming Movies Based On Mattel Toys Releasing After Barbie

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• Mattel is reportedly in talks to partner with Illumination to bring an animated Barbie movie to life.
• Director Greta Gerwig and star Margot Robbie, who would seemingly not be involved in the project, are said to not be keen on the idea.
• Given Illumination's recent track record of animated hits and Barbie 's positive reception last year, an animated Barbie movie from them seems like an obvious recipe for box office success.

A new Barbie movie is reportedly being discussed, but Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig are said to not be keen on the idea. Based on the iconic Mattel doll, Barbie, which was directed by Gerwig and features Robbie in the title role, was released last summer to critical and commercial success. The movie becoming a smash hit led to questions regarding the potential for Barbie 2 and the larger future of the screen side of the franchise.

Now, Matthew Belloni reports in his Puck newsletter that Mattel is in talks with Illumination, the company behind the Despicable Me and Minions franchises, to bring an animated take on Barbie to life . Mattel retains the animation rights for Barbie , meaning they could partner with Illumination without affecting whatever plans are in place with Warner Bros. regarding the live-action future of the franchise. According to the report, both Robbie and Gerwig are aware that Illumination talks are taking place and " aren't thrilled " about the idea.

Is An Animated Barbie Movie Inevitable?

Illumination is an obvious choice for an animated barbie universe.

Barbie reviews were glowing from critics and audiences alike, and the film ended up becoming a box office sensation. Made on an estimated budget of $145 million, the film would ultimately gross $1.446 billion worldwide. From every angle, the film was a hit, and Mattel will certainly be taking this as a sign that the world is ready for more Barbie .

Barbie 's success was due in part to the "Barbenheimer" phenomenon, which began as a result of both Gerwig's film and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer releasing on the same day. What began as an apparent competition between the two films eventually blossomed into a celebration of both among audiences.

Barbie 2 with both Gerwig and Robbie is an obvious place to start given the positive reception to their creative vision for the character. A Ken spinoff starring Ryan Gosling , too, is another possibility. Pushing the franchise into feature film animation, however, would be an additional way to create more Barbie content potentially without messing with whatever ideas Gerwig may have in place for the live-action realm. Illumination, specifically, would also be a big get for Mattel given the company's involvement in some of the most successful animated movies in recent memory.

Mattel Films has announced numerous developments to turn its famous toys into major motion pictures, all inspired by the massive success of Barbie.

In addition to Despicable Me and Minions , Illumination released The Super Mario Bros. Movie in 2023 , which, despite lukewarm reviews from critics, was a major hit with audiences and grossed $1.362 billion worldwide. Many of Illumination's movies, in fact, follow a similar trend, receiving middling responses from critics but striking a major chord with family audiences. Though it might be Illumination's critical track record that is giving Robbie and Gerwig pause, Mattel partnering with the company for an animated Barbie movie makes a lot of sense from a commercial perspective.

Source: Puck

Barbie is a multimedia franchise that started with the original Barbie doll created in 1959 by Ruth Handler, who would go on to be a co-founder of Mattel. Over a billion Barbie dolls have been sold since then, which spawned several TV shows, movies, video games, and other merchandise. In 2023, a Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie was released.

• Barbie (2023)

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‘the bikeriders’ 4k ultra hd movie review.

Filmmaker Jeff Nichols’ period crime drama roars from the cinemas to the 4K disc format to enchant home theater owners in love with midwestern motorcycle culture in The Bikeriders ( Universal Studios Home Entertainment, rated R, 116 minutes, 2:39:1 aspect ratio, $44.98).

Inspired by Danny Lyon’s photobook of the same name, the movie covers the violent shenanigans of the Chicago-based Vandals Motorcycle Club, a fictional version of the actual Outlaws Motorcycle Club, from 1965 to 1973 as they transitioned into an organized gang.

The story of the “club” comes to light via photojournalist Lyon (Mike Faist) as he interviews riders but focuses on Kathy Bauer (Jodie Comer) who fell in love with and married the newest Vandals’ member leader Benny Cross (Austin Butler).

Mr. Nichol’s methodical exposition of the crumbling morality of a burgeoning biker gang plays out through some brutal characters sporting vintage Northside Chicago, working-class accents and mightily succeeds due to the phenomenal cast.

Not only do Ms. Comer and Mr. Butler (certainly channeling James Dean) carry the dramatic load, but heavyweights include Tom Hardy as gang leader Johnny (imagine Marlin Brando with a Chicago accent), Michael Shannon as trusted biker Zipco and Norman Reedus as the relocated California biker Funny Sonny.

Also, watch the end credits for some actual photos from the book that covered the gang in 1965.

4K in action: Sure, the ultra-high definition spotlights the production design on urban neighborhoods and gritty cinematography, but viewers will be equally impressed inspecting the incredible collection of vintage motorcycles assembled including the 1956 Harley-Davidson FLH.

Equally eye-catching is the costuming of the gang relegated to greasy and dirty jeans, leather and jean jackets with embroidered patches, and scuffed leather boots.

And, hearing those mechanical beasts is equally immersive, thanks to the all-surrounding Dolby Atmos mix as engines roar from the speakers.

Best extras: An optional commentary track with Mr. Nichols, who also wrote the script, sheds plenty of light on his love for the project, its background and the production.

Often focused on the source material, the director covers the subtext of the narrative, diving into his “hybrid” film that mixes fact and fiction such as some of the dialogue for Kathy was taken directly from Mr. Lyon’s original audiotapes.

The memories of the 15-year odyssey to make the film play out as the director offers much introspection of his thematic and cinematic choices.

He covers why he used Kathy as the narrator, on deciding to shoot the film in Cincinnati, his vintage musical choices, casting choices, coordinating the mud fight sequence and identifying the characters’ real-life counterparts in the photos at the end of the film.

Viewers then only get three short featurettes: three minutes on the production; a three-minute spotlight on the director; and a little more than three minutes in a minuscule look at the vintage clothing and motorcycles used in the film.

Unfortunately, viewers get very few specifics on the types and years of the bikes used and that is too bad since they were occasionally the stars of the movie.

• Joseph Szadkowski can be reached at [email protected] .

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Timothée Chalamet Visited ‘Barbie’ Set and Told Greta Gerwig, ‘I Should’ve Been in This.’ She Responded: ‘I Know! Why Aren’t You?’

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Greta Gerwig revealed in an interview with Hollywood First Look during her “ Barbie ” press tour that Timothée Chalamet visited the film’s set in London and lamented over not being able to star in the film. Gerwig directed Chalamet in both “Lady Bird” and “Little Women.” The filmmaker previously told CinemaBlend  that Chalamet and her muse Saoirse Ronan were courted for cameo appearances in “Barbie” but scheduling conflicts got in the way.

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Ronan was filming and producing “The Outrun” at the same time Gerwig was filming “Barbie” and thus couldn’t fit a cameo into her schedule. “The Outrun” is adapted from the 2016 memoir by Scottish journalist and author Amy Liptrot.

Chalamet and Ronan were far from the only actors who couldn’t make “Barbie” fit into their schedule. The film’s casting directors  revealed last month  that “Saturday Night Live” Emmy nominee Bowen Yang, “Schitt’s Creek” Emmy winner Dan Levy and “Dear Evan Hansen” Tony winner Ben Platt were all in the running to play versions of Ken in the film but scheduling logistics prevented the castings from happening. Jonathan Groff also circled the role of Ken’s long-suffering friend Allan before Michael Cera landed the part.

“Barbie” is now playing in theaters nationwide from Warner Bros.

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‘The Greatest Surf Movie in the Universe’ Review: Humongously Bad

A mix of too much lousy animation and too little wave-riding footage.

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By Glenn Kenny

Jeff Spicoli, the surfing-obsessed truant portrayed memorably by Sean Penn in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” (1982), may have been an airhead, but he had a vocabulary. Things he enjoyed were “gnarly” or “humongous.”

Today’s real-life surf luminaries don’t speak so colorfully. In “The Greatest Surf Movie in the Universe,” a spectacularly inane comedy, the Association of Surfing Professionals champion Mick Fanning enthuses to an amnesiac colleague: “We used to travel the entire world together having adventures in the ocean and stuff.” Fanning’s voice does the enthusing, we should specify. For most of the picture he is portrayed by an animated doll.

In Fanning’s defense, the script is by one of the co-directors, Nick Pollet, whose partner is Vaughn Blakley. The two have a background in surf documentary, but most of this movie is not that. Rather, the dolls — with minimally articulated limbs — are made to embody Fanning and a few other real-life surf stars.

These figures (the animation makes the puppetry of Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s “Team America: World Police” look like “Fantastic Mr. Fox”) enact an asinine story of how a vaccine eradicated all memory of surfing, and a mission to bring the activity back. The line “Ten years ago a sport existed, it was called surfing, and you dominated it” — emphasized with an expletive — is repeated more times than anyone would be amused to hear it.

With each new surfer discovered — at a reunion whose purpose is, in fact, to make the title film — we see a couple of minutes of actual surf footage. The climax of the movie features the dolls, many of them with faces smeared with brown goo, fighting each other with sex toys. After this, it looks as if a longer segment of surfing is in store. One’s relief then is palpable. But brief. The doll nonsense soon resumes, and then, mercifully, come the end credits.

The Greatest Surf Movie in the Universe Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 22 minutes. In theaters.

An earlier version of this review misspelled the surname of the writer and co-director of the movie. He is Nick Pollet, not Pollett.

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Movie Review “Barbie”; It’s Hard to Be Normal

I was finally able to watch Barbie on Netflix. When I saw only the title, I thought the movie was for kids, but the theme focuses more on adults social aspects, such as gender equality and mental health. This movie will definitely entertain people who have played with Barbie dolls, and those who have not. In Barbie's world, all the women are independent and achieve their dreams, and Ken is a kind of foil to Barbie and is always pushed around by her. On the other hand, when Barbie and Ken enter the human world, Barbie is sexually harassed, and a patriarchal society influences Ken. He becomes obsessed with male power and starts bossing her around. It’s like Barbie's world and the human world are interchangeable in gender perspectives, and you can see how difficult it is to survive in the real world through the filter of gender. What’s interesting is that Barbie, who should be a girl’s idol, has been criticized by women because Barbie’s perfection has tormented women, giving the idea women have to be beautiful and in good shape. That’s Barbie’s reality, and the scene strangely convinced me. Throughout this film, I empathized with many of the difficulties that survive in modern society, and I understand how deeply rooted it is in the gender framework. Gender perception and viewpoints may vary depending on culture and religion. In my country, Japan, many companies try to employ the same ratio of male and female executives. However, I frankly feel that I just wanted to be recognized for my effort regardless of gender, which makes more sense to me. It sounds pretty normal, but even such a simple thing is complicated by the filter of gender. I realized this and had mixed feelings after watching Barbie.

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Greta Gerwig Doesn't Seem Eager to Make a Barbie Sequel

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Barbie director Greta Gerwig again addresses the prospect of a sequel to the billion-dollar, Oscar-nominated film. Her latest quips suggest she'd rather do something original than work on a follow-up.

Speaking with 60 Minutes , Gerwig was asked about a potential Barbie sequel and if she was interested in returning to direct it. Gerwig suggested she'd rather make another original hit than do a second Barbie movie. "Why can't it be another big, original, bold idea where we get an amazing filmmaker, a big budget to play with, and the trust of a huge conglomerate behind them to go and really play? I want to do that ," Gerwig said.

Despite Barbie’s Success, 2023 Was Not the “Year of the Woman”

According to Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s annual report, 2023 was a worse year for women in film than 2022, despite the success of Barbie.

Though Warner Bros. co-CEO Pam Abdy recently revealed talks have occurred between the studio and Gerwig about a Barbie sequel, Gerwig has been non-committal about making a second film since it debuted last summer. Shortly after Barbie debuted in theaters, Gerwig felt the chances of being involved in a follow-up were low . Gerwig also co-wrote Barbie with her partner, Noah Baumbach, and the duo received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Barbie Getting a Sequel Might Be a Matter of Time

Considering Barbie is the highest-grossing film in Warner Bros. history and was 2023's biggest earner, talk surrounding a sequel was always going to be amplified. Mattel not only hinted at a possible sequel but suggested there could be spinoffs based on other Barbie characters, though CEO Ynon Kreiz later backtracked . Gerwig seems interested in one spinoff idea as she didn't rule out the potential of making a movie based on Ryan Gosling's Ken . Gosling's portrayal of the beach-loving character was widely celebrated by critics and earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nod.

Netflix Boss Makes Bold Claim About Barbie and Oppenheimer

Netflix co-CEO comments on the Barbenheimer phenomenon of 2023.

Barbie features an all-star cast, with Margot Robbie portraying the titular character, Stereotypical Barbie, as she ventures outside of Barbie Land into the real world, experiencing its joys and perils. The movie also stars America Ferrara, Kate McKinnon , Issa Rae, Will Ferrell, Helen Mirren, Rhea Perlman, Kingsley Ben-Adir, John Cena, Dua Lipa and Simu Liu.

Amid talk of a Barbie sequel, Gerwig has been focused on another project dear to her as she's currently working on a film adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia for Netflix. Despite claiming the project has been giving her "recurring nightmares, " Gerwig is excited about The Chronicles of Narnia reboot, which recently entered pre-production and is expected to begin shooting in either late 2024 or early 2025. The first reboot film will adapt the first book in the titular series, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe , while the second will be based on another of C.S. Lewis' eponymous novels.

Fans can watch Barbie by streaming it via Max or getting it on home video.

Source: 60 Minutes

Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans.

How to Watch Every Barbie Movie Online

Published on.

Anushree Arora

Official JustWatch writer

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie transported us straight to Barbieland, and reignited the Barbie fever all around the world. But, Barbie, movies have been around long before Margot Robbie stepped into the bedazzled shoes of Barbie back in 2023. Noticing the growing popularity of digital and interactive media, the toy company Mattel, partnered up with animation studios, and began producing their own animated Barbie movies, which were released on television all through the early 2000’s. Check out JustWatch’s streaming guide below to find out where to stream, buy, or rent all the Barbie movies online! This detailed guide includes all the movies listed in order of release.

Mattel launched this division with the 2001 animated-fantasy film, Barbie in the Nutcracker , which reimagined the classic tale of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, and featured music from Tchaikovsky's ballet recital, The Nutcracker. Mattel continued to follow this premise of adapting pre-existing stories and tales in the Barbie universe for a series of films including, Barbie as Rapunzel , Barbie of Swan Lake , and Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper.

The franchise eventually introduced original storylines in 2005, with the Barbie: Fairytopia franchise, which includes five direct to television feature length animated films. Simultaneously, Mattel, also introduced, The Barbie Diaries, a coming of age, animated drama film that saw Barbie and her best friends tackling the ups and downs of high-school. This film was released in 2008, and was very different from the rest of the movies which focused more on princess fairytales. Mattel reverted back to creating more fairytale-centric films for the rest of the decade.

However, the toy franchise took a strong shift in direction in 2010, when they switched from the Mattel Entertainment banner to Barbie Entertainment, and began favoring more modern-day plots and storylines. Shifting the focus away from happily ever afters, the new-age Barbie movies leaned more towards highlighting stories from Barbie’s life with her friends and family. Movies like Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse, paid more attention to music, fashion, and pop-culture, and saw a new shift in the world of Barbie movies. 

Where to Watch All the Barbie Movies in Order of Release and Online

Just like Hallmark Christmas movies, Barbie movies hold a special place in the hearts of many. With nearly one new movie released every year, there are now over 40 animated Barbie movies to enjoy. Whether you're in the mood for a nostalgic re-watch or looking for a magical time with your kids, here's where you can find and watch all the animated Barbie movies online!

Barbie in the Nutcracker

"Barbie" stars as Clara in this animated retelling of the classic Christmas ballet, complete with Tchaikovsky soundtrack and ballet choreography.

Barbie as Rapunzel

Long, long ago, in a time of magic and dragons, there lived a girl named Rapunzel who had the most beautiful radiant hair the world had ever seen. But Rapunzel's life was far from wonderful. She lived as a servant to Gothel, a jealous, scheming witch who kept her hidden deep in a forbidding forest, guarded by the enormous dragon Hugo and surrounded by an enchanted glass wall. However, in a twist of fate, Rapunzel's discovery of a magic paintbrush leads her on a journey that will unravel a web of deception, bring peace to two feuding kingdoms, and ultimately lead her to love with the help of Penelope, the least intimidating of dragons!

Barbie of Swan Lake

Barbie as Odette, the young daughter of a baker, follows a unicorn into the Enchanted Forest and is transformed into a swan by an evil wizard intent on defeating the Fairy Queen.

Barbie as The Princess & the Pauper

In her first animated musical featuring seven original songs, Barbie comes to life in this modern re-telling of a classic tale of mistaken identity and the power of friendship. Based on the story by Mark Twain.

Barbie: Fairytopia

Elina is a flower fairy who discovers that her home of Magic Meadow has been overcome by a horrible malady that is killing the flowers and making the fairies unable to fly. With the help of Bibble, a puffball and a giant butterfly named Hue she attempts to find Azura, a Guardian Fairy. She's challenged along the way by the evil Laverna who wants to usurp the Enchantress, the ruler of Fairytopia.

Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus

Princess Annika escapes the clutches of the evil wizard, explores the wonders of Cloud Kingdom, and teams up with a magnificent winged horse - who turns out to be her sister, Princess Brietta - to defeat the wizard and break the spells that imprisoned her family.

Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidia

In this animated follow-up to Fairytopia, Elina enlists the help of a mermaid, Nori, to save her friend Nalu, a merman prince who has been captured by the wicked Laverna.

Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses

King Randolph sends for his cousin, Duchess Rowena, to help turn his daughters, Princess Genevieve and her eleven sisters, into royal material. But the Duchess strips the sisters of their fun, including their favorite pastime: dancing. When all hope may be lost, the sisters discover a secret passageway to a magical land where they can dance the night away.

Barbie Fairytopia: Magic of the Rainbow

Elina goes to a fairy school to learn dancing and fairy magic. The spring of the fairy land is soon threatened by evil Laverna who intends to prevent fairies from performing the annual vital rainbow dance. Elina must stop quarreling with her fellow students and unite them to save the first bud of the spring.

Barbie as the Island Princess

Shipwrecked as a child, Rosella (Barbie) grows up on the island under the watchful eyes of her loving animal friends. The arrival of Prince Antonio leads Rosella and her furry pals to explore civilization and ultimately save the kingdom by uncovering a secret plot.

Barbie Mariposa

Elina, heroine of the Fairytopia films tells her friend Bibble the story of Flutterfield, a faraway kingdom populated by fairies with butterfly wings. Henna, the evil butterfly fairy has poisoned the queen of Flutterfield in an attempt to take over the kingdom.

Barbie and the Diamond Castle

Liana and Alexa (Barbie and Teresa) are best friends who share everything, including their love of singing. Upon meeting a girl inside a mirror, the duo embark on a journey that will put their friendship to the ultimate test.

Barbie in 'A Christmas Carol'

On Christmas Eve, Kelly is reluctant to go to a Christmas Eve ball, so Barbie tells her the story of Eden Starling, a glamorous singing diva in the Victorian England and the owner of a theatre house. However, Eden is self-centered and loves only herself. She is frequently accompanied by her snooty cat, Chuzzlewit. She does not believe in Christmas and orders all her employees to work on Christmas.

Barbie Presents: Thumbelina

Meet a tiny girl named Thumbelina who lives in harmony with nature in the magical world of the Twillerbees that's hidden among the wildflowers. At the whim of a spoiled young girl named Makena, Thumbelina and her two friends have their patch of wildflowers uprooted and are transported to a lavish apartment in the city.

Barbie and the Three Musketeers

Corinne (Barbie) is a young country girl who heads to Paris to pursue her big dream – to become a female musketeer! Never could she imagine she would meet three other girls who secretly share the same dream! Using their special talents, the girls work together as a team to foil a plot and save the prince. It's all for one and one for all!

Barbie in A Mermaid Tale

Barbie stars as Merliah, a surfer who learns a shocking secret: she's a mermaid! She and her dolphin friend set out for an undersea adventure to rescue her mother, the queen of Oceana.

Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale

Join Barbie in a colourful, modern-day fairytale filled with fashion, friends and fun! Barbie and her dog Sequin jet off to visit her Aunt's amazing fashion house in Paris, and much to her surprise it's about to be shut down forever. After she discovers three enchanting Flairies with sparkle-magic powers, Barbie comes up with a brilliant idea to save the business. She even inspires Alice, a shy fashion designer, and together they create a dazzling runway fashion show. Barbie shows that magic happens when you believe in yourself.

Barbie: A Fairy Secret

Get ready for Barbie: A Fairy Secret, an amazing adventure with Barbie where she discovers there are fairies living secretly all around us! When Ken is suddenly whisked away by a group of fairies, Barbie's two fashion stylist friends reveal they are actually fairies and that Ken has been taken to a magical secret fairy world not far away! Barbie and her rival Raquelle take off with the fairy friends on an action-packed journey to bring him back. Along the way they must stick together and learn that the real magic lies not just in the fairy world itself, but in the power of friendship.

Barbie: Princess Charm School

Barbie stars as Blair Willows, a kind-hearted girl who is chosen to attend Princess Charm School: a magical, modern place that teaches dancing, how to have tea parties, and proper princess manners. Blair loves her classes -- as well as the helpful magical sprites and her new friends, Princesses Hadley and Isla. But when royal teacher Dame Devin discovers that Blair looks a lot like the kingdom’s missing princess, she turns Blair’s world upside down to stop her from claiming the throne. Now Blair, Hadley and Delancy must find an enchanted crown to prove Blair’s true identity in this charming and magical princess story!

Barbie: A Perfect Christmas

Join Barbie and her sisters Skipper, Stacie and Chelsea as their holiday vacation plans turn into a most unexpected adventure and heartwarming lesson. After a snowstorm diverts their plane, the girls find themselves far from their New York destination and their holiday dreams. Now stranded at a remote inn in the tiny town of Tannenbaum, the sisters are welcomed by new friends and magical experiences. In appreciation for the wonderful hospitality they receive, they use their musical talents to put on a performance for the whole town. Barbie and her sisters realize the joy of being together is what really makes A Perfect Christmas!