Jacqueline Francis

Let me preface this review by saying I'm a young woman in her 30's and politically a moderate liberal. I'm so disappointed in this movie. I was excited for this film, but it let me down badly. There are a few positives of the film. The cinematography, costumes, and the sets were amazing. The cast was rather solid. Margot Robbie and especially Ryan Gosling were spot on in their roles. It has some good comedic moments. However, the overall plot and storyline was an absolute disaster and a mess. The movie was less about fantasy and fun and more about pushing a political message/agenda. The sentiment was much too woke with a heavy handed feminist agenda. It included a lot of misandry, male-shaming, and male-bashing (a common theme/trend in a lot of media). I expected a movie about female empowerment since it's a Barbie movie but I didn't expect for every male character in the film to be portrayed in such a negative light. You can make films and works which are meant to empower women/girls/the female gender without denigrating men/boys/the male gender. Every male character in this film were portrayed as: stupid unintelligent himbos, brutish toxic hyper-masculine sexist pigs, useless superfluous buffoons, sex-crazed perverts, greedy power-hungry tools, Andrew Tate red-pilled chauvinist misogynists, overly camp flaming homosexuals, or submissive emasculated beta males (i.e. Allan). I don't want to watch films which put down 50.6% of the global population and think that it's okay cause they are male and "can take a few hits". It's NOT okay and if the shoe were on the other foot and it were women being portrayed in a misogynistic manner, it would be just as disgusting, degrading and awful. I expected romance between Ken and Barbie and what I got was ZERO romance whatsoever. I grew up playing with Barbies and one of the key aspects I loved about Barbie was her relationship with Ken. It's KEN AND BARBIE! They're one of the most iconic couples in fiction but this film didn't do that storyline justice and this was so disappointing. I can't help it, but I'm a hopeless romantic who likes to see the original source material be respected especially in regards to relationships. I think Ryan and Margot have great on-screen chemistry but the writers and Greta completely neglected it by not writing a proper romantic plot between Barbie and Ken. It's a shame. It plays into this modern narrative of how women don't need romance or "don't need no man!" and that is a horrible message to send to the audience. There's nothing wrong with women wanting to find true love or be in a romantic relationship with a man. It doesn't diminish who a woman is if that is what she wants. But I feel so many movies are trying to send out this type of message to the audience. As for the cast, Margot was well-cast as Stereotypical Barbie, but Ryan Gosling as Beach Ken absolutely stole the entire film! Ken was by far the best part of the movie, had the most character development and the most interesting storyline. "I'm Just Ken" and Ryan Gosling should be nominated for "Best Original Song" and "Supporting Actor" at the Oscars because without him, this movie would have flopped. Ryan and Ken carried this movie and without him, it wouldn't have had the little charm that it managed to salvage. I expected a better plot and storyline than what I watched and what I watched was an overly political, woke, misandrist, extreme feminist pile of garbage. I wouldn't recommend seeing this movie and it is NOT recommended for children. Don't waste your money and wait to watch Ryan Goslings/Ken's scenes online or on digital since they are the only worthy moments in the entire film.