REVIEW: ‘Barbie’ has plenty to like, not enough to love

“Barbie” has everything you’d expect from a movie about the popular Mattel toy, from pink houses to parties on the beach. Oh, plus an existential crisis and explorations of feminist concepts.

As expected, there are many Barbies in the flick, but the one at the center of the picture is a sort of classic take on the doll. To that end, Margot Robbie’s character is often referred to as “Stereotypical Barbie.” At the start of the film, she, and every other Barbie, live happily in Barbieland, a matriarchal utopia.

For Barbie, though, this begins to change when she suddenly has thoughts and feelings she didn’t have before, revolving around imperfections and death. It shakes her so much that she sets out to figure out what the problem is, and that leads her to venture into the real world. She’s not alone on the quest, either, as “Beach Ken” (Ryan Gosling), tags along.

Greta Gerwig, who directed the film and co-wrote it with Noah Baumbach, filled “Barbie” with a lot of fun moments and plenty of personality. From start to finish, the flick offers several scenes that are funny and sincere. Gerwig’s film also features plenty of fine commentary on patriarchal societies and feminism.

While there are many great parts, though, as a whole, “Barbie” is a bit messy, mainly in the plot. The film has two halves, and transitioning from the first to the second doesn’t work as smoothly as one would hope. In the first half of the film, Barbie ventures to the real world with Ken in tow, and is looking for the girl that is playing with her doll counterpart, because whoever it is seems to be experiencing problems.

Barbie’s journey leads her to meeting Gloria (America Ferrera), who kept the doll that her daughter Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt) didn’t have interest in anymore. Gloria also has a strained relationship with her daughter, and the film seemed to be setting up a story where Barbie comes into their lives and potentially improves their dynamic, while learning  about herself in the real world.

But then at the midway point, the film takes a major shift, as a situation develops in Barbieland, meaning Barbie, Gloria and Sasha have to go to that world to rescue it. It’s not only a really jarring shift, but the whole story thread revolving around the mother-daughter relationship is nearly abandoned.

The move gives narrative whiplash and it’s just odd seeing the character Sasha basically sidelined for the back half of the movie after seeming like she would be an important part of the emotional core. That’s not to say the second half is bad, either, as there are some really funny and insightful moments there.

There’s also an unnecessary subplot about C-Suite executives at the actual Mattel company, led by the CEO (Will Ferrell) finding out about the situation. Feeling that Barbie being in the real world might have negative consequences, he and the other execs go after her to get things back to normal. While this bit does have some comedic value, it ultimately feels kind of pointless.

While it does offer some meta humor, as well as minor commentary about activist capitalism and corporate agendas Vs. creativity, it doesn’t really earn its place in the movie. Not only does it barely fit in with the story, it also basically disappears in the second act, only to resurface at the end of the film, and even then, it doesn’t really get a resolution.

All of this is to say “Barbie” is a movie where the whole isn’t greater than the sum of its parts. Its plot is clunky and some of its character development is spotty, making for a flawed overall film. Yet the picture still has so many scenes that range from funny to emotional and even inspiring, that there’s still plenty to enjoy. The film is certainly boosted by its cast, too.

Margot Robbie shines as the main Barbie. She brings an immense cheerful energy and adequate naivety to Barbie when it comes to the real world, and then captures how her character changes over the film as she finds herself. The character journey from beginning to end is rather meaningful thanks to the lead actress’ performance.

Stealing the show in a lot of the scenes, though, is Ryan Gosling, who is fantastic as the over-the-top character Beach Ken. Gosling packs so much energy and humor into his performance, and it’s infectious. Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Simu Liu and Michael Cera nicely round out the cast, too.

“Barbie” has plenty of strengths that do make it worth a watch. It features a good cast, likable characters, a great deal of humor, an abundance of style and fine social critique. However, the plot execution and handling of some of the character arcs do lessen the experience, landing this somewhere in the middle. 3.2 out of 5.