“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.
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Matthew Liedke on Film 