Barbie Review: Greta Gerwig’s pink triumph is meta as Deadpool but with double the charm

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie begins with the introduction we’ve all seen in the film’s evocative teaser trailer.

With 2001: A Space Odyssey’s Also Sprach Zarathustra blaring, a monolithic Barbie (played by Margot Robbie) appears to a group of Stone Age toddlers - perfect, transcendent, the next step in humanity’s evolution.

Later, a jazzier remix of the same tune from Hal Ashby’s Being There accompanies Ken (Ryan Gosling) - a sheltered himbo with attachment issues - realizing the patriarchy is still at large in the real world.

Thus the stage is set for a familiar battle of the sexes, but it’s Robbie’s self-discovery and Gerwig’s complex themes of motherhood shining through.

It’s hard not to approach the Barbie movie without a level of cynicism. This is a corporate product, after all, and most of the characters, outfits and accessories on display are either based on existing products or will undoubtedly be hitting shelves very soon.

But, just as The Lego Movie proved the naysayers wrong almost 10 years ago, Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s winning script winks at the audience throughout until the time comes to deliver a truly exceptional emotional gut punch.

Robbie’s Barbie exists in a bubblegum Groundhog Day - each morning she wakes up and waves to Barbie Land’s cheery female citizens, who all play a part in helping things run smoothly.

She washes in a shower with no running water, is magically dressed in each day’s flawless outfit and drives down to the beach with her hands free to greet President Barbie (Issa Rae) and a group of female construction workers.

But all is not as it seems in her utopian playground. The Kens appear seemingly out of nowhere to cater to the Barbies’ every whim, and Robbies’ thoughts of death trigger an existential crisis catapulting her into the real world, with a little help from Kate McKinnon’s enlightened Weird Barbie.

There are near-constant reminders of Barbie’s metaphorical status throughout but, thankfully, the meta jokes aren’t nearly as tedious as Ryan Reynolds’ superhero deconstruction in the Deadpool films.

Her trip to Los Angeles brings her face-to-face with Gloria (America Ferrera), who’s struggling to keep up with her moody tween daughter Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt). They’re well aware of Barbie’s problematic baggage as an emblem of consumerism and unrealistic body standards, and Robbie’s performance brings crucial weight to the crushing realizations that follow.

While Ferrera and Robbie shoulder the film’s layered feminist commentary, it’s Gosling who’s clearly having the most fun as the pinnacle of stereotypical masculinity. Calls for his Oscar nomination may be a little overblown, but comedy somehow comes effortlessly to the star who just a few years ago was having a moodier existential crisis of his own over another plastic partner in Blade Runner 2049.

Gosling kills it in Barbie - though his entourage isn’t quite as memorable as Robbie’s group of besties, his parody of manhood and a full-throated ballad that lets Gerwig’s love of Golden Age musicals loose is worth the price of admission alone.

Allowing the Kens to deliver the best laughs is maybe a surprising choice for such a female-fronted story, but the decision pays dividends when the heroine’s journey comes full circle with an arresting encounter in the final act. Expect Ferrera’s showstopping monologue to elicit hollers of solidarity from the crowd before a final revelation renders them speechless.

Barbie’s real-world escapades sometimes let Gerwig’s visual splendor fall by the wayside, and there are just a few too many Kens and Barbies to keep track of - the likes of Dua Lipa, Emerald Fennell and John Cena are fun additions but largely unneeded.

Ultimately, though, Barbie is a blockbuster triumph and the funniest movie of the year. Every track is destined to become this year’s sound of the summer, and it’s impossible not to fall in love with Robbie and Gosling’s screwball antics.

Barbie releases in theaters on Friday, July 21.