she's doing fine, she wants you to hang out with your friends.

I thought it was fun enough, but not quite up to all the hype surrounding it.

It was very entertaining and funny and I had a good time watching it, but here's an expert from a review I wrote on part of what kept me from loving it as much as seemingly everyone else is:

With all the meta-humor on Barbie as a product (and the feminist quandaries therein) - present in this film, throughout my viewing my mind kept wandering back to David Foster Wallace's essay about modern media and the use of irony: "E Unibus Pluram: Television and US Fiction". A quote from it that feels pretty relevant is as follows:

"And herein lies the oppressiveness of instiutionalized irony, the too-successful rebel: the ability to interdict the question without attending to its subject is, when exercised, tyranny. It is the new junta, using the very tool that exposed its enemy to insulate itself."

And that's the gnawing feeling at the back of my mind that keeps me from liking this movie more. This film and its narrative are fully about using irony to analyze Barbie as a brand and product. The plot hinges on this, the themes ruminate on what it all means, but, like DFW wrote, part of me thinks this more head-on ironic approach to the film's own "product-hood" is what gives me dissonance. Because with the film's every joke and meta-comment on Barbie, I can't help but remember they're ultimately making or allowing that joke to be made because they think it will sell more Barbie. It is disarming us of our worries over Barbie as a brand in order the further the brand. It converts Barbie into feminist meta-commentary not to answering the question of "is Barbie helpful or harmful to womanhood", but to sell more Barbie. And so that's my big issue, one that was more-or-less inescapable and unsolvable to Gerwig & co. from before production even started: no amount of irony stops a commercial from being a commercial.

Yes, go watch it, it’s fun

I don’t have time for a full write-up (maybe I will later today) but here are my quick thoughts

• It is entertaining and visually stunning, which I think is the primary objective. They really nailed the aesthetic and a lot of the choices were perfect for the universe and worldbuilding, while I think doing a good job representing the “essence” of Barbie as a cultural phenomenon
• I really enjoyed watching Ryan Gosling, he was the highlight IMO, there will be memes
• Excellent acting, writing, dialogue, and pacing
• Some really rewarding scenes like a particular dance sequence later in the movie
• A lot of blatant product placement for brands aside from Mattel
• Decent comedy. Most jokes land, some don’t
• The film does try to be deeper and to foray into feminism and gender discussion. It does brush against some genuine questions but IMO holds back, it never truly considers gender as such, only feminist struggle presupposing gender as a natural and good thing.
• Following the previous point, it’s an okay mainstream exploration of gender, but limited by lib politics despite some edgy quasi-leftist throwaway lines.

Summary: Worth the watch for entertainment value and pop culture. Not the deepest or most intellectual movie ever (although it sort of wants to be) but not abhorrent in that regard either. Watch it for what it is, but don’t expect more.

Life's fantastic!

Even if it isn't good it seems like its watchable enough so you may as well hang out with friends

It's very good, not perfect. IMO ending is a little flat, and certainly focuses on gender representation and dabbles in commodity fetishism. Perhaps a little too reliant on film reference.

Probably better than oppenheimer

the hooks make it painful to pull out. oh wait