Barbie IGN India Review: A perfect package entertainment, feminism and more

Editor’s Note: Warner Bros Discovery invited IGN India for an early screening of Barbie. The film has released worldwide on July 21 and is in cinemas near you.

American top company, Mattel’s prized possession, Barbie has finally hit the theatres across the globe. Ahead of the release, Warner Bros has gone all out with the marketing for the movie with fans spotting Barbie collaborations everywhere. Naturally, this and a cast of this stature leading the movie has made the expectations reach an all-time high.

As the latest movie turned into a cultural phenomenon, here is IGN India’s comprehensive review.

Picture Perfect Plot and Production

The movie had an incredibly fun and light tone while exploring all the different Barbies and Kens of the world along with their distinct personalities. Things go awry when the main Barbie, Margot Robbie starts to have an existential crisis. She wants to venture out into the real world to resolve these internal issues.

Like with some of the more exceptional films from the past, Barbie creators focus both on the story as well as the production quality. The production department ensured that the sets, costumes, and all other types of aesthetics in the movie were picture-perfect. It had everything you would want from Barbie including all her variants, her dollhouses, cars, accessories, outfits and other accessories items. We also got the discontinued models such as Midge, the pregnant Barbie.

And yes, it was all pink, every single shade that resembles the colour pink in the slightest was somewhere in the movie. Given the name, the focus is obviously on the Barbies, at the same time, it didn’t overlook the Kens. Each Ken had distinct character traits and outfits to complement the presence. The set designs were brilliant, providing an authentic Barbie feel through plastic props rather than intense CGI.

Barbies and Ken Learn about the Man’s World

The character development for Barbie and Ken in the film is truly phenomenal. In the first half, fans would see each Barbie with a positive outlook towards life as they look forward to each new day. They approach things the Barbie way with hope and optimism. However, all this changes for them as the main, stereotypical Barbie, Margot Robbie goes through an existential crisis and must go on an adventure in the real world.

Here she learns that the world is nothing like she imagined and realizes that women are subjected to male gaze, discrimination, and bias. This puts Barbie into despair as she is unable to accept that the world is not like the Barbie land. For context, in Barbie land, every Barbie is the centre of attraction and Ken is just an arm candy for the character. Robbie’s performance enhances this already well-written character in a brilliant manner.

On the other hand, Ken goes through a vastly different transition. In the earlier stages of the movie, the main Ken, Ryan Gosling is shown to be very dependent on Barbie. He wants to and can do anything and everything to get Barbie’s attention.

However, Gosling’s character does a complete 180 as he ventures out into the real world with Barbie. During this adventure, Ken loses his dependence on Barbie as he learns about patriarchy and the hold of men (and horses) on the real world. The contrasting nature of these characters as they switch roles and positions in life was a breath of fresh air for me.

Feminism – The core of Barbie

Feminism is one of the main pillars of Barbie right from the very start. All Barbies are shown in leading roles with some being doctors, lawyers and one even as the president. The movie dives deep into all the recurring issues that women deal with daily while having to go about their day with a wide smile on their faces.

One of the main messages of the movie was about growing and accepting change, instead of fearing it. This is something every woman faces while growing up as the world stops being as endearing and as safe as it used to be.

Barbie tells us to not fear change and instead embrace it. It outlines that embracing change is what life is all about as nothing stays constant forever.

Barbie’s got jokes

Overall, the movie me entertained right from the start to the very end with great comedic timing and well-written humour. The movie also had a whole bunch of singing and dancing, which almost made it feel like a musical, but not in a bad way. This singing and dancing helped add to the charm of the movie.

Margot Robbie and the character of main Barbie were a match made in heaven as the entire cast put out solid performances. Robbie will definitely be immortalised in this role thanks to how well she has portrayed. The same goes for Gosling’s Ken and the rest of the cast including Simu Liu, Michael Ceram, Alexandra Shipp, Issa Rae and so many more. Each performer added more to what Barbie and Ken are.

America Ferrera was everything you wanted her to be and the perfect character to explain the roots of women. Ferrera did an excellent job explaining how mothers have been at the frontline of facing discrimination against women, but still going forward without hesitation.