If you’d told me a year ago that I’d be excited enough about a Barbie movie to see it on opening day, or that I’d come out of it this impressed, I’d have likely laughed and waited to wake up so I could tell you about the weird dream I’d just had.
However, the marketing has been spot-on, the articles have been intriguing, and the reviews have been excellent (well, most of them — but if every review is positive except those from right-leaning organizations or people, I consider that a good sign), so off we went.
And it absolutely lived up to and surpassed my expectations. It’s an impressive veneer of completely over-the-top ridiculousness laid over a remarkably aware, intelligent, and subversive core. Even after having read several articles with the general theme of “how did this even get made?’, you still walk out of it wondering how they managed to do it. It’s a bubblegum pink, glittery explosion of everything that makes todays political right explode, it’s wonderfully aware of that, and it pokes at them with great glee.
I don’t want to say too much more, because really, the less you know about the overall plot or the specific gags, the more fun it will be. If you’re at all curious, it’s well worth seeing. And if you think you aren’t curious because it’s Barbie, well, get over yourself and give it a go.