Someone Didn’t Like ‘Barbie’ …

Here we have a person who attended yesterday’s “Barbie” screening and didn’t like it, at all. They wonder to whom this film is actually marketed towards. That’s a valid question.

I was at the Barbie family screening in LA yesterday.  It was for kids 9-14. I took my 11-year-old nephew. I wasn't a huge fan of the film, and my nephew didn't like it at all. It was just a strange film, and I left not really knowing who the film was really for. Maybe Gen Z teens and twentysomethings, I dunno. It definitely wasn't for kids!  It got a few laughs, and there was an America Ferrera speech towards the end that got a strong reaction and applause, but there were only scattered laughs from the audience throughout. 

I hope that the cut I saw was specifically cut for a family audience and that the cut that has been getting raves is actually better and will be the one released. I just think that it is pointless to market to families and young kids, and it will just piss parents off. Not because it is offensive or even because the content is that adult, I just don't think anyone younger than 14 will be entertained, and most of the themes will fly over their head.

It is pretty much the film that everyone expected Greta to make. Very strong themes about how tough it is to be a woman in modern society with so many double standards and how inflated male egos bring women down. I hate the word “woke”, but it will be thrown around a lot during the release of this film. I am not looking forward to any of the think pieces about the film. I actually hope it succeeds so I don't have to read a million articles about how Hollywood is out of touch and that liberal ideals are ruining movies and society. But I can definitely see a scenario where conservatives use the film as a target, similar to the recent Bud Light controversy, and we will get videos of Kid Rock blowing up Barbie dolls. But I can also see a scenario, if a majority of people share my opinion, that the film just isn't good enough, where both political sides are united and just see the film as a complete failure and everything wrong with Hollywood's current IP obsession and trying to force themes and messages on audiences without being entertaining or having a good story.

My expectations for the film were mixed. I was a big fan of Gerwig's first two films and like most of Baumbach's films. “Greenberg” through “Marriage Story” is my favorite run of his, with “Frances Ha” being my favorite. The trailers did nothing for me, but the behind-the-scenes photos and the reactions from screenings got me cautiously optimistic. My taste usually aligns with more adult/oscar oriented films. But I still see almost every big release and love a great studio comedy or blockbuster if they are well executed. 

The production design was my favorite part of the film. Barbieland looked awesome, and I loved how practical the set was and that they didn't rely on green screen and CGI. The performances were fine; they essentially did the job required. Margot was well cast and fun, Gosling had his moments, but I mostly found him annoying, McKinnon's weird Barbie made me laugh. I thought Cera was terrible and his character pointless. Maybe his big scene was cut for the family screening, or I just didn't find it funny? I can't recall what people liked so much about his character. The stuff in the real world felt really rushed. The subplot with America Ferrera and her daughter seemed like it was missing scenes and had been cut down. Will Ferrell shows up as the head of Mattel, and his whole storyline felt added on and didn't amount to anything. He disappears for a good portion of the film and then pops up at the end, but I had forgotten all about his story by then. 

It also felt like there were five different endings. Some parts of the ending were good, but a lot of it fell flat. I hated the big Ken musical number at the end. The whole film felt very disjointed, and the pacing was off. As I said, there is some of the meta-commentary that I thought was clever, but most of the insights were obvious and expected, and I just didn't think the film and set pieces were funny enough. I can see this having more of a cult following down the line or some ride-or-die fans, but I think most audiences will reject it. Funny enough, the thing that this film reminded me the most of was “Speed Racer”. Obviously a completely different tone and story, but a subversive take on IP that some people think is genius but was rejected by audiences. If I had to make a guess based on the cut I saw, the movie will make $50-65 million domestically, maybe less, depending on marketing and reviews.

I hope I just saw a Frankensteined family cut and that the finished film is much better. There is no point in having a weaker cut for kids who I don't think will like it at all.  But my gut says that the subversive cut will only be moderately better. If the reviews are strong I would be down to watch it again and see if the versions were very different. But as of now I have no desire to watch this film ever again.