The reviews for Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” have been released and, so far, everything is coming up pink.
With 63 reviews counted, the Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling-led comedy is pulling in a stellar 94% (8.6/10) on Rotten Tomatoes, putting it as one of the best-reviewed films of the year thus far.
In the film, a doll living in ‘Barbieland’ is expelled for not being perfect enough and sets off on an adventure in the real world. Gerwig and Noah Baumbach co-wrote the film which also stars Simu Liu, Kate McKinnon, Will Ferrell, Emma Mackey, Dua Lipa, Issa Rae, Ncuti Gatwa, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Michael Cera and Alexandra Shipp among others.
Here’s a sampling of reviews so far:
“This is a wonderfully fun watch that somehow manages to simultaneously celebrate and satirise the Barbie brand, its feminism and girliness pairing like gorpcore sandals with a floaty pink skirt.” – Alice Saville, Time Out
“The Oscar-nominated filmmaker has crafted a fierce, funny, and deeply feminist adventure that dares you to laugh and cry, even if you’re made of plastic. It’s certainly the only summer blockbuster to pair insightful criticisms of the wage gap with goofy gags about Kens threatening to “beach” each other off.” – Devan Coggan, EW
“Gerwig’s girl-power blockbuster offers a neon-pink form of inception all its own, planting positive examples of female potential for future generations. Meanwhile, by showing a sense of humor about the brand’s past stumbles, it gives us permission to challenge what Barbie represents — not at all what you’d expect from a feature-length toy commercial” – Peter DeBruge, Variety
“Simply put, Barbie is meticulously crafted, politically daring (for a studio movie), and absolutely hilarious. But the film may not have worked were it not for Robbie and Gosling, who completely understand and embrace Gerwig’s mix of classic and contemporary.” – Kristy Puchiko, Mashable
“‘Barbie’ director and co-writer Greta Gerwig’s summer splash, is a dazzling achievement, both technically and in tone. It’s a visual feast that succeeds as both a gleeful escape and a battle cry. So crammed with impeccable attention to detail is ‘Barbie’ that you couldn’t possibly catch it all in a single sitting; you’d have to devote an entire viewing just to the accessories, for example” – Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com
“It’s a thrill to see Robbie and Gosling effortlessly riding the film’s comedy highs and existential lows, which land with unfaltering, surprising sincerity. Like its glossy protagonist, Barbie is a film that refuses to be boxed, permanently moving the bar on what a popcorn movie can achieve.” – Beth Webb, Empire
“A good-natured but self-conscious movie, whose comedy is rooted in that very self-consciousness, often funny, occasionally very funny, but sometimes also somehow demure and inhibited, as if the urge to be funny can only be mean and satirical. And so often Barbie winds up playing the bland comic foil to comic characters like the outrageous metrosexual Ken.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“The things that are good about Barbie end up being steamrollered by all the things this movie is trying so hard to be. Its playfulness is the arch kind. Barbie never lets us forget how clever it’s being, every exhausting minute.” – Stephanie Zacharek,, TIME Magazine
“Barbie” opens in cinemas everywhere this Friday.
