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Barbie movie: Marketing was great, but film was a letdown

The packaging of the "Barbie" movie was more enticing than the lackluster content it contained. Despite a year-long marketing campaign and numerous promotional activities, the film turned out to be a disappointment.

  • 10
  • 10
Gosling's portrayal of a dim-witted hunk starts off as silly but quickly grows tiresome when it becomes evident that there's no substance beyond the initial gag. Visually, the film fares better than its storytelling. The art direction is attractive and clever, albeit loud and confined to a small scale. Exploring more of Barbie Land and less of Century City and a single LA office building would have been preferable. Ultimately, "Barbie" falls short compared to other exaggerated stranger-in-a-strange-land films like "Pleasantville" or "Elf." Even in the realm of toy-themed movies, "The Lego Movie" surpasses it in heart, comedy, and creativity. What "Barbie" accomplishes is being an empty film designed for the superficial social media era, where the most important aspect is snapping a photo of the movie poster.