An outrageous, over-the-top film that delivers exactly what it promises. The premise is lots of fun, like a combination of The Lego Movie and Elf.
The entire cast is terrific. Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling have lots of fun. Kate McKinnon is perfectly odd as Weird Barbie. Simu Liu and John Cena make the most of their minor parts as Kens. Michael Cera is perfect as the pointless Allan. Though it's Rhea Perlman's Ruth Handler and Helen Mirren's narrator steal the show. Perlman as Barbie's creator gets the most meaningful moment while Mirren has the best fourth-wall breaking quips. Too bad the mother and daughter characters aren't always needed and often are just background characters. While Will Farrell is redoing is Lego Movie character.
Barbieland is well designed and quirky, like Elf's North Pole. There's lots of Easter eggs and references that longtime Barbie lovers should enjoy. The soundtrack has some fun but not particularly memorable songs, most notably missing the iconic Aqua song which is only briefly sampled.
Like the rest of the movie, the message has all the subtlety of an atomic bomb. It works within the movie. The problem is it's the same exact subversion of the same exact trope that every other feminist story is telling nowadays. It's just become cliche at this point. The long triad the mom goes on garnered some applause but it's the same exact rant that too many other movies and shows have gone on, almost word for word. Though to give the movie credit, it does acknowledge the problems with both misogyny and misandry arguing for better middle ground.