Now this was a movie that originally, I had no interest in seeing. Seeing all these people have meltdowns about it piqued my interest. My wife, Jaime, was in a similar boat. We wanted to go see it in the theater, but having a newborn at the time didn't help. This ended up being one that she streamed on Max.

What we get here is following the life of Barbie (Margot Robbie). Later, we will learn that she isn't one of the versions that has a set job. She is stereotypical. We meet other Barbies like the president, played by Issa Rae. There are writers, scientists and other important positions. We also meet Ken (Ryan Gosling). He is friends with other Kens and even has a rivalry with Ken, played by Simu Liu. I also wanted to bring up Allan (Michael Cera) who is an awkward friend who was a discontinued doll.

Now things all change when Barbie has deep thoughts that break her perfect facade. She then goes to an odd Barbie (Kate McKinnon). She directs her to the real world and seek out the child that is playing with her to see if this can break her funk. This leads her to Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt) and her mother, Gloria (America Ferrera), who works at Mattel. This leads Barbie on a journey that will shake the fabric of her world, see how things are in the real world and try to fix things before it is too late.

I think that should recap the story without going too in-depth. Where I want to start is that I can see why people love this and others hate it. The argument for the latter is that this is too heavy handed with its commentary. I think the problem there is that it is right and people just don't want to hear it. We live in a patriarchy. Men control this world and even though there are exaggerated things that happen in this movie, it also is dead on with things as well. Ken also brings these ideas back to Barbie Land and that leads to a funny as well as scary version.

Let me then switch gears a bit. I watched this for the first time and a newer parent to a daughter, Mackenzie. This made me tear up, because I don't want her to be treated second class and at a disadvantage to start. I'm hoping that through movies like this or just these issues being brought up that real change can be made. Does this go over the top? Yes, but I think that it does both ways. This shows that having a woman dominated society is bad, which is how Barbie Land was. When the Kens take over, it is equally bad. We need balance here. I think that is what both sides are missing while watching this. What I will say is that we are skewed one way and things still need to be balanced to fix that.

Where I'll then take this is to the acting. This is presented in a comedic fashion so the acting is over the top. Robbie is perfectly cast as Barbie to me. What makes it even better, this movie acknowledges things when it goes bleak and she feels 'ugly'. That was a good move. Robbie is a solid actor so that also helps. The rest of the Barbies are solid with Rae, McKinnon and the like. Gosling, Liu and the other Kens are also good. I love that this acknowledges that Ken is not Barbie's husband, but her companion. I definitely need to credit Ferrera here. She steals the show with her speech. I like Greenblatt in her role pointing out that Barbie does have sexist aspects and those need to be acknowledged. This stems from how the doll is built as it is unrealistic. Other than that, Cera is funny. Rhea Perlman is good in her role. Helen Mirren is the narrator. We also have Will Ferrell in a fun cameo. The acting here just works.

Where I'll end out is that this is well-made. Barbie Land is dreamlike and like a fairy tale. There is a good duality how it isn't that much different from the real world, but it still is. That worked for me. We have CGI, but again that is showcasing things that are out of the normal which worked for me. There aren't a lot of effects, but enough to notice. This has a lot of money behind it, so it doesn't look bad. Other than that, I like things they do with the soundtrack. Not the greatest but works for the framework. Ahead of seeing this, keep in mind what I've said here. If you know this is going to trigger you or it's not for you, I'd move on. There is a good message here and it's a fun movie to boot.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.