After watching the trailers, promotional materials and interviews I had very high hopes for this film, especially when looking at Greta's other work. I was not disappointed.

I went to see it at the cinema with my partner the first weekend of its release, and before I had even sat in my seat I was already impressed. Over half the audience were families with young children, dressed up and holding their own barbie dolls. The rest were couples, older people, groups of young lads, and friends. The majority of the audience were sporting pink, and there was a real buzz of excited chatter in the air that I can not recall ever experiencing to this extent before a film. I think this is a testament to the entire creative team, to manage to produce so much excitement among so many different types of people is a feat I have not personally witnessed accomplished in my entire adult life.

The opening scenes were outstanding. The introduction to barbie struck me on an emotional level, and perfectly set up the characters of the film. The introduction to Barbie left me reminiscing of my own childhood experiences of playing with the dolls, and managed to perfectly capture the excitement that was to come.

I really enjoyed how some things were left unsaid, and your imagination had to do the groundwork. In a film made to appeal to both children and adults, often most aspects are over explained and nothing is left up to interpretation, yet Barbie managed to ask questions it did not provide complete answers for, whilst still maintaining accessibility for its entire audience.

It had some really imaginative sequences and routines that ensured the film had constant sparkle. The choreography and set design complimented these aspects beautifully.

There were really touching moments on humanity, feminism, society and relationships, without villainizing Ken (Men), which would have been an easy cop out.

It was also oozing with comedic value, Robbie and Reynolds were hilarious, and brought a youthful exuberance to their respective roles. None of the jokes fell flat, and there were many moments where I was laughing out loud in the cinema.

I will say that the casting of the mother and daughter did not feel as strong, and that there were some scenes of product placement that felt really forced and did briefly take me out the film.

Additionally, I felt the film did not really know how to finish its story, and the last 30 minuets were weak compared to the rest of the movie.

Despite these criticisms, I absolutely adored the film. A more honest reflection would probably lead me to score it 8/10, however, personally, the relationship I had with Barbies in my own childhood strengthened my appreciation for the film.

It was funny, touching, exciting all whilst being really quite sad. I laughed and I cried.

I would recommend this film to anyone, as I feel that all people going to see it with an open mind will find that they authentically enjoy it.

Thank you Greta, for taking me back to my own childhood, and capturing those big questions that begin in our youth on the big screen.