Greta Gerwig's Barbie explores creation myths in Barbieland, a parallel universe populated by Mattel dolls. The director uses the toy conglomerate's vast archive and successful products as tools to create a rich and weird material. The movie is a clever send-up of Barbie dolls and their legacy, featuring light-hearted jokes that poke fun at Mattel, the doll's lore, and the contradictions of our sexist society. The director's storytelling is impressive, and the film's humor is both lighthearted and chuckle-worthy. Gerwig's Barbieland, created by Sarah Greenwood and Jacqueline Durran, is a pink fever dream with funky compositions by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, bubblegum anthems by Dua Lipa, Nicki Minaj, and Ice Spice. The film features plastic trees and identical two-story Barbie dream homes, with flying being the preferred mode of transportation. The production design and costuming are exceptional, showcasing Gerwig's passion for details and her ability to create a dreamlike world. Barbieland is a feminist utopia in which Barbies serve as presidents, Supreme Court members, doctors, physicists, Nobel prize winners, and cancer cures. The dolls are not structurally different from our world, but they are represented by political fantasy and decade-dependent what-ifs. Barbie has gone to space, could vote, and own property before many human women, and her appearance has changed to mirror society's beauty politics. The representational doll has become an extension of political fantasy, reflecting the beauty politics of society. Gerwig features a cast of Barbies, including Issa Rae, Emma Mackey, Alexandra Shipp, and Hari Nef. Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie) is the protagonist, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Barbie created by Ruth Handler. Her Ken counterpart, Ryan Gosling, is portrayed with humor and heart. They are a version of Eve and Adam, with their fall being dramatic. Barbie finds her perfect life hampered by existential thoughts and seeks answers from Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon), a doll with a traumatic history. Stereotypical Barbie, with Ken, heads to real-world Los Angeles to find her little girl. The relationship between Barbies and their human owners is tenuously outlined, so it's best not to think too deeply about how it all works. Robbie's performance in Gerwig's Barbie highlights the tension between Barbie as an object and subject. Her expressive eyes and physical presence reveal the human world's forces, while her rigid presence in Barbieland suggests she's not less rigid in the real world. Despite the director's skill in capturing deeper themes, the film's ominousness and muddied politics suggest it ultimately serves a brand. The film's ominousness and muddied politics suggest the film serves as a brand. Gerwig's film Barbieland is a mix of fun and emotional depth, with a tension between keeping Barbie entertaining and blending her source material with previous projects. After a detour, Barbie returns home to find Ken's patriarchal knowledge has transformed Barbieland. The screenplay, by Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, avoids familiarity and mockery, but the moments that aren't just funny are buried in important monologues, making the gestures feel politically hollow. The film's mandate is too ambitious, making it feel politically hollow.