I was genuinely curious to see Barbie and what this director could do with this iconic American character. The look of the film is spot on and does a nice and fun job of creating the bubble gum pink world of Barbie. The basic story idea is solid and I was ready for it. Unfortunately, there was so much exposition going on throughout that I was never really able to go much deeper into the proceedings beyond the visuals. The acting was solid and there were moments of both fun and joy spotted throughout, but sadly for the viewer those were few and far between. It could have been so much more, but instead it devolved into a preachy, pandering slog of a production full of missed opportunities.