The film opened with so much potential with great graphics and actual lol jokes on the Barbie world as well as Mattel making fun of itself. The movie even opens up the whole controversy about what Barbie stands for from the very beginning; that Barbie is suppose to be a symbol for girls to feel empowered to do whatever they want to do, but in many ways create the total opposite result. So this setup made me hopeful and expectant of a unique and profound perspective of self-image, patriarchy, parenting, etc.

However, it did none of that. It threw in some female characters in real life, gave them no dimensions, tossed in those tiring storylines about sophomoric "inspiring" speech that can rescue all. The end to Barbie makes no sense. No wonder everyone found Ken to be the best part of the movie.

I would like to think that the creators and writers had a much better original vision that somehow got derailed through the production process. It certainly felt that way.