"Barbie" is a comedy film based on the line of fashion dolls by Mattel. Directed and co-written by Greta Gerwig ("Lady Bird", "Little Women") and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, it takes every opportunity to revel in its amusing premise with a darkly satirical look at gender structure in society.

In Barbieland, a matriarchal utopia where all women are successful, Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie) lives a happy life spending time with her female friends and hanging out with her boyfriend Stereotypical Ken (Ryan Gosling). One night at a dance party, Stereotypical Barbie suddenly finds herself contemplating her own mortality and worries about what her future holds. The next day, Stereotypical Barbie discovers she is now unable to follow her usual routine, which results in her perfect skin breaking out in blemishes. After following advice from Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon), Stereotypical Barbie travels in her convertible to the real world to meet the child who plays with her, unaware that Stereotypical Ken has stowed away onboard.

If you had to name a more iconic doll associated with little girls, I'm sure nearly everyone's first pick would be none other than Mattel's Barbie. Since first being launched back in 1959, Barbie has taken the world by storm, with the doll filling many different roles, including but not limited to a doctor, lawyer, astronaut, and even President of the United States. There have also been many movies made that star Barbie in leading roles, all of which have been CGI animated and released exclusively to video and streaming sites. Now adding to that catalogue, Greta Gerwig's live action cinematic feature titled simply "Barbie" is not only a fantastic send-up of gender roles but also a great comedy film in its own right that virtually everyone can enjoy regardless of age, gender, or political leaning.

What could have been another generic film for parents to put on in the background to keep their young daughters quiet is actually one of the cleverest deconstructions of the world's view of the societal hierarchy since 2014's "The LEGO Movie". When we first see Barbieland, it is shown to be a bustling, exuberant paradise that is perfect for all of its inhabitants. That is, of course, only if you are a woman, and not one of the "Kens" where their enjoyment is based solely on being an accessory to the other "Barbies". It is obvious that this is a place where men cannot make a name for themselves, which sets in motion Stereotypical Ken's desire to travel with Stereotypical Barbie into the real world. Upon arriving, Ken learns that this new place is the mirror opposite of Barbieland, with real life society valuing patriarchy over matriarchy. In any normal instance, I would have rolled my eyes watching a movie allude to contentious political matters like this, but I quickly realised that the film is actually attacking both sides of the spectrum in the best way possible. In Barbieland, the matriarchy causes the women to exude toxic femininity towards men while in the real world we see the patriarchy make men show off their toxic masculinity towards women. Neither of these are glorified and where this film succeeds greatly is in the way it cleverly informs the audience that the extremes on both ends are what causes problems with society and that too much of either always leads to bad results.

In addition to satirising gender norms, the film also functions as an amusing, gag-packed standalone comedy for casual viewers as well. There were a number of moments where I found myself laughing out loud at some of the jokes being made about the autonomous way Barbieland's populace live their lives. For instance, the Barbies are incapable of touching the ground with flat feet due to their default designs being made for high heel shoes. Also, the Kens are almost always seen at the beach awaiting instructions from the other Barbies, only for most of them to be ignored. However, some of the film's most hilarious parts occur when Barbie and Ken are in the real world, allowing for some humorous fish-out-of-water scenes involving their interactions with real people. There's even the occasional jab taken at Mattel themselves, parodying the commercialism surrounding Barbie and all her accessories. While not every single joke lands, there are so many of them that for every one that fails there are plenty of others that work just fine. In fact, without giving it away, this film has one of the funniest closing lines to a movie I've ever heard, so much so that it actually caught me off guard during my initial viewing.

I also liked the practical production design of this movie, with minimal CG giving Barbieland a real toy-like aesthetic. As one might expect, the most prominently used colour here is pink. Nearly everything important in this world is pink - pink houses, pink beds, pink lamp posts, etc. Believe it or not, there was actually a worldwide shortage of pink paint due to the amount that was used to make this place look as authentically girly as possible. Later when Barbie and Ken are exploring the outside world, things look decidedly ordinary but since they are still wearing their brightly-coloured outfits, the two to stick out like a sore thumb from everybody else. It's rare for a film to effectively use its colour palette to evoke comedy so effectively and this one handles it in a way that all ages will understand it.

As a Barbie girl living in her Barbie world, Margot Robbie is clearly having a great time portraying this stereotypical version of the iconic doll. The fact that there's nothing especially noteworthy about this specific Barbie means that she has the most room to grow as a character. Robbie's Barbie is friendly, fun-loving, but blissfully ignorant of what her boyfriend Ken truly wants with her. Though not outright malicious, she inadvertently makes Ken feel unwanted due to her conditioned attitude towards all the other Kens in her world. What I liked best about Robbie's performance was the way she shows an open-mindedness to the character. She is curious about what type of world lies beyond Barbieland and whether things will be the same or different to what she is used to. It would have been easy to have made this Barbie a man-hating blonde bimbo with no capacity for independent thought but rather she remains pleasant towards everyone and is willing to learn about new experiences on her journey.

Whether intentional or not, I think Ryan Gosling's version of Ken steals the movie practically every time he is shown on screen. Maybe it's because I'm so used to seeing Gosling play stoic, subdued roles but watching him come to life as this version of Barbie's boyfriend was quite a surprise. Although this isn't the first comedic role Gosling has played, it is here that he effectively demonstrates all the humorous possibilities he is capable of as an actor. We watch Ken try to surf at the beach as a means to impress Barbie, only to realise he cannot "swim" in the placemat water. Later, he tries to apply for certain jobs in the real world based solely on his gender, but is told that he needs proper qualifications in order to be taken seriously by employers. There's just something about the way Gosling is able to showcase such loveable pathos as Ken that makes you want to see how he can become more than just the generic partner of his more famous girlfriend.

From the perspective of a 30-something heterosexual man who has never once expressed interest in playing with dolls, the film "Barbie" pulls off the miraculous task of transcending above its stereotypical audience of young girls to appeal to all viewers instead. It offers an observant satire about the world's views on gender roles while also functioning as an amusing comedy film packed with jokes galore. No matter what your general opinion on Barbie may be, whether you love her as an entertaining toy or hate her because you don't care for what she represents, this movie has you covered on both fronts. In that regard, this film has done its job.

I rate it a solid 9/10.