I think the extensive hype and the long standing popularity of the Barbie brand are responsible for bringing several generations of fans into the theaters resulting in the opening sales. It certainly isn't the movie, itself. The storyline was overly simplistic, poorly written and I didn't find its style of absurd humor to be funny. The movie relied a lot on sight gags that I thought fell flat. The ending seemed to come out of the blue and was a poor attempt at profundity. Margot Robbie IS the consummate Barbie, but she pretty much plays "actress Barbie" in everything she does, so it wasn't anything groundbreaking for her. I thought Gloria and Sasha were the best characters and the combination of their performances along with the costumes and sets are the reason I gave the movie any stars at all. The concept of patriarchy certainly isn't anything new and IMO there are much better films on the subject - starting with any of the Jane Austin films and this director's other film - Little Women.