The most basic touchstone for a movie that I can think of is -- is this worth seeing again? For Barbie the answer is yes. There is so much going on in the background of every scene and such incredible detail and craftmanship. I can imagine Oscars coming for set design or costuming or those kinds of awards.

It wasn't quite what I expected. For one thing, it was way more meta than even the trailers indicated. The characters not only switch back and forth from Barbieland to the Real World, but also co-exist both inside and outside the basic storyline. And there were some genuine surprises, like Rhea Perlman's captivating role as Barbie's inventor Ruth Handler, who somehow stands outside everything; and Helen Mirren's wise narrator. There's loads of fun and clever dialog built on the Barbie world, but overall, director Greta Gerwig seems to be using all this as a platform for saying things about women in society and the nature of femininity. Which is what she did in Little Women (2019) but for a different century and place. So there is a Message here that gets a bit heavy by the end, and maybe a bit dated? But that doesn't bring the whole thing down by any means.

Every part of this production is incredibly well thought out. Even the action scenes are toy-like in feel, and the dialog at times seems like it's being made up as it goes along, which is just what happens while girls play with dolls. The dance numbers have great choreography, particularly the Kens-in-black-and-white scene that brings to mind things like the Gene Kelly musicals of the 1950's.

Another surprise was America Ferrara as Gloria, the real-world and very ordinary woman trying to get along with her prickly daughter (Ariana Greenblatt). Her big scene toward the end where she lets it rip about how hard it is just to make do as a woman -- ending up with her appeal to the Mattel execs to come up with an Average Woman Barbie -- is a real highlight. And then of course there are all the Kens. Ryan Gosling expertly steals just about every scene he's in, but first and foremost, this movie is correctly about Barbie(s) and it stays that way.