Barbie is a thoughtful homage to an iconic toy brand that overturns the well known stereotype of the blonde, plastic "bimbo". It is also undeniably Mattel's punt at keeping Barbie relevant and commercially viable for the next generation.

In one fell swoop a corporate, patriarchal brand tries to distance its own corporate image from Barbie "herself" whilst also politically sanitising their toy brand at the same time. It's a PR stunt through and through. They want Barbie to be about individuality and self-determination, and that's all well and good; but there's still a corporate brand behind the curtain, even despite the gags (Will Ferrell) alluding to that ironic hypocrisy, such as the groveling admission about "one or two" previous Mattel CEOs being women, amongst a long line of men.

That aside, on its own merits as a film this was very preachy and very convoluted throughout, the crossover between the two "worlds" was a really cool idea that just needed more development and streamlining to land properly. Barbie was well cast (Margot Robbie), as was her playboy, Ken (Ryan Gosling) and the comic relief alter-Ken, Alan (Michael Cera). Many of the ingredients and characters for a good film were present, but the execution fell flat.

Somewhere beneath the political hullabaloo the film contains a valid message about mutual respect between the genders and a lesson on self actualisation. But ultimately, the film forgot that Barbie and Ken could have had some *fun* whilst also making the points the film set out to make. Making many of the characters superficial Kens or Barbies made the palette a boring and grating one, even despite the points that were trying to be made about individuality. The film also often lacked the light touch needed to captivate young girls who actually play with Barbie dolls and who won't necessarily understand the high level commentary at play here. Even if a mum or elder sister explains it to them afterwards.