One would possibly marvel if there’s a component of subtext in a scene the place a lesbian actress is imploring Barbie to placed on a pair of Birkenstocks and be part of the actual world.
It appears the story of “Barbie” would be the conflict between the little-girl idealism of Barbie with precise actuality. Barbie and Ken (Ryan Gosling), nonetheless sporting their brightly-colored doll costumes, discover themselves in Venice, California working afoul of real-world cops and speaking to ladies who performed with Barbie dolls as youngsters. It is value noting that Mattel’s company headquarters are positioned in El Segundo, California, near the Los Angeles Worldwide Airport, and never terribly removed from Venice. The brand new “Barbie” will function scenes of the title character touring the corporate that owns her. It looks like an opportunity for Barbie to interrupt free and develop into … gulp … grownup.
Will Farrell seems in “Barbie,” and appears to be filling a job just like the one he performed in “The LEGO Movie” in 2014. He appears to be the one who’s taking a look at a baby’s toy — a product meant to encourage creativeness and play — and lowering it to its technical, joyless, industrial iteration. It is appreciated that Gerwing thought to incorporate some push-and-pull between the childhood pleasure of sure toys and the gross company branding that begat them.
The movie seems to be wonderful. The manufacturing design is by Sarah Greenwood (“Magnificence and the Beast,” “Anna Karenina”), and “Barbie” was photographed by Rodrigo Prieto (“The Irishman,” “Silence,” “Brokeback Mountain”). Different Barbies might be performed by Issa Rae, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, Ritu Arya, Dua Lipa, and a number of other others. Further Kens might be performed by Simu Liu, Scott Evans, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Ncuti Gatwa, and John Cena. Hellen Mirren will narrate.