The "Pretty" Half of Barbenheimer Isn't the Film You Think it is
Image courtesy of WB Pictures
Barbie's Box Office Bonanza
Barbie released in cinemas alongside Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer on July 21st, after months of 'Barbenheimer' memes on social media. Since then, Barbie as been the more explosive of the two films as it has stormed to the top of the box office charts, reaching the $1 billion dollar mark worldwide and becoming the highest-grossing film directed by a woman.
"Barbie,” directed by Ms. Gerwig from a script she wrote with her partner, Noah Baumbach, will finish the weekend with more than $1 billion in ticket sales at the global box office, according to Warner Bros. No movie in the studio’s 100-year history has sold so many tickets so fast, said Jeff Goldstein, Warner’s president of domestic distribution. As of Sunday, “Barbie” had been playing in theaters for 17 days. (“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” was previously the fastest to $1 billion, at 19 days.)
“Barbie” was No. 1 in the United States and Canada for the third weekend in a row, collecting $53 million, for a new domestic total of $459.4 million."
But how has it managed to pull it off? For a film that many (myself included) expected to be as plastic and hollow as a Transformers or a Jumanji, what is it about Barbie that has made it stand out?
Because Barbie is exactly the film you didn't expect it to be. It's clever, it's nuanced and it's getting people talking.
Image courtesy of WB Pictures
Barbie Review: Just How Good is it?
I saw it not too long ago and I went in with very low expectations. Tom Cruise had let me down, I daren't watch the Flash but I was talked into it by my fiancée.
There's a reason why I'm marrying her.
What I assumed would be a relatively shallow parade of Barbie's various iterations over the years in order to sell a shedload of merchandise turned out to be vastly different.
Imagine my surprise when instead I witnessed an existential tale taking an unflinching look at gender roles in society with an uncanny amount of references to the Matrix.
Margot Robbie is the titular doll who undergoes an existential crisis as she starts to contemplate thoughts unheard of in her perfect feminist utopia of Barbieland. As she starts to embody human traits she embarks on an adventure into the real world to put an end to her cellulite and flat feet. And Ken comes along for the ride.
Barbie is a film that really needs to be seen to be believed. A film with a remarkable amount of depth that has clearly been written to resonate with women, but also with men. It manages to spotlight not only the difficulties of being a woman but also the stigma of men's mental health and society's reluctance to allow men to open up about their feelings. While the conclusion is a little too on the nose, the rest is handled with a deft nuance that looks to start a discourse on the topics as opposed to forcing an agenda.
Image courtesy of WB Pictures
The film itself is plenty of fun too. The huge ensemble cast clearly had a great time making this film and it shows, with Ryan Gosling stealing every scene he's in. His Ken has a story all his own in trying to step out of Barbie's shadow (and win her heart at the same time). There's even room for a lot of laughs--and innuendo--too.
No doubt, this film will rub a lot of people the wrong way, especially those expecting a film about Barbie to make them think. I feel like that's exactly what director Greta Gerwig was going for.
This film is going to wind so many people up. And that is one of my favourite takeaways from the film. People's opinions on the film are a great way to get a read of people too.
Forget star signs, what's your Barbie opinion?
Go watch Barbie. It's . . . sublime.
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