In one sense, this film was more inevitable than Thanos. What do you get when you're part of a society that fuels existential crises, by constantly eroding definitions and structures? Barbie and Ken aren't exactly human (they don't even have genitals); they're embodied ideas, and so they face this amorphous crisis of identity that pits their presuppositional views of a happy society against that of the "real world." But their perception of the real world is like seeing a plane for the first time and therefore thinking it's a dragon. So how much can an audience glean from the pontifications of characters who are essentially children? I would have greatly preferred scriptwriters more well-versed in sociology as well as comedy, writers who understand not only American ideals, and how those ideals have shifted, but the role that Barbie has played along the way. I get the sense that the writers here just KNOW Barbie had some impact, without really understanding much beyond that. There was so much to explore, and it could have been shown situationally, rather than through heavy-handed exposition.
Off-screen, apparently Ken had some interesting realizations about his misunderstandings of patriarchy, and Barbie had some realizations about how she treated Ken, but we don't get to see any of this nuance actually played out. Hugely missed opportunities there.
Bottom line: As fantastic as Robbie and Gosling were, I wish this movie just didn't exist. Keep the cast, but try again with a much better script and director.
Off-screen, apparently Ken had some interesting realizations about his misunderstandings of patriarchy, and Barbie had some realizations about how she treated Ken, but we don't get to see any of this nuance actually played out. Hugely missed opportunities there.
Bottom line: As fantastic as Robbie and Gosling were, I wish this movie just didn't exist. Keep the cast, but try again with a much better script and director.