Barbie 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review
Brad Sturdivant
October 17th, 2023
An easy joke in 1998 was to point out that the movie PLEASANTVILLE was a safe, easy way to explain racism to the ignorant masses. Similarly, 2023’s BARBIE is an easy way to explain sexism to men. Of course, I don’t remember certain demographics boycotting and crying about PLEASANTVILLE the way they seem to be upset about BARBIE, but such is life in the days of social media. Hopefully, you’re ignoring the rhetoric around the film and have managed to sit back and appreciate BARBIE for what it is and how well it manages to convey its themes, all in a fun, pink, glittery ribbon.
The concept of Barbie is simple on paper, but actually pretty complex in actuality. We’re introduced to stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie) in Barbie World, that she shares with all different types of Barbies. There, she and the other Barbies are supported by Kens, none of which have any responsibility or make any decisions. This is Barbie’s world and the Kens know their place. But Stereotypical Barbie begins to get the urge to go to the real world and find out why her toy’s owner is having such dark thoughts. Once she and Beach Ken (Ryan Gosling) get there, they learn that the real world has very different rules than the Barbie World.
First, let’s put aside our frustrations with big companies and appreciate that Mattel actually allowed this movie to get made. One of the big jokes in the film is that the executives at Mattel are all out of touch men that don’t want strong, empowered women. The CEO of Mattel, in real life, is actually a male and he had to sign off on the biggest movie of the year making fun of his company for about an hour. I’m not saying they deserve an award or anything, but when you hear the stars talk about how they didn’t think this movie would get made, this is what they’re talking about; most companies wouldn’t sign off on this movie.
Aside from the pokes at Mattel, BARBIE also covers some very complex themes, such as women empowerment, the effects of a male dominated society and numerous societal absurdities that we tend to accept without thinking about them. If you want to turn BARBIE into a political statement, the material is there for you to do so. However, I think you’d be missing the point. Aside from acknowledging and dealing with some of the uncomfortable themes, screenwriters Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach did manage to wrap this in a very fun package with a lot of memorable lines. I myself have quoted Ken on numerous occassions since the credits rolled. “I’m just ‘beach’. That’s it”.
Margot Robbie is of course great as Barbie, but Ryan Gosling carries almost all of the comedic pressure in the film and he does so flawlessly. The whole cast is great, but Gosling really proves his comedic prowess as Ken and somehow doesn’t get enough credit. But with a script as incredible as this one, it’s hard for any actor to get too much credit.
4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: BARBIE is an overly colorful film designed to look like a toy store and so of course it pops on 4K. This is a reference quality video presentation.
Audio: The Dolby Atmos track is equally impressive.
There are 6 fluff featurettes included.
