We’ve had movies about LEGO, The Transformers, G.I. Joe, and even Jem and the Holograms. So it’s a bit weird that we’ve never had a live action big screen Barbie… until now. Starring Margot Robbie as the iconic doll and directed by Little Women’s Greta Gerwig, Barbie has arrived in New Zealand and is now available to rent or buy.
The marketing machine has been working overtime and the cultural impact so massive that we can pretty much assume you’re across all the relevant details. But just in case: taking a few cues from The LEGO Movie (and a cast member in the form of Will Ferrell, here playing the CEO of Mattel), Barbie sees Robbie’s titular fashion doll fleeing from the pastel utopia of Barbie Land to the far-less-accommodating real world Los Angeles after she suffers a kind of existential crisis.
This might be connected to the travails of Mattel office drone Gloria (America Ferrera) and her daughter, Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt). Naturally, Ken (Ryan Gosling, having the time of his life) tags along, because he’s Ken. And things proceed from there.
Gerwig co-wrote the screenplay with her creative and life partner, Noah Baumbach, and has assembled an amazing cast of Kens (Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Scott Evans, Ncuti Gatwa, John Cena), Barbies (Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, Sharon Rooney, Dua Lipa, Nicola Coughlan, Ana Cruz Kayne, Ritu Arya) and one lonely Allan (Michael Cera), plus support from Rhea Perlman and Emerald Fennell, and none other than Helen Mirren on narration duties.
Expectations are riding high for this one. Barbie is, after all, one of the most iconic toys in the history of childhood, and doing the old clothes horse justice is no easy task. But we’ll certainly be visiting the Dream House…are you coming to the party?
