dad’s review of new Barbie movie

hemispheres

New member
I enjoyed it, I laughed. No spoilers here.

But what you need to know: Save your money if you are looking for a funny summer movie that works for girls of all ages. This is more like an indie film tackling a serious complicated topic. If your kid is too young for “Interstellar”, see something else.

The jokes get intellectual and are only for adults, but not in that way Pixar does so well. The whole film is an extremely meta conversation about society. And they made little effort to give a 10 year old enough of what they need to stay engaged. It’s PG-13. But I think its aiming for 40+ year olds.

The 5 of us showed up in pink. Nearly everyone there was in pink. Grandma (who LOVES dolls) fell asleep. Our 2 kids (m10, f7.5) couldn’t name any part they enjoyed. My wife (who runs a large networking group of female entrepreneurs) was basically wiped out from how heavy it all got. Barbie cries a lot about serious issues that have no good solutions.

There were no moments that the packed audience (who were excited enough to be dressed in pink) filled the theater with laughter. I felt like I was the only one laughing.

Obviously, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling are incredibly attractive the whole time. And while its intentionally cheesy, their acting was the Oscar worthy level you’d expect.

EDIT: Some dads have made sure I know I’m to blame and the film industry didn’t trick anyone. I mostly agree. I hadn’t even considered blame as important, since this is r/daddit. Here is the very not sad in any way trailer we saw. And we also saw a very silly ad for car insurance. In the press interviews Robbie says little kids will love it. But yes, someone who follows cinema and directors like others follow baseball would definitely already know everything.
 
@hopeforhappiness Just got back from Oppenheimer. Wow. Long. But wow.

My 14-year-old also said he enjoyed it, despite the length and the plot that jumps forwards and backwards. It really is a masterful piece of filmmaking. Up there with Dunkirk.

The sex scene gave him a bit of a start because it was unexpected and fairly explicit but certainly not gratuitous.

10/10

I wasn't going to watch Barbie but OP's review makes me want to see it.
 
@hopeforhappiness I just got tickets at one of the true 70mm imax theaters…for August 20th.

Didn’t know anything about the movie until I realized one of those theaters is only 30 minutes away. So we’ll be seeing a movie for the first time since probably pre-kids and pre-CoVid
 
@jaeb We only do 1-3 each year but it makes it extra special to get the nice seats and pick a great flick.

For me, I am absolutely seeing Oppenheimer 70mm IMAX in a couple weeks and then Dune Pt 2 later this year. Wife likes horror so we did a date night thanks to her parents and we saw Evil Dead Rise on the nice recliner lounge chairs.
 
@jaeb If it makes you feel any better, I usually regret going to the movies after spending most of the time irritated about people talking or checking their phones constantly. I miss Alamo Draft House.
 
@hemispheres I feel like most people in here are trying to flex their ability to know more about movies than the next dad.

Thanks OP. This is good information to share for us dads who don’t follow cinema or trailers closely.
 
@only2memberfamily Thanks @only2memberfamily. I knew I was setting myself up, since I was admitting I made a movie mistake. And hoped to help someone else avoid repeating it. I was thinking about what I’d tell a friend with kids.
 
@only2memberfamily Seriously thanks OP. I was bouncing the idea back and forth about including our daughter who really is a deep feeler/thinker but i honestly knew nothing about it. Thanks for the spoiler free review!! Very helpful!
 
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