A woman narrates how back when the world began, the only dolls that little girls would play with were baby dolls. Although they enjoyed being mothers, it became boring after a while.

Then suddenly, Barbie arrives, as a tall doll wearing a black and white bathing suit, marking a change to what girls could be. So, all the girls destroy their baby dolls. The narrator concludes with how Barbie came in different forms, and that if she could be anything, then any woman can.

The next scene cuts to Barbie getting ready for her usual day. Aside from waving and saying hi to the other Barbies, she drifts to the first floor (Barbies don’t climb stairs since a person is controlling her as their doll), has breakfast (which is all air), and goes to the beach to meet the other ladies, and the signature Ken. He tries to impress Barbie, but she still cares more about the other women.

Barbie hosts a girl’s night at her house, where all the other ladies party. While dancing, Barbie talks about how she looks forward to this for the rest of her life. But then she asks if anyone feels like dying–which prompts silent stares. Barbie pauses and then says that she meant if anyone was dying to keep dancing.

The next day, Barbie wakes up feeling unwell. Her shower is cold, her waffles are burnt, and her milk has expired. She also falls to the ground floor. And while at the beach, her feet fall flat. 

She is told to go see Weird Barbie to figure out how to fix this. Weird Barbie, whose looks became messed up because some child played with her in a bizarre way, tells her that whoever is playing with her in the real world is having a tough time. That impacts the functions of Barbie’s life. Weird Barbie tells her to go to the real world to find this girl.

Barbie leaves her town to journey to the real world, which involves lots of various transportation methods, such as a snowmobile and ship. However, Ken joins her uninvited. 

The two enter the real world, Los Angeles precisely, where they receive unexpected attention. They even get arrested a few times.

After some craziness, Barbie closes her eyes to find out who could have caused her issues in Barbieland. Meanwhile, Ken explores LA and sees men being in charge from his POV, which prompts him an idea. 

Later Barbie visits a middle school, where she meets the girl whom she thinks went through a rough time. Her name is Sasha. She sits with 3 other girls who put Barbie down because they think she caused problems, such as body insecurity and pollution. That makes Barbie cry.

Not long after, the company, Mattel, a toy-manufacturing company, finds her and takes her away. She meets with the CEO, where she learns that Sasha’s mom and Mattel employee, Gloria, was experiencing the crisis.

The CEO demands that Barbie goes back into the box back to Barbieland, which she refuses. She escapes, but Gloria and Sasha allow her into her car. They go back to Barbieland–only for it to be totally different, in which men are in charge and women serve them. If that’s not bad enough, Ken has taken ownership over Barbie’s house and kicks her out.

Poor Barbie is more devastated than ever and feels worthless. Gloria points out how leadership is important, but that there are limits to it. For example, a person can be in charge, but should still let others have ideas.

But in 48 hours, Barbieland will be taken over by the men. The women work out a plan to prevent this.

There are so many aspects that I enjoyed about this movie. First is the humor. Even if it doesn’t make you laugh hysterically all the time, some moments are funny because they’re clever. An example is when the little girls at the beginning destroyed their baby dolls because Barbie came.

The morals also matter to me, especially the idea of how a woman can be anything. It is true that women, and people in general, will wear different hats in different situations.

That being said, it’s also important that we acknowledge that everyone can also be ordinary. Gloria even points that out at Barbie when she tells her that assertiveness needs to happen, but not get pushed too far. Gloria’s speech about that is also a crucial message for audiences.

Which brings me to my next point–although this movie is centered around a franchise that attracted mainly girls, it does appeal to a lot of males. I think how Ken felt about Barbie taking him for granted may have left a message to any men or boys watching it. 

Ken wants to spend time with Barbie, but she keeps shutting him out for her female friends. The idea is how neither males nor females should have too much authority.

Another strength is characterization. Barbie starts out stereotypical but learns that life isn’t perfect. 

Speaking of which, Barbie’s hair changed lengths in certain parts of the movie. One majorly noticeable moment is when Barbie wakes up, not feeling like herself the day after the party. Her hair is much shorter, like inches past her shoulders, while in many other scenes, it’s to her hips.

Movies do get filmed out of order a lot. So, that scene might have been filmed first, where Margot Robbie’s hair was yet to grow – or shot last, when her hair was cut.

As with any film, Barbie contains various twists and turns. Even though the doll appealed to children, the movie is rated PG-13. So, it’s not for younger kids.

But for adults and bigger kids who grew up with Barbie dolls, like I did, it makes a fantastic watch.

I give Barbie 5 out of 5 stars.