Barbie Receives Praise From Critics, Reaches Heights of 89% On Rotten Tomatoes

After all these decades, Barbie has finally made her way onto the big screen in live action form, and the reviews are now in. Directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, Barbie promises to delight audiences with bright colors and comedy, all while tackling contemporary themes. And it looks like this ambition has been largely successful, with Barbie now sitting at an impressive 89% on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.

We begin with MovieWeb’s own Julian Roman, who praised the satire at Barbie’s core and the balance between comedy, heart and, of course, big dance numbers.

“Greta Gerwig’s pink-hued film adaptation of the eponymous, billion-selling toy line is a brilliant satire that thoughtfully explores relationship dynamics. It’s also knockdown funny with heart, epic dance numbers, and gleefully torches patriarchal norms.”

The praise continues courtesy of Variety’s Peter Debruge, who applauds the movie for achieving something depth amid all the pink and glitter.

“Gerwig has made the kind of family film she surely wishes had been available to her when she was a girl, sneaking a message (several of them, really) inside Barbie’s hollow hourglass figure. That’s an admirable achievement.”

Collider’s Ross Bonaime meanwhile commends director Greta Gerwig for avoiding the big screen commercial that Barbie so easily could have become.

“Barbie could’ve just been a commercial, but Gerwig makes this life of plastic into something truly fantastic.”

And Beth Webb of Empire Magazine could not get enough of Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, even stating that, after Barbie, things will never be the same again.

“Greta Gerwig delivers a new kind of ambitious and giddily entertaining blockbuster that boasts two definitive performances from actors already in their stride. Life after Barbie will simply never be the same again.”

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It’s not all big smiles and sunny days for Barbie however, with Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter feeling that certain sacrifices to the story were clearly made when transforming Barbie into a blockbuster.

“However smartly done Gerwig’s Barbie is, an ominousness haunts the entire exercise. The director has successfully etched her signature into and drawn deeper themes out of a rigid framework, but the sacrifices to the story are clear.”

Alison Willmore of Vulture meanwhile left disappointed in a “defensiveness” that runs through Barbie, ultimately leaving the movie feeling “emotionally inert.”

“There’s a streak of defensiveness to Barbie, as though it’s trying to anticipate and acknowledge any critiques lodged against it before they’re made, which renders it emotionally inert despite the efforts at wackiness.”

Finishing on a positive, Screen Rant’s Tatiana Hullender found Barbie to be satisfying both as a meta-commentary and as a comedy outing.

“But with a director as surefooted in her vision as Greta Gerwig, anything less than a metacommentary on womanhood would have been out of place. Barbie is a full-course meal that offers some truly comedic appetizers and unexpectedly dramatic entrées, and almost all the dishes turn out to be delicious.”

Directed by Academy Award nominee Greta Gerwig, Barbie follows Margot Robbie’s doll after being banished from the utopian Barbie Land for being less-than-perfect, leading Barbie and Ken go on a journey of self-discovery together to the real world.

Featuring an all-star cast that includes America Ferrera, Simu Liu, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, Will Ferrell, and many more, Barbie is scheduled to be released on July 21, 2023, by Warner Bros. Pictures.