"Barbie" - Review

In a world of unyielding horror, divorced from emotion and human experience, purged of identity and soul and meaning: stumbles Barbie (Margot Robbie), a doll who has left her own world in search of the girl who plays with her (Ariana Greenblatt). Accompanying her across this post apocalyptic hellscape comes Ken (Ryan Gosling, we shall get to him), who sees himself as her boyfriend, on a quest for answers to his own identity and place in the world alongside his true love Barbie, who defines him. As Barbie spirals downwards, succumbing to depression, and Ken discovers the darkest impulses of man, a journey of self-discovery, self-actualisation, and the existential horror of our depressive lives ensues...

(Art by Joana Fraga)
You knew it was coming, the memes have been best described as "torrential" and the hype train has had no brakes on it. So here it is.
"Barbie" has lived up to it.
Greta Gerwig (this is the first thing I have seen of hers) has concocted a myriad of pastel coloured wonders, with a rapid fire joke rate subverting its plastic source material, and giving a different gag for every palette. There are surprise musical numbers, breaking the fourth wall, easy-but-still-funny swings for the fences of how Barbie as a concept has aged with girls in a more enlightened world, simple one-liners, a Michael Cera fight sequence and even an extended plot point about Nickelback (a personal favourite was a joke at the expense of "Zach Snyder's Justice League" of all things). A highlight for myself is (apart from the musical numbers, dance number reminiscent of old-school musicals and a shirt which reads "I am Kenough") a Scooby-Doo esque chase in an office cubicle which makes me want Greta Gerwig to make a "Looney Tunes" movie. It's fun, it's pastel coloured, it's a neon carnival of chaos and carnage:

And then, comes the candy-coated poison. I am A SUCKER for a movie with a sickly sweet exterior, hiding a dark centre, and "Barbie" has it in spades: it's about losing your mind, suffering from existential dread, desperately flailing in a downward spiral after perfection slips from your grasp and you begin to believe that you will never achieve anything. It focuses on existential dread, depression and then, in the second act, toxic masculinity stemming from a feeling of mediocrity and a lack of an identity or purpose in your own life, in a mirror to Barbie's own journey.
All this from a fucking "Barbie" movie, I swear to Christ...
Robbie is excellent, and the writing and characters pop, its style is fun without being obnoxious or overbearing. America Ferrera bears the emotional soul of the film, and bears it well, and there is a lovely emotional payoff with Rhea Pearlman (HELL YES) towards the end. It feels a bit crowded when Will Ferrell and his Mattel Goons show up in a throwback to "The LEGO Movie", but it works for the most part, and theire gags still land, only with a bit less bite (bar one about profits at the end). Kate McKinnon, unfortunately, shows up with what can only be described as "Miranda Hart on SNL in the 90s" energy, but is thankfully kept to a minimum here.

The highlight, as many could have predicted, is Ryan Gosling. Just... yes. Everything about Ken in this is letting him embrace his comedic chops, and showcasing the performance of his career.
A triumph.

"Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" Review - From the Vaults

"Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings"

"Sean" (Simu Liu) is working as a valet in Los Angeles alongside his best friend Katy (Akwafina). His past, however, comes back with a vengeance as he is forced into a conflict with the evil ninja army known as "The Ten Rings", led by his father Wenwu (Tony Leung); and soon he must embark upon a journey to reconcile his past, his family, and his present, and save the world...

Fun Fact: I picked this because it looks like he is punching the pixels out of the original.

This is the most fun I've had at a Marvel film in ages. This is a much-needed shot in the arm to their universe, franchise and whatever else you want to call it. Destin Daniel Cretton has basically rejuvenated it all.

We have a rip-roaring, colourful kung-fu adventure with an almost entirely Asian cast, still finding time to tell a story about identity and reconnecting/reconciling one's past and identity in a modern world; and without a forced fucking romance fucking subplot thank the fucking Lord!

The rapport between the characters is natural, fun, breezy, but Katy still manages to be something of an anchor to this madness around her; the villain Wenwu is absolutely fantastic and certainly one of their strongest (introduced in the opening of the movie, in a brightly lit kung-fu battle of romance, wills and softening hearts which sets up the emotional anchor, it's a fantastic scene, telling a story with its choreography and lighting) and theirs is a delightful road-trip buddy cop movie just before our truly bananas dragon kung fu epic battle.

The action set pieces are the best choreographed I have seen in the MCU to date. You can tell that Simu Liu has been training for over a year to do this. The highlight, personally, was the first attack on the bus, just an electrifying display of creativity on display. But each one is shot in different lighting, to reflect different moods (almost like Cretton has, you know, some measure of talent and understanding of how film and structure work...) and feels suitably different in their scope and impressiveness.

Plus Simu Liu is frequently shirtless (if that is your thing) and there is a poster for "Kung Fu Hustle" on his wall (which is certainly my thing).

It didn't really flag for me, and I currently rank this along my favourite offerings of the MCU, "Guardians of the Galaxy", "Captain Marvel" and "Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2".