The pink tide is rising. And you’ll both sink – or swim to the closest cinema and be a part of Barbie’s large, field office-busting celebration. There’s positively no likelihood of ignoring Greta Gerwig’s summer season mega-movie. Buses, bridges, metropolis landmarks, even cellphone containers, have all been commandeered for the promoting onslaught. Hit the retailers, health club, bar or just about anyplace this month and also you’re most likely going to be met by Margot Robbie’s flawless face beaming again at you. For a lot of that received’t be an disagreeable prospect, however is life in plastic actually that implausible?

We open on Barbieland as its perma-happy residents rise and shine for one more wonderful day. On this beachside utopia – assume Venice Seaside however with (even) extra neon – the Barbies rule and the Kens drool. Because the comforting voice of Helen Mirren narrates throughout a witty intro: “Barbie at all times has an amazing day. However Ken (Ryan Gosling) solely has an amazing day when Barbie appears at him.” This units the tone for Gerwig’s satirical comedy-adventure that rips into sexist societal shortcomings by flipping them on their polypropylene-molded head.

After a fast 30-minute tour of city wherein we meet Robbie’s “Stereotypical Barbie”, Issa Rae’s “President Barbie” and even Dua Lipa’s cameo-tastic “Mermaid Barbie”, issues begin to go incorrect. First, the waffles burn. Then Barbie opens the fridge to seek out expired milk. Later, the bathe runs chilly and, worst of all, she will’t cease interested by loss of life. Barbie’s id disaster has begun. To unravel the issue, and return her life to pristine perfection, our peroxide pal should journey to the “actual world” (through hilarious journey montage) and assist repair a mother-daughter relationship that lies marooned on the angst-encrusted rocks of adolescence. What follows is a nuanced, rose-tinted comedy journey, set to a stonking pop soundtrack that includes Lizzo and Billie Eiish, that in some way lives as much as the immense hype. To borrow a pun from Ken’s coolest jacket (out of an extended lineup), Barbie is greater than “kenough”.

One other factor to say about Barbie is that it is rather, very humorous. Robbie’s nearly C-3PO-ish deadpan supply supplies loads of laughs, nevertheless it’s Gosling who’ll find yourself as your favorite toy. Along with his hair dyed brilliant blonde, denim-dominated wardrobe, impossibly sculpted arms and chosen pastime of “seashore”, he lands someplace between David Hasselhoff and Britney-era Justin Timberlake. He’s a lot stupider although – and Gosling has the time of his life bouncing between slapstick silliness and Inbetweeners-esque buffoonery. Additionally having fun with themselves are fellow Ken Simu Liu, who feuds comically with Gosling’s jealous goon; Michael Cera as a rogue and hysterically quirky “Allan”; and Will Ferrell, popping as much as play the dim-witted CEO of Barbie producers Mattel. Then there’s Kate McKinnon’s gloriously quirky “Bizarre Barbie”, a traumatised outcast who was performed with “too laborious” by her tween proprietor. If Barbie solely wins one trophy subsequent awards season, it ought to go to the casting director.

It’s not a complete chuckle-fest although. The script accommodates sudden subtlety, notably in the course of the tender moments which pack an emotional punch. Presumably, a part of Mattel’s motive for bringing Barbie to the large display was altering her outdated picture of inflexible magnificence beliefs and unrealistic physique conformism. So sprinkled all through are advertising and marketing messages (“Barbie means you may be something”) that sound like they arrive straight from a press launch. Gerwig is intelligent sufficient to ship these with self-awareness and a few sarcastic jokes (Mirren thanking Barbie for ending misogyny is a spotlight), that means the steadiness between actuality and industrial isn’t misplaced. For a film that ostensibly exists to advertise a doll, that is laudable. Now come on Barbie, let’s go celebration.