“feminist comedy” or “opportunist”? Critics’ opinion

[Mis à jour le 20 juillet 2023 à 14h21] Barbie shows off as the queen of the French box office! Greta Gerwig’s film performed well at the French box office for its release this Wednesday, July 19, 2023, with 268,359 admissions for its first day of operation (359,889 including previews). Mattel and Warner’s candy pink marketing campaign will therefore have paid off, while spectators were curious to see this film phenomenon. At the box office, this comedy does better than Oppenheimer, but (narrowly) loses the critics match (3.5/5 for Barbie, 3.8/5 for Christopher Nolan’s film on Allociné’s review aggregator)

For those who would be tempted to see the Barbie movie, know above all that it is not a simple live action adaptation of the adventures of the Mattel doll. In the opinions published by the spectators and the press, we discover that it is about a resolutely feminist comedy which settles its account with the patriarchy. We are far from a film resolutely for children. Some are absolutely won over, others disappointed, but everyone is curious about the film worn by Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, whose services are also praised. Roundup of reviews below.

As Le Point says: “Just because it’s pink doesn’t mean it’s stupid”. Spectators call this high-octane comedy “feminist”, “deeply funny and embodied”, “intelligent” “touching and necessary”, the praises are not lacking. On the side of the specialized press, opinions are sometimes more measured. For Première, “Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling are divine in this wacky and malignant comedy”, Le Figaro, for its part, finds that the film “takes the opportunity to settle accounts with the patriarchy with jubilant humor”.

More measured, Paris-Match salutes the “burlesque worthy of Monty Python” while deploring a “more narrow morality”. Overall, the second part in the human world, more “conventional” according to the opinions, is the main flaw of the film. Le Parisien admits for his part that the film is “nice and blue flower”. For Le Monde, it’s even worse, “the blockbuster signed Greta Gerwig exhibits a “girl power” of the most opportunistic.” Certainly, the film Barbie remains one of the films not to be missed this Wednesday.

Among the reproaches made about the film Barbie, we find the commercial aspect of the film. Blockbuster at 100 million dollars, the marketing campaign around the film has bludgeoned spectators for several weeks with advertisements and derivative products. For Liberation however, if the “marketing [était] frankly tyrannical, the bet is successful for this charming satire which does not allow itself to be devoured by its paradoxes”. For its part, Le Monde finds that “everywhere, all the time, Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach (her co-screenwriter and companion) seem gesticulate in all directions to prove that they keep their hands on the film, ignoring the prerogatives of their employers and the guiding ambition vowed by the CEO of Mattel: ‘Going from a toy manufacturing company, which manufactures articles, to an intellectual property firm, which runs franchises.'”

A seasoned marketing campaign and onlooker curiosity brought audiences to dark theaters to see Barbie. According to Olivier Snanoudj, distributor at Warner Bros France, the film has accumulated 268,359 admissions this Wednesday, July 19, the first day of its release. Added to this are the figures for the previews the day before, ie 91,530 admissions, for a total of 359,889 admissions since the start of its screening. By way of comparison, Oppenheimer, the main competing film, also had a nice success since it achieved 150,000 admissions in France for its first day of start-up, reports Xavier Albert, general manager of Universal Pictures France.

film profile

Barbie is a film directed by Greta Gerwig which is one of the films expected in the summer of 2023. This live action feature film follows the adventures of a doll who finds herself going on an adventure and discovering the real world, accompanied by Ken. In the casting, viewers will recognize Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in the lead roles. The opportunity to discover this adaptation of the cult doll, which also promises to make fun and twist the blow to many clichés. Also in the cast, a myriad of stars: America Ferrera, Will Ferrel, Issa Rae, Simu Liu, Emma Mackey, Ncuti Gatwa, Nicola Coughlan, Helen Mirren, Dua Lipa or even Michael Cera and Kate McKinnon make an appearance. All information about the film can be found below.

Synopsis – In Barbie Land, you are a perfect being in a perfect world. Unless you’re in existential crisis, or you’re Ken. A Barbie doll, judged not to be perfect enough, goes on an adventure in our world.

• Margot RobbieBarbie
• Ryan GoslingKen
• Issa Rae: Barbie (Chair)
• Simu Liu: Ken
• Emma Mackey: Barbie (Nobel Prize in Physics)
• Kingsley Ben-Adir as Ken
• Nicola Coughlan: Barbie (ambassador)
• Ncuti Gatwa: Ken
• Hari Nef: Barbie (doctor)
• Dua Lipa: Barbie (Mermaid)
• Ana Cruz Kayne: Barbie (Magistrate)
• Scott EvansKen
• Sharon RooneyBarbie (Lawyer)
• Emeral FennellMidge
• Michael CeraAlan
• Kate McKinnonBarbie
• will ferrell
• Jamie Demetriou
• Connor Swindells
• America Ferrera
• Helen Mirren
• Ariana Greenblatt

The Barbie movie is Greta Gerwig’s latest achievement. And if her name means something to you, it’s normal: she is an actress and director of several films. As an actress, it is especially in independent cinema and American authors that we have seen her, as in Sex Friends, To Rome with Love, Frances Ha, Eden or more recently White Noise. Her directing career began in 2008 with Nights and Weekends. But it is above all with Lady Bird in 2017 then The Daughters of Doctor March in 2019 that she made a name and a reputation for herself, the two films having been nominated for the Oscars (best direction for Lady Bird and best adapted screenplay for The Girls of Doctor March).

In France, the film Barbie is classified as a general public, which means that everyone can see the film. Be careful though: this is not a children’s film. In the United States, the feature film is even not recommended for children under 13. According to 20 minutes, moreover, “this feminist comedy tackles subjects that are difficult for young audiences to access” and the film was not designed for children, since it deals with adult subjects in a way that the youngest will not necessarily understand.