The Aesthetic Of The Barbie Movie

 (Photo Credit Cinemasng.com)

As I exited the theater, I thought to myself "how do I talk about Barbie?". A movie I highly anticipated and mostly enjoyed, and had fun. Would I do a non spoiler review? A deep dive into the messages the film had laid out in it's hour and 44 minute run time? But then I thought, why not talk about the presentation, as that was one of my favorite aspects of the film, perhaps I will dive into the story at a later date if I decide to, but that is not the topic for now. At the time of this the film hasn't even been out for a whole day, so people need to see the film for me to dive deeper, but this, I can cover this without spoiling much if anything. The aesthetic of this movie has been shown from it's marketing, the trailers, and T,V spots, so many people have seen through the trailers and teasers the look this movie has to offer, and even some of the sound. How it plays out or ties into the narrative will not be on the table today, this will be incredibly surface level. But that's the point, I want to show how this blog will be different then it was before, through different topics, review styles, formats and more. Let's look into the presentation of this Barbie girl and the Barbie world, she inhabits.  

This film pops, every environment standing out and really capturing the feeling of  Barbie, from the sets, to the costumes, and the props. This feels like a life sized world inhabited by toys in the best way possible. The details in the foreground and background that are just part of the world tie everything together and do not stand out, they feel like they have always been a part of the world as if the world has always been this way for these characters.  Taking from the first trailer for example, when inside her house, the background sky fits so perfectly, the sunny days and bright environments fit, but as you go through her house, the clothes and furniture match to a tee. 

As I watched this film, I was taken back on how the visuals are so stunning yet they are just there, they are just the world, and that to me is the sign of a good set. When something looks so good but is just treated as if it were the normal world we all inhabit, and attention is brought to it in transition or in a quiet moment and really lets you take it in, that shows something great.

Music, score, and presentation are some of the biggest strong suits of this movie. From the costumes which are based on real life Barbie toys, to their cars and they set pieces. From the houses to the beach, everything feels like a play set come to life, and when the environments change, the way the movie is shot reflects that. The contrast between Barbie's world and ours is presented in a way that allows the music and visuals to show us the differences in a very smart way.

The music and score of this film make the presentation stand out even more. The music and score blend so well and match the emotion of every moment, it can pop like many of the set pieces or have a quiet moment so you can take everything in. The music works well and I found myself wanting to look up the soundtrack of this movie for a couple songs after the credits rolled.

The costumes of this movie needs to be discussed, each piece of clothing just screams barbie. Each one looking like it came from a toy line, and some of them looking so amazing. There were even a couple pieces of clothing that made really funny background gags that I hope become mainstream clothes, there were some shirts that Ken was wearing that made me think "I would buy that". Not only are the clothes almost directly lifted from the toy line, but they fit the tone of the movie, and each one fits this movies style. 

The backgrounds and back drops invite the viewer in and are just so well made. The big and small set pieces or even the more crazy transitions work well because the ton of this movie stays consistent, and that is the word I think best suits this movie's presentation. Tone. The tone of each scene is complimented by the lighting, backdrops and every little piece, setting the scene but never being distracting.  The tone of the movie is elevated by it's presentation in look, sound, and the costumes, really making this movie come to life, in the best ways possible. So at the end of the day there will be discussions about the acting, and writing, but for me, I will at least always remember this Barbie world and how cool it looked.