Self-awareness is only the first step to recovery.
I had all the surprises spoiled for me, since I saw this long after it left theaters, so I wasn't distracted with dopamine hits from recognizing those cameos in their studio-calculated "audience pop-off" beats. I got to see the movie much clearer for what it is: largely boring and pretty ugly to look at.
I've never been a big fan of Deadpool, and Ryan Reynolds' performance here might be the most insufferable…
Beautiful images with poetically crafted dialogue that all makes for a delightfully dark and surreal experience. The story itself is not so strong, but the subtext is rich. Willem Dafoe should have gotten every award possible for this performance.
I'm hard pressed to find a movie that looks more beautiful than this. Every visual style is executed flawlessly and the composition is spectacular. Solid editing, writing, and performances all around too. My only complaint is that I have to wait another year for the finale.
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Barbie (the film) has more of an identity crisis than Barbie (the character). When it tries to be fun, it mostly works, with fun musical numbers, colorful production design, and campy performances from a solid cast. But its tone is wildly inconsistent, its plot is complete nonsense, and its messages are muddled in ways that can't all be blamed on executive interference. I had enough fun to not consider it the worst feature-length toy commercial I've watched (that honor goes to Transformers 4).
