This was a bizarre film. It’s anti-capitalist and anti-patriarchy but aside from one practically thrown-away line portrays both capitalists and patriarchs as bumbling nincompoops that have not only arrogated their places but should be so readily overthrown from them as to be insulting to any who would consider themselves anti-capitalist or anti-patriarchy.

With that said, with the whole mixed message conflict of men-vs-women that takes up half of the film set aside, the other main conflict, of Barbie and her relationship to herself, her future, her world, the real world, is fascinating and her journey is wonderful aside from its detours into dealing with sexism. Guess that’s how sexism do, huh. But in a similar way to the motivations behind Schitt’s Creek’s portrayal of a same sex relationship devoid of cultural antagonism, it would have been nice for the film to either have been allowed to focus on Barbie’s journey of self-discovery without the trappings of having to fight for her humanity (perhaps an ironic statement regarding a doll, or sort of doll, or whatever), or if they perhaps had focused the zaniness on a consistent message of equality or equity or anything that wasn’t undercut by other aspects of the narrative. Just a really messy plot.

But goddamn the visual style was excellently executed, and the physical comedy of an incredibly high degree of quality. Whereas the written jokes were often hamfisted or tired (in both senses of being delivered to a yawn and through a yawn), the visual gags in the background and foreground alike were reliably hilarious.

Very strange cinematic experience.