Barbie Review: 8 Ups & 2 Downs

Although the best films can be let down by a predictable third act, Barbie's last few scenes never venture towards the formulaic route. Rather than having a showdown with a straightforward villain, the final 30 minutes juggles a ton of different material, including musical numbers, characters switching sides, last-moment revelations, profound messages, a gaggle of gags, and some meta humour for good measure.

Even though Barbie has to be commended for avoiding the conventional ending, it shoots itself in the foot a little. Because the climax bends over backwards to avoid storytelling cliches, it instead concludes with what can only be described as a jumble of ideas.

These ideas are clever in their own right, but cancel each other out, since there's too many. The last-third tries to have a thought-provoking message on so many topics, it becomes counter-productive.

Now, that's not suggesting Barbie's ending is awful or underwhelming. It's just not as airtight as everything that preceded it. Barbie would've been borderline perfect if ten or fifteen minutes of content was left on the cutting room floor, especially when things are wrapping up.

Now that those criticisms are out of the way, let's look at all the good stuff Barbie has to offer.