‘Barbie’ first reactions praise “funny, bombastic and very smart” film

Barbie Margot Robbie

First reactions for the hugely anticipated Barbie movie have arrived, with critics praising a “funny, bombastic and very smart” film.

Barbie is set for release on July 21 in the UK, with a runtime of 114 minutes. It stars Margot Robbie in the titular role, with Ryan Gosling as Ken.

After press screenings for the film, largely positive reviews have come back for Greta Gerwig’s film with ScreenRant‘s Joseph Deckelmeier tweeting: “Barbie caught me off guard & I mean that in the best way possible.

“It’s funny, bombastic, & very smart. Greta Gerwig aims for the fences & hits a home-run.”

Others to praise the film included ComicBook.com‘s Jamie Jirak, who said: Greta Gerwig somehow exceeded my expectations…Give Ryan Gosling an Oscar nomination, I’m dead serious!”

The film was also praised for being “witty, heartfelt and downright fun” as well as “a whimsical, wonderful and laugh-out-loud funny romp,” with Variety‘s Katcy Stephan saying that Robbie and Gosling were “born to play” their roles as Barbie and Ken.

See a host of first reactions to the film below.

Ahead of the film’s release, it has been given a 12A rating in the UK, due to the film’s supposed use of “moderate innuendo”, “brief sexual harassment”, “violence”, “dangerous behaviour” and more.

It was also recently revealed the the film is being banned in Vietnam as it includes the “nine dash line map” that depicts islands in the South China Sea as being controlled by Beijing.

“We do not grant license for the American movie Barbie to release in Vietnam because it contains the offending image of the nine-dash line,” the state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper stated, citing Vi Kien Thanh, director general of the Vietnam Cinema Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.

Billie Eilish also this week announced the release date and title of her new song ‘What Was I Made For?’, which will appear on the film’s soundtrack.

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