If you had told me, a few months ago, that the one of the most profound, insightful and though provoking films of last 20 years about feminism, the patriarchy and the zeitgeist of late stage capitalism would come from a film based on a popular toy doll I would have laughed. And yet in 2023 Gerwig’s masterpiece ‘Barbie’ is just that, it is the zeitgeist. There’s a great anamorphosis paradox in art that if you look at a subject say like feminism/patriarchy/capitalism too directly you don’t see it, however if you look at it indirectly/obliquely it you can see it clearly. Great subversive art often comes from the unlikeliest of places, in this case a deeply meta analysis of our world comes wrapped in the plastic of a film that looks like a marketing gimmick. The self awareness of the film subverts in a brilliantly meta way the entire premise of itself, hilariously and insightfully criticising all at once: the Mattel company, the brand of barbie, the at times negative nature of barbie as a role model, the male dominance of our world, the idea of femininity and beauty standards the doll represents. And yet for a film with such searing nuanced critique it never falls into the trap of cheap cynicism instead deftly walks the line between critique and joy and optimism about what the role of men, women and Barbie herself could be.

There is a monologue a character gives in the 3rd act of the film about what it is like to be a woman in todays world that is so profound and well written that I was in awed silence which was then suddenly punctured by a woman in the audience giving a cheer. It was a magical movie moment. Reading this review so far you might think that the film is a long lecture about weighty subjects and yet after deftly avoiding cynicism the genius screenplay of Gerwig and Baumbach never becomes preachy instead being one of the funniest laugh out loud films I’ve seen in years. Margot Robbie is perfectly cast in this role along side a star cast without a single off note performance. But easily stealing the show is Ryan Goslings hammy, hilarious, sweet turn as Ken that makes you both laugh at him and fall in love with him at the same time. His song ‘Just Ken’ a highlight of the film, that could easily win best song at the Oscars. Ken represents in the end a softer emotional masculinity that was very moving. Everything else, from the dazzling CGI-less, old-Hollywood sound stage production design, to the costumes, cinematography, score and acting was peak. To top of the searing critique, laugh out loud jokes, scintillating screenplay and stellar acting is an emotional ending that brought me to tears. A love letter to mothers and daughters and play. I’m sure many other brands will be eyeing the success of this film, the highest grossing opening for a woman directed film ever, to do their own versions. However this would miss the point of the film. ‘Barbie’ as inexplicable as it may seem not only looks deep into the depressing inequality and injustice of our world but also offers philosophically the way towards a better world. A world of greater gender equality, of women empowerment, of a better kind of masculinity, a celebration of inclusivity and diversity and most importantly an embrace of imperfection. The best film of the year so far. 10/10

You would think after the disappointing ridiculous unbelievable mess that was the last Jones film, the Crystal Skull, with that cringe worthy alien plot, that lessons had been learned for the final instalment of the franchise. The formula for a good Indy film is not complicated: focus on real special effects, have a religious/historic/culturally specific artefact plot, epic action scenes, good villain, some light humour, some sense of wonder or mystery, bring back old characters, play on nostalgia and most importantly have a final climax scene that is spectacular. For this latest film to not only have not learned from the mistakes of the last film, to have in many ways doubled-down on everything that made the film bad was actually shocking to me. This film is actually worse than the worst of the franchise. Added to the lessons not learnt are so many frustrating missed opportunities especially an excellent cast, I love both Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen but they are lost in this film. The breathtaking level of failures on nearly every count really did shock me: clunky overused CGI with robotic de-ageing (one scene in the parade people looked like Sims), a truly stupid unbelievable plot barely related to history/reality (with so many holes my head hurts thinking about it), long cartoonish action scenes that become boring, lack of humour, a fairly good villain left sidelined, zero wonder or mystery, corny humour, old characters present and barely used, and worse of all a rushed climax that is so anti climatic it makes the alien reveal in the last one look entertaining. That’s not to say that the film doesn’t have good elements, it does have an excellent cast, obviously loads of money for locations, and plenty of nostalgic moments. Yet all of this make the disappointment all the more pronounced. One aspect that really frustrated me was how little Dr Jones seemingly cares for the destruction of artefacts or history (his great love) in the pursuit of the case/goal, in the same Bond-level disregard for collateral destruction around him. This will probably be the last Jones film as currently it’s on track to be a box office bomb. As someone who admired a PhD hero, the film feels like a tragic ghost of its former self. In recent times there’s been a lot of nasty backlash to Disney, especially from the intense Star Wars fandom, this being I my view overstated and problematic in some cases (I.e. Little Mermaid). However in the case of the Jones franchise I think the fan criticism is justified, even if you aren’t a fan, this film is a painful mess to sit through and an epic missed opportunity. Disney seemingly can get away with bad remakes/films as long as they make money, but if this film bombs as badly as it’s on track to do, the company will have to take notice and change. 4/10