Yes, I succumbed to the hype and took Nathan and Eva – along with Eva’s BFF and her parents – to see the Barbie movie. We’ve yet to see “Oppenheimer” but we did see “Asteroid City” last week, which has some atomic tests in it (and Margot Robbie, as it happens) so we’ve pretty much done both. I chose a Sunday afternoon showing at the Barbican and I’ll be honest, there was pros and Kens so I’m gonna list them out for you:
Pro: The pun! This is 100% the reason I chose the Barbican to see this movie. It just had to be done, in my opinion
Ken: You will get lost on the way. I have never yet visited the Barbican without getting at least a little bit lost
Pro: When you get lost, you spy awesome stuff like this restored medieval church in the midst of all the brutalist architecture and the neon green lily pad water.
Ken: That opaque, unfenced water was a worry for me when I had a free range toddler and it’s not much better with an unpredictable 11-year-old
Pro: Comfy seats and a lovely red curtain to make it feel like a real Event showing
Ken: If you go to Cinema 2 instead of Cinema 1, you’re in completely the wrong building and it’s a long way to retrace your steps
Pro: They sell a special Barbie-Ken cocktail!
Ken: Other snack options seem limited
Pro: Not overly crowded, especially at the start of the ads and trailers
Ken: You may well be the only one who’d brought a child with you to this toy-based movie. People may stare
Pro: Gender-neutral toilets, some with cubicles and some with urinals
Ken: The ones without urinals only have three cubicles. Three!
Overall, a fun cinema experience and we all enjoyed the movie even if large parts of it seemed derivative of other films starring Will Ferrell (“Elf” and “The Lego Movie” spring to mind) It’s worth wearing pink, even if you’re the only ones because yknow….it’s a legit phenomenon. You might as well lean into it.
