Greta Gerwig’s latest film “Barbie” is a silly but delightful romp proudly embracing its glitzy artificial qualities to the end. Yes, it surely feels contradictory at times as boldly wielding messages of female empowerment and liberation via those well-known brand doll figures criticized for the inherent objectification of female bodies, but it cheerfully recognizes its imperfections while trying to have all the fun and glee it can have with its numerous doll figures, and I came to enjoy and savor that much more than expected.

At first, the movie quickly introduces us to its fantasy world along with Helen Mirren’s dryly humorous narration. This world, called “Barbieland”, is full of Barbie doll figures including the one played by Margot Robbie, and the movie goes all the way for artificial silliness as casually depicting how everything goes swell and same at every pinky day for every Barbie doll figure in this world, which is in fact not so far from the TV sitcom fantasy world of “Pleasantville” (1998) in many aspects.

On one day, Robbie’s character suddenly begins to experience a sort of mental/physical problem for no apparent reason, and that surely causes a serious trouble in her comfortable paradise. After consulting a bit with “Weird Barbie” (Kate McKinnon), she decides to go over to LA of our world for solving her problem, and she soon starts her journey along with one of Ken doll figures played by Ryan Gosling, who volunteers to accompany her just because, well, she has been the sole reason of his existence.

What follows next when these two doll figures arrive in LA is not so different from what Amy Adams’ fairy tale princess character experiences in “Enchanted” (2007). They surely draw lots of attention and ridicule right from the beginning due to their colorful appearance and outfit, and both of them naturally become quite befuddled as struggling with a sort of culture clash in one way or another.

Anyway, the main goal of Robbie’s character is finding a certain young girl who has been personally connected with her for years, but, of course, things do not go that well for her when she finally seems to locate that young girl. Right from their first encounter, Robbie’s character gets harsh feminist lessons on Barbie doll figures, and that surely throws her into more confusion, though she subsequently comes across someone who do remember and recognize her.

Meanwhile, Gosling’s character goes through his own hilarious misadventure, and that eventually leads to the bitingly humorous lampoon of patriarchy as he wholeheartedly absorbs its every toxic aspect. As a result, we later get an uproarious moment when he willfully turns Barbieland into your average male fraternity house, and that surely throws another big blow into the seemingly impeccable worldview of Robbie’s character.

While having lots of naughty fun from the frequent clash between its fantasy world and the real world along the story, the screenplay by Gerwig and her partner Noah Baumbach also finds some sincerity as Robbie’s character comes to empower herself through several moments of enlightenment thanks to two human figures she happens to befriend during her bumpy adventure. When she eventually arrives at an important moment of choice for herself after those good life lessons of hers, the movie becomes a little more serious than before, and the following ending comes with a little poignancy to be appreciated.

Above all, the movie seldom loses its lightweight sense of fun as often buoyed by the considerable comic intensity of Robbie’s another terrific performance. While initially amusing us a lot with her deft mix of charm and manic spirit, Robbie gradually builds up her character’s hilarious but ultimately touching emotional journey along the story, and she does not miss any comic beat even when she is going to deliver the final line of the film, which will tickle you a lot if you muse more on a certain physical aspect of Barbie dolls.

Gerwig assembles a bunch of notable performers here and there around Robbie. As the two substantial characters of the real world, America Ferrera and young performer Ariana Greenblatt hold the ground for Robbie with enough gravitas, and Will Ferrell gleefully chews every minute of his in contrast as demanded by his cartoonish role. In case of many various cast members playing Ken or Barbie doll figures in the film, all of them surely have a field day together, and Gosling, who looks as physically well-shaped as he did in “Crazy, Stupid, Love” (2011), does not hesitate to commit himself to every silly aspect of her character. As a matter of fact, he and several other hunky male cast members in the film even do a big musical dance number later in the story, and I am sure this stupendously blatant moment of overkill will amuse not only millions of female audiences out there but also numerous gay audiences who have ever played with Ken doll figures.

On the whole, “Barbie” may look rather broad and superficial compared to Gerwig’s two previous works “Lady Bird” (2017) and “Little Women” (2019), but it has enough spirit and humor for our entertainment at least. Sure, Gerwig could do better, but I also think she deserves to have some casual break after her significant achievement in “Lady Bird” and “Little Women” – just like Sofia Coppola did in “Marie Antoinette” (2006) after “The Virgin Suicides” (1999) and “Lost in Translation” (2003).