Playmobil: what was Hollywood thinking?

PLAYMOBIL: THE MOVIE is about a young woman named Marla Brenner. She has just finished high school and wants to travel around the world, but her parents die in an accident. She becomes the legal guardian of her brother Charlie. 4 years pass and they're still living in the same house. I don't just mean that it's the same location; I mean that nothing inside reflects the passage of time. Everything is clean and tidy, and it seems like their financial status hasn't been affected. Does Marla work? Did they inherit enough money from their parents' will? Are they getting some kind of help from the government? I know these seem like minor details, but they needed to be clarified, because Charlie complains about Marla not being fun anymore with a "Our life sucks now" tone. We don't know what exactly is causing this and whether or not Marla is justified. You're probably waiting for me to compare this to THE LEGO MOVIE. Honestly, just because the toyline is a copy, it doesn't mean a film adaptation will automatically be a copy too. There certainly are similarities, but I feel that other films (like THE EMOJI MOVIE) have been bigger rip-offs. Well, what made that movie so great is that it tried to make statements about legos and people who play with them. It didn't feel like its main purpose was to be a commercial. By not giving us enough information about the Brenners' situation, we can't know for sure what they're doing wrong and/or what they need. Therefore, we can't know for sure what lesson we're supposed to learn. You must forget your responsibilities and have fun? You shouldn't let bad events affect your personality? Also, Marla & Charlie end up in a Playmobil store full of miniatures. I think them holding a sign that says "Buy this" would be more subtle. They have the kind of fight that usually happens right before the climax (even though we aren't even 15 minutes into the movie), and then they're magically dragged into the Playmobil world. Marla doesn't become a cool toy. I know that was decided so there could be a contrast between her and the spies, the scientists, etc. However, Charlie retains his personality in his viking body, so he still feels like a fish out of the water. The same thing could've been done for Marla. I thought it was a nice touch to show Marla struggling to move in her new body. However, it feels unnecessary in retrospective. Charlie doesn't struggle and Marla grows accustomed very fast. Not to mention that the limberness of all the toys is inconsistent. In some scenes, they're stiff as plastic; it others, they have the flexibility of a human body. Marla befriends a toy named Del. So now we have 2 toys modeled after an everyday person (even though he doesn't come from the real world, so he doesn't fit in this new world) that we have to follow around. It's just not very interesting. Each group of people or creatures have their own land, but there doesn't seem to be that much distance. How can they live so close to one another? Wouldn't the dinosaurs go outside of their zone and try to eat others? Wouldn't the Roman soldiers, cowboys, pirates, etc. notice that the people from other lands seem like a more advanced society? Wouldn't that affect how they live? Overall, the movie isn't very funny, but there are 1 or 2 cleverly subversive moments. I got the feeling that Anya Taylor-Joy was directed differently in live-action vs in animation. In fact, the way her character was written in both kinds of scenes also make her come off as 2 separate people. Regardless, she still manages to do a good job, and so does Daniel Radcliffe.

4/10
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