YMMV / Playmobil: The Movie

• Angst? What Angst?: The death of Marla and Charlie's parents is barely brought up after it happens, and the siblings' current issues are barely shown to have a connection to it; Marla's loss of childhood innocence in particular is solely depicted as a character flaw she needs to overcome, rather than the natural result of someone losing their parents and being forced to raise their sibling afterwards.
• Americans Hate Tingle: In the United States, Playmobil is seen as a cheap knock-off of LEGO, this caused the film to earn just over $650,000 in the United States (where it was released at a variable pricing rate of just $5 at major chain theaters) in its opening weekend, described as the worst opening in cinematic history for a film playing in over 2,300 theaters.
• Audience-Alienating Premise: While the idea of a LEGO movie was met with ridicule before its release, it ended up blowing everyone away and actually made sense since LEGO is such a worldwide phenomenon (and had proven itself with the videogames). Playmobil is more of a niche toy, with many comparisons to The Lego Movie flooding in as soon as the trailer released. Fitting, since Playmobil has always been stuck in LEGO's shadow.
• Awesome Art: While it doesn't look much like Playmobil, even the movie's harshest critics agree that the artstyle is gorgeous.
• Cliché Storm: Sibling duo, who are orphans with the older sister being Promoted to Parent, have a strained relationship. The older sister grew up too fast, while her brother is still a kid playing with toys. One day, the two of them accidently enter a magical world of toys, where the older sister has to prove herself and learn to be a kid again, while her brother gets superpowers which helps him mature.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Rex Dasher is generally considered to be one of the few genuinely likable characters, due to being a charming British spy played by none other than Harry Potter himself. Some people outright state the movie would've been much better if it focused on him, or at least focused on him more, since he doesn't appear as often as advertising might suggest.
  • Emperor Maximus is also quite beloved by viewers, due to his extremely hammy performance and catchy Villain Song.
• Esoteric Happy Ending: Yay, Marla got her childlike wonder back! ...and she's still supporting her younger brother on minimum wage, with no indication on if they'll be able to make a better life for themselves.
• Fandom Rivalry: Take a guess. Many fans of The Lego Movie accuse Playmobil to be a shameless rip-off of the former, not unlike the rivalry between LEGO and Playmobil themselves.
• Friendly Fandoms: However, some Lego Movie fans are okay with the movie, since some speculate that The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part could be the last one, so they would be more than happy to check this movie out.
• He Really Can Act:
  • Adam Lambert gets a hammy Villain Song and keeps that energy up in his acting.
  • Meghan Trainor's acting is arguably better than her musical number, which is in her divisive signature style.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Many people looked forward to watching the movie just for Adam Lambert.
• So Bad, It's Good: While nowhere near as bad as The Emoji Movie, it can be really enjoyable if seen with the right people, making for a fun bad movie night.
• Strangled by the Red String: Rex Dasher is supposedly Marla's Love Interest, however they don't share a lot of scenes clarifying that. And even if they did, Rex is a toy while Marla is a real person. Of course, their mutual attraction seems to be mostly in Rex's head, even if Marla finds it amusing.
• They Copied It, So It Sucks!: The similarities to The Lego Movie aren't even subtle. To the movie's credit, they at least try to tell an original story, rather than simply copying The Lego Movie's story. It's even referenced in the critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes:
  "Much like the toys it advertises, Playmobil: The Movie seems sadly destined to be regarded as a superficially similar yet less desirable alternative to the competition."
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Rex Dasher, a genuinely fun spy character voiced by Daniel Radcliffe featured prominently in the trailers, is barely in the film.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • Many viewers argue that the plot and premise of the movie has potential, however, they couldn't have handled it worse than they did in the movie. The movie pretty much goes from setpiece to setpiece, some more interesting than others, but without any significant development made in any of them. If there wasn't the overlaying theme of the heroine trying to save her brother while discovering the feeling of being a kid again, the movie would be a straight-up Random Events Plot.
  • The parents dying and straining of Marla and Charlie's relationship is only brought up at the very beginning. Some people felt that the movie could've focused more on these two characters and their realistically tragic situation, especially since the movie takes a nose-dive into childlike absurdity without any real connection between one plot and the other.
• Took the Bad Film Seriously: Despite the rather lackluster script, the main cast has gotten praise for at least trying to give good performances, with both their acting and singing elevating the material. Daniel Radcliffe is usually singled out as the best performance in the movie, with his voice work giving Rex Dasher a lot more personality that the script wouldn't allow.
• Unintentionally Sympathetic: The film treats Marla having lost her childlike innocence as a flaw and something she needs to overcome. Given how this change was brought upon by the death of her parents and her needing to raise her brother on her own, many viewers didn't hold it against her as much as the film did.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Many reviews consider Charlie to be very rude and hurtful to his sister, acting like a brat for no onscreen-illustrated reason and outright using their parents' deaths to claim she's dead inside. Ultimately it's she, not him, that learns a life lesson, implying that he wasn't in the wrong. Though in all fairness, he is still just a kid who was hardly taught any better, and to his credit, in the denouement he apologizes before she does.

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