Tucked in the closing credits of “Playmobil: The Movie” is a dedication to Horst Brandstätter, the German entrepreneur whose company began production of the now-iconic Playmobil toys in the 1970s — acknowledging a vast popular legacy for the dinky figurines that now extends to a whole animated feature. It’s a nice touch, if a tellingly incomplete one: Unmentioned is Hans Beck, the inventor who designed and developed the toys themselves, and by the end of this snazzy but shrilly synthetic kids’ romp, it’s hardly surprising to see business acumen honored ahead of creative input. An attempt to do for the smiling, claw-handed Playmobil collective what “The Lego Movie” did for the humble plastic brick — but without that blockbuster’s dizzy, self-aware wit and visual invention — Lino Disalvo’s hyperactive film never transcends its blatant product-flogging purpose.
The result, brightly stuffed with pirates and vikings and glitter-winged creatures at every turn,...
The result, brightly stuffed with pirates and vikings and glitter-winged creatures at every turn,...
- 8/7/2019
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
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