Story
Marla (Anya Taylor-Joy) dreams of travelling the world with her young brother, Charlie (Ryan S. Hill). But Marla’s dreams are shattered when their parents are killed in a car accident.
Four years later, Marla is responsible for caring for Charlie (Gabrielle Bateman), who’s now 10 years old but hasn’t forgotten their travel dreams. Frustrated with the restrictions Marla imposes on him, Charlie runs off to a toy show to see a Playmobil exhibit. He’s enthralled by what he sees, but when Marla finds him, she tries to drag him away. At that moment, a lighthouse lights up and they’re both pulled through a portal into the Playmobil universe.
In the Playmobil universe, Charlie has become a Viking and Marla is a girl. They find themselves caught up in a Viking battle. Charlie fights off many Vikings and becomes known as Charles the Destroyer. He’s captured by pirates and taken to the Colosseum, where Emperor Maximus (voice of Adam Lambert) is gathering the best fighters to take on his beast in the arena.
Marla must find Charlie before it’s too late. With the help of Del (voice of Jim Gaffigan), a food truck driver, they travel to different Playmobil worlds to find Charlie. They end up in a fantasy world, where Marla’s fairy godmother (voice of Meghan Trainor) helps them complete their task.
Themes
Adventure; battles; loss of parents
Violence
Playmobil: The Movie has quite a lot of animated violence. For example:
- Two opposing Viking armies attack each other with swords and axes. Marla and Charlie are caught in the middle. Charlie fights off several Vikings and Marla defends herself. There are explosions, but no blood or gore.
- Charlie gets catapulted from a spring and lands in water. The pirates capture him and put him in a cage.
- Marla chases after Charlie on a horse and arrives in modern times on a motorway. Cars whiz by and Marla is thrown from the horse. She catches hold of a truck with a fishing rod and gets bounced along the road. She eventually gets into the truck and fights with Del, the driver.
- Marla kicks a cowboy and hits another cowboy with her bag. The cowboys chase after her and nearly catch her, but Del saves her just in time.
- An Amazonian girl tells someone that ‘she’ll rip their tongue out’.
- Secret agents discover Marla and say they’ll have to torture her.
- A James Bond type character named Rex destroys a helicopter in the air. It crashes on the highway.
- Del and Marla are captured by Glinara, a fat slug creature, who hangs them upside down. They’re slowly being lowered into a firepit when they’re saved at the last minute.
- Caged warriors try to escape but are caught by soldiers, who point at the warriors with spears that have electricity sparking from them.
- Marla kicks the Emperor.
Sexual references
Playmobil: The Movie has some sexual references, including some flirtation between Marla and Del, who hug at the end of the movie.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
Playmobil: The Movie shows some use of substances. For example:
- Del tries to lace a burrito with a sleeping drug to stop someone messing up their plans. He accidentally squirts himself instead and falls instantly asleep.
- Another character drinks a potion that knocks him out.
Nudity and sexual activity
None noted.
Product placement
Playmobil products are displayed or used in this movie.
Coarse language
None noted.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Playmobil: The Movie is an animated adventure comedy that starts with real characters who turn into fictional ones.
This movie moves at a fast pace between various worlds including the Viking era, Ancient Rome, the Wild West, Prehistoric times, Pirate adventures, Fantasy land and Spy world. This could be quite confusing for young children. The movie also contains a lot of animated violence and scary characters. Therefore, it isn’t suitable for children under 5 years, and we recommend parental guidance for children aged 5-6 years.
The main message from this movie is to not give up on your dreams.
Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include the importance of family.
Playmobil: The Movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues. For example, it’s very sad that Charlie loses his parents at such a young age. It’s also difficult for Marla to give up her dreams and take on the responsibility of raising Charlie.