Review of Welcome to Marwen (2018) by Brian B — 21 Dec 2018

Welcome to Marwen has been receiving the kind of critical vitriol usually reserved for a Zach Snyder movie, which is disappointing, especially since I really enjoyed it. But I've also seen the documentary a dozen times, and spent hours pouring over Mark Hogancamp's beautiful 1/6 world, through his photos.

Some of the problem is comparing Welcome to Marwen to the documentary, Marwencol, and please don't. Welcome to Marwen isn't a replacement to the documentary, nor should it be. They can both exist. Just because I loved The Dark Knight doesn't mean I can't enjoy LEGO Batman. Unfortunately, it looks like the audience for this movie is people who loved the documentary. When the demographic for your movie is people who loved another movie, all you can get is diminished returns.

That's another issue. As much as I hate to admit it, it could be that the market for cross-dressing dolls who fight time traveling witches during WW2 is woefully small. 1/6th collectors are a niche market, of a niche market, which has spent the last two decades frustratingly showing they can't support product at retail.

Which is unfortunate, because the movie is a lot of fun. The action scenes are campy and larger than life, in the way that dolls shooting make-believe Nazis ought to be. The dialogue in the 1/6th world is straight from an adventure serial, "Sorry, I don't speak NAZI!" It's 'Hitler in a robot suit' World War 2, not Saving Private Ryan.

I like to think of it as a movie made by, or set in Marwencol, instead of a faithful adaptation. This isn't the serious, contemplative meditation on PTSD and escapism that the documentary was, but it's great for someone looking for a quick shore leave pass, to visit some old friends in Marwencol.

My only real issue is the role given to Deja Thoris, the Belgian Witch of Marwencol. I don't believe Ms. Thoris would appreciate being cast as a cackling villain, but if it gives Mark a bucket of cash to blow on Phicen dolls, I won't complain.