Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
These “animated mixed with live action” movies are usually not my thing, but I have a soft spot for the 1960s Bernard Waber books about Lyle the Crocodile. Like many of these animated films, they have a basis in literature going back to before I was even born, and I really do have fond memories of my mother reading Lyle the Crocodile to me as a kid. So I had a little more leeway and grace in terms of accepting Lyle, Lyle Crocodile on the big screen, even though I knew from the trailer this was going to be another Garfield in terms of quality. End result? Yeah, about what I expected in terms of quality, but not what I expected in terms of structure and style.

Hector (Javier Bardem) is a down and out magician/entertainer who is out of ideas. His magic shows are not exactly selling out, and he’s down to his last few bucks when he stumbles across a baby crocodile in an exotic pet shop down in Central New York City. You see, this isn’t just a regular croc living in the city (yeah, cuz that’s a thing), Lyle (whom Hector dubs the little green fella) can SING. Thinking he’s hit the jackpot Hector takes the little guy home to his loft in the city, and soon starts teaching him everything he knows about showbiz in hopes of taking the act on the road. Only thing is, when push comes to shove, Lyle has more than a bit of stage fright, and leaves Hector in the lurch. After losing all their money in that one big gamble, Hector is forced to go on the road to make some cash, leaving Lyle upstairs in the attic (how is he going to eat?).

While Hector is away, the Primm’s movie into the loft. Mr. Primm (Scott McNairy) is a high school math teacher, while his wife Mrs. Primm (Constance Wu) is a famous cookbook author who just wants to stay home with their anxiety ridden son Josh (Winslow Fegley). Josh is a bundle of nerves, suffering from acute anxiety as well as the typical frustrations of a new kid in a big city. The poor guy has no friends and no real social skills until he stumbles upon Lyle in the attic. The two become fast friends (and singing buddies) and soon Josh is blossoming into a healthy, well adjusted young man. That is until Hector comes back with debt collectors on their heals, forcing the singing alligator into the spotlight of a world who just sees him as a beast, and not the friendly little green guy he really is.

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile is a fairly bizarre movie. It takes much of the same basic plot points as the 1965 books, and creates a full length Broadway style musical out of it. It’s got a zany vibe to it from the first opening scene, but only gets weirder as the film goes on. The film plays out a lot like the Garfield movie about 10 years ago, just with a LOT more singing. The tropes and stories told withing are pretty typical (lonely kid gets a boost from a talking animal, the rest of the world can’t see past his scales, but Josh can show the world just how special Lyle is...the end), but they’re cute and funny enough that you can bypass most of the cliches and just roll with it.

Shawn Mendes does great with the singing (like one would expect) and Javier Bardem is fantastic as the scenery chewing Hector, but it’s really Winslow (Josh) who steals the show. He’s adorable, cute, and generally quite likable as a pre teen kid (as much as a preteen can be adorable). At the end of the day Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile is a decently acted film, but also extremely cliched and well worn. It tells the same old tale we’ve seen a million times, just with CGI that looks like it comes out of the 2010s and not the 2020s, and this is really going to be a digital babysitter rental at best. Fun, flawed, and generally forgettable.




Rating:

Rated PG by the MPAA




4K Video: Video:

Given a 4.5 Arri Alexa source with a native 4K master, Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile looks fantastic in 2160p. The animation of Lyle (and the cat Loroetta) looks REALLY cheap. Like 2005-2010 cheap. But the rest of the movie looks fantastic and colorful. When Hector is up on stage you can see the bright red sequins pop off of his coat, as well as the wonderful shadow detail as her performs against a pitch black stage. The cityscape is bright and well lit, and textural details on sidewalks and school scenarios is spot on perfect. I did notice a little bit of crush in the performance where Lyle chokes, but overall this is a great looking 4K image with tons of HDR upticks in the color department.







Audio:

The Dolby Atmos track is utterly fantastic I might add. The fact that this is basically a full blown musical means we’re going to get a wildly dynamic mix that really brings the music to the fore front of the experience. The songs literally flow and saturate the entire sound stage, permeating every angle you can think of. Even when the music isn’t blaring we get a pretty active track. The New York City activity provides more than enough hubbub to bring the surrounds and overheads into play (although the overheads REALLY get a workout from the score). Dialog is spot on perfect, and I felt that this was just one of those toe tapping tracks that really gets you into the groove. Probably my favorite part of the whole package.








Extras:

• 4 Sing Along songs
• Storytime featuring Shawn Mendes and Javier Bardem
• Bloopers
• Deleted Scenes
• Croc and roll - Lyle on Set
• Take a look at us now - The Cast
• 2 Music videos

Final Score: ​

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile is reasonably fun, but reasonably fun can’t overcome the well worn tropes and general sense of mediocrity associated with it. Not to mention not everyone is going to want a full blown musical. But that being said, I did get a kick out of the homages to the original art style (look at Mrs. Primm drawing Lyle), as well as a few of the adventures (such as the side car and motor cycle) that come from the original stories. It’s cute, fairly innocuous, and something that’s easy enough to toss on when you need a digital babysitter. Personally I find this is a rental for most people, and a streaming service download for most.

Technical Specifications:

Starring: Javier Bardem, Winslow Fegley, Shawn Mendes (voice), Constance Wu, Scoot McNairy, Brett Gelman
Directed by: Josh Gordon, Will Speck
Written by: Bernard Waber (books), Will Davies (screenplay)
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), French DD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, English
Studio: Sony Pictures
Rated: PG
Runtime:104 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: December 13th, 2022

Recommendation: Cute Watch