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Blu-ray Review: LYLE, LYLE, CROCODILE

Home » Blu-ray Review: LYLE, LYLE, CROCODILE

Dec 13, 2022 Posted by in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

The Primm family has just moved from the suburbs to New York City, where Mr. Primm (Scoot McNairy) has taken a job as the new Math department chair at a high school. With the position comes a brownstone apartment, but son Josh (Winslow Fegley) isn’t too pleased with the move. He’s a bit of a nervous Nellie, with the sounds of the city keeping him awake at night, as well as some odd noises coming from the attic. Josh is also lonely, feeling out of place at his new school, and finding it difficult to make friends—he even resorts to Googling “How to make friends at school”! However, this all changes when he discovers a crocodile named Lyle (voiced by Shawn Mendes) living in the attic, and the two quickly become friends. Lyle was once the partner of magician/entertainer Hector P. Valenti (Javier Bardem), who left 18 months earlier to earn some money abroad. Lyle doesn’t talk, but manages to communicate through song. While Josh tries to keep his new friend a secret, it’s not that easy to hide a giant crocodile who likes to sing, dance and take baths. When Mrs. Primm (Constance Wu) first sees their houseguest, Josh tries to reason with her, “OK, yes, crocodiles are dangerous. They bite through bone and have taste for human flesh. But he’s not like that. He wears a scarf.” But even if they may be welcoming to Lyle, the family is constantly under the watchful eye of evil downstairs neighbor—the fittingly named Mr. Grumps (Brett Gelman)—who is on the lookout for any excuse to get the Primms kicked out of the building so that he can buy the apartment. So, with the help of Hector P. Valenti, the Primms must prove that Lyle is not a monster, but a talented, lovable and caring creature.

As one could imagine, Mr. & Mrs. Primm aren’t initially as keen on Lyle as Josh was when he first met him, but Lyle has a knack for sensing what is bothering people and wins them over by helping them find the inner strength to address and overcome these issues. He becomes the friend that Josh is looking for, and confidence-booster that he needs. He also helps the other members of the family. Mr. Primm has been struggling to maintain control of his new classroom, letting his rowdy students run wild. He was the wrestling champion when he was in school, and looks fondly back on his heyday, but somehow he lost that confidence over the years. Mrs. Primm was a successful cookbook author, but she’s fallen into a rut—she’s been putting the family on an uninspired health-food diet, and is constantly worried that she and Josh are growing apart as he grows older. Lyle may just be the shakeup this family needs to bring them together and improve their lives and outlook—all it seems to take is a song and dance number with the perfect lyrics for the situation.

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile is a fun, delightful musical romp the whole family can enjoy together. It is a heartwarming tale of family, friendship and love that has a lot of humor and heart. It also features several extremely catchy and memorable original songs from the same team that brought us The Greatest Showman, all performed by the amazing Shawn Mendes, who gives this CG reptile a lovable and soulful feel. I dare anyone to watch this film and not have “Top Of The World” or “Take A Look At Us Now”, or “Rip Up The Recipe” stuck in their heads for days afterwards. Even though Lyle is CG, he looks and feels no less real than his human counterparts. You instantly adore and become invested in this character, who is able to convey so much emotion and words with just a hand wave, a shrug, or a song, that you forget that he doesn’t actually speak. The human characters are also a lot of fun, and perfectly cast.

Joining Lyle is an amazing human cast, starting with the talented Javier Bardem who really embodies the always-on, care-free entertainer Hector P. Valenti. Hector is a force of nature, always on the move. He genuinely cares for Lyle, and sees him as a partner. When things don’t go their way, he just brushes off the failures and looks for the next opportunity. The Primms are a bit on the opposite side of the spectrum. They all have issues they are holding onto, but some of Hector’s attitude must have rubbed off on Lyle, because he wants to help the Primms. I always find Constance Wu to be a pure delight, and it’s no different in this movie. She always brings a smile to my face, and here she gets to show off both her musical talents as well as her comedic chops. Winslow Fegley is also fantastic as Josh, playing both the nervous wreck we see him as when he first arrives in New York, as well as the stronger, more confident version he is by the end of the film. Scoot McNairy also gets to show off more of his comedic side in this film, as Mr. Primm wrestles not only with his own lack of confidence but also with a giant singing crocodile. And finally, often stealing the scene—and making me wish I could reach into the scene and slap him—is Brett Gelman as the hilariously annoying Karen of a downstairs neighbor, Mr. Grumps. He plays this role so well, maybe too well.

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile is smartly-written, with lots of sarcastic and classic humor. The film never takes itself too seriously, fully embracing the ridiculousness of a singing and dancing crocodile interacting with humans. The filmmakers have also integrated some fun callbacks to the books that inspired the film. Every time we see Mrs. Primm draw a picture of Lyle, he looks more like the illustrates from the books, rather than the the more realistic CG version in the movie.

Sony’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds great. The picture is pristine, with excellent colors and a solid level of detail, especially in faces and Lyle’s skin texture. Even though he’s a CG crocodile, Lyle looks and feels so realistic, and is perfectly integrated into the live action such that he feels just like another living, breathing character. It never feels like you are watching a cartoon interact with humans. The audio track is also excellent. Dialogue is clear, songs sound amazing, and there is extensive use of the stereo and surround channels to provide a really immersive experience. This is especially noticeable in the opening of the film, with the sounds of NYC traffic and the hustle and bustle of the city filling the room, and the sounds of stormy weather and rain coming from above.

The release includes both a Blu-ray and a DVD disc packed on either side of a standard HD keepcase, placed inside a glossy cardboard slipcover. An insert provides instructions on how to redeem an HD digital copy of the film. The bonus material consists of Sing-Alongs and Music videos, a blooper reel, a deleted scene, and nearly 20 minutes of behind-the-scenes featurettes with the cast and crew.


What’s Included:

Film: (1:46:38)

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