Lilo, Lilo, cocodrilo

Well, color me surprised. I actually had a pretty good time with this lightweight musical romp.

This is a thoroughly well-directed movie, which was shocking to me. There is quite a bit of thoughtful camera placement that visually emphasises how the characters are feeling about the events that unfold around them.

Musical numbers are a surprisingly difficult thing to get right, and I thought this movie managed to pull off some pretty spectacular ones. There is a great deal of variety to the visual presentation of each musical sequence, with characters and camera moving around with some fun choreography.

I could tell that these filmmakers were really trying to make this movie as good as it could be. Their effort shows and mostly pays off.

As for plot, it's very narratively slight; it's full of contrivances and forced conflicts that never once felt substantial or surprising or meaningful. Because of this, I'll probably be forgetting about this movie very quickly.

There's also a sequence in which a montage is shown made up of scenes from earlier in the movie, and I thought it was hilariously clumsy in how it was put together.

But still, I thought this was an unabashedly sweet, charming, and pleasantly competent little musical adventure. It'll be good for the family.

The pivotal character is a 50-ish entertainer-magician (Javier Bardem) who keeps trying to make it but isn't quite talented enough. As the movie begins we see him yet again trying to get on the TV show competition named "Let's See What You Got." With no success. However as he goes to the curio shop to find something truly unique he hears a soft, pretty singing voice. Digging through the clutter he discovers this small crocodile, barely larger than a mature lizard, happily singing away. He buys him and names him Lyle.

The movie unfolds as a story of this man and the crocodile that grows and grows into a full-size croc. Lyle can't speak but understands humans, and can sing appropriate songs at times in reply. The goal is to make a lot of money with their song and dance routine. However the man doesn't count on one thing, Lyle suffers from stage fright in front of a crowded theater. The middle part of the story is Lyle ending up with a new family in the New York duplex, and the new family dynamic that results from all that.

My wife and I watched it at home, on DVD from our public library. In truth we enjoyed it a bit more than we expected to.

Good movie.

Lyle is an absolutely adorable character. And Javier Bardem and Constance Wu deliver excellent performances. All in all, it was a moderately enjoyable affair.

What kept Lyle from reaching its potential were the story, the pacing and the songs. The story lacks an antagonist, a threat, some kind of objective that looms large. And that absence is felt, with multiple moments begging the question "wonderful characters, but what is this all about ultimately?".

The pacing was a little off, with really exciting moments followed by long, trudging luls. While everyone was so very incredibly charming, the movie did feel boring at times.

Finally, the missed opportunity is the songs. They're simply not iconic. I still remember songs from Frozen, Moana, Encanto and others, but I'm confident that I won't remember any of the tunes from Lyle.

This may not read like a particularly flattering review and that's not my intention. I though Lyle was nice, but not particularly so. I might just be spoiled by what seems like so many other exceptionally good animation films these past few years.

All I can say is that I like it. I was expecting it to be dull going in, but I found myself entertained. It does not hurt that Lyle Lyle the Crocodile was a childhood favorite of mine (Well...favorite might be too much. I'm giving a lot of credit to it simply because it's a book I actually read).

I can see why Javier Bardem did it. He got to change it up a little bit and show us a humorous side we rarely get to see in the type of movies he's best known for.

As a musical it sucks, but I'm bias cause that's not my thing but this did not stop me from liking it, overall.

Definitely glad I took the time to see it.

I'm in my mid-20s and I like Shawn Mendes' voice as Lyle. Having him in the film made it good to watch, but I thought it's plot could have been better. Some of the characters are not emphasized as much as I thought they would be and some of the music is a bit basic. Also, the conflict in the movie was not as climactic as I thought it was going to be in my opinion. Nevertheless, I do not think that watching the film was a total waste of time or money. It's important to keep in mind that this is a musical for kids and therefore the plot is going to be somewhat basic. If you're a Shawn Mendes fan and/or a parent who wants to take his/her kid to see a movie, it's worth a watch.