Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile Movie Review: Shawn Mendes’ Singing Reptile Is Trapped in a Cliched and Uninspired Musical (LatestLY Exclusive)

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile Movie Review: While watching Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile I had a constant reminder of a movie that I watched last year. There was something so familiar about watching an animal with a peculiar quality being found by a nervous child and them going on an adventure, and then being separated, only to be found again and prove to the world that love can cure everything, I was brought back to my time of watching Clifford the Big Red Dog - and let me tell you folks, it was not a good experience. Clifford the Big Red Dog Movie Review: Jack Whitehall’s Film Is a Soulless Adaptation That Is More Frustrating Than Entertaining (LatestLY Exclusive).

Directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon, Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile sees the down-on-his-luck magician and singer Hector P Valenti (Javier Bardem) hit jackpot after finding a singing crocodile named Lyle (Shawn Mendes). When things take a turn for the worse, Hector has to abandon Lyle and go on a long trip so he can gather money and pay off his debtors. When a new family moves into Hector’s apartment though, a nervous kid named Josh (Winslow Fegley) quickly befriends Lyle and sets out on a musical adventure that sees him embrace himself.

The best way to describe Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile would be that it’s a cliched tale that we have seen a million times already. While children definitely will find something enjoyable here as Shawn Mendes’ anthropomorphic crocodile breaks out into a catchy duet, from a story perspective there is nothing to pick on over here.

Ditching the suburbs to move into the greater area of Manhattan, the Primm family seems pretty well to do in their ways, yet they have a bit of adjustments. Constance Wu as Mrs Primm for the most part seems like loving mother with a concern for everyone to eat well, while Scoot McNairy’s Mr Primm makes for every nuclear dad you have seen in movies like this. At the heart is of course Josh, and while he completes the family dynamic that can feel sweet at times, it’s too little to go off on.

Watch the Trailer:

Every character feels like a caricature of a studio-based family film, and while that’s not necessarily bad, it creates for a boring viewing where you’re just watching a dilapidated story with a fresh coat of paint on it. There is even the nosy neighbour here who is literally called Mr Grumps (Brett Gelman), and even he doesn’t have much to go off on instead of Gelman doing his best to make this character seem funny.

Mendes’ crocodile named Lyle also packs in enough personality as the writing doesn’t let him down, however, I did wish he spoke in the film a bit. Aside from singing, you never really hear Mendes’ voice in the movie and it just feels like the studio wasn’t able to afford him, rather than a natural reason as to why he can’t talk in the film. The CGI also on the creature leaves a bit to be desired. While there is an art style attached to him, it very much clashes with the cinematography. Thankfully, it’s not as bad as Clifford the Big Red Dog’s VFX, so that’s definitely a plus.

Things do spice up in Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile though whenever Javier Bardem’s Hector shows up on screen. With a penchant for camp and over-the-top theatrics, Bardem tries to charm up this dull plot, and occasionally does succeed where he is the only who seems to have an ounce of depth to him. Black Adam Movie Review: Dwayne Johnson’s Anti-Hero Could Not Save This Rushed and Messy DC Film (LatestLY Exclusive).

The musical numbers feel joyful too bringing about a sense of excitement to the scenes, and while they can seem heartwarming, the overall creeping narrative makes for an uninspired take that never really gets anywhere. This all leads up to an ending where you know how everything is going to go down and wonder which animal is going to feature next in a film based off on the foundations of the same plot.

Yay!

Javier Bardem

Nay!

Uninspired

CGI Can Be a Bit Wonky

Final Thoughts

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile owns a plot that you have seen a million times already. While the catchy musical duets and the family dynamic here are enough to make your child keep entertained, there is still an uninspired feel to it that it can't escape. Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile is playing in theatres right now.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 04, 2022 10:01 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).