Review: Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile

A hallmark of family cinema in the 2000s are live-action CGI hybrid films. From Alvin and the Chipmunks to Paddington, these types of movies have become a cultural mainstay and a genre in their own right. Countless children’s characters from books, animation, and video games have been brought to live action in some way, shape, or form. The latest addition to this roster of movies is Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile. The film is simplistic but ultimately effective in what it does, knowing exactly the type of film it wants to be and executing it in a way that is mostly satisfying and generally entertaining.

Lyle feels solid in the world around him and makes a physical presence in the way he interacts with the actors and objects

Being the main attraction of Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, it is expected that the character of Lyle (Shawn Mendes) would be visually appealing in how the quality of his animation blends with the live-action elements of the movie. For the most part, Lyle feels solid in the world around him and makes a physical presence in the way he interacts with the actors and objects found in the scenery. This is in part due to how the motion of the animation is done, with the model being rigged and animated in a way to mimic practical movements in scenes not requiring more fluid motion. It is when this fluidity is required, such as in one of the extensive musical numbers, that the issues with the CGI elements of the film become apparent. Lyle’s motion is unnatural and uncanny in his quicker paced motions, taking away from the apparent spectacle of the scenes in which he sings and dances.

Moving from the character’s appearance to his voice, the performance of Lyle, and in general the movie, is mixed at best. Shawn Mendes is woefully miscast in his role of the titular crocodile. Lyle only communicates through song as he is partially mute, therefore, the only vocal performances that Mendes gives are through his singing. In most situations it would be perfectly adequate to feel out of place coming from the mouth of a 7’ crocodile, making this quite distracting and take the audience out of the film. Moreover, this stipulation also stunts the range of performance that Mendes can give, making it feel more like a marketing gimmick than anything else.

Shawn Mendes is woefully miscast in his role of the titular crocodile

Outside of Lyle, however, most of the performances are entertaining at least – particularly Valenti (Javier Bardem): Lyle’s owner. Bardem performs the character of an exaggerated and extroverted showman exceedingly well, making the most of his screen presence and communicating the fun of the character through the screen, being a definite highlight for the film.

Despite previous issues with Lyle as a character, including how some of his movement looks and how he sounds, he still manages to be likeable, appealing, and someone that the audience can support. By being mute for most of the film’s runtime, Lyle gains a sense of cuteness, despite being a crocodile, due to only being able to communicate through his expressiveness and actions. Moreover, Lyle’s general wholesomeness, for lack of a better word, is endlessly endearing. Seeing him go about day to day activities, such as baking, make for the best parts of the film.

Verdict:

In a moderately oversaturated market of live-action CGI hybrids, Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile fails to escape the creeping maws of mediocrity. Not even the voice of Shawn Mendes differentiates it enough to make the film a worthwhile testament to anything more than a mildly memorable family experience to the cinema or something that appears out of the BBC’s crypt of forgotten films for Boxing Day airing. With some elements that are genuinely enjoyable, the film is overall not worth the experience, unless you are in company of a child or a particularly big fan of Shawn Mendes and/or crocodiles.