‘Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile’ Review: Bopping to the Crocodile Rock

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I used to be very delighted by the primary ten minutes of “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile,” Josh Gordon and Will Speck’s whimsical live-action musical a couple of crocodile that may dance and sing. The stage performer and magician Hector Valenti (Javier Bardem, bringing uncharacteristic humor to the a part of a flamboyant, mustachioed P.T. Barnum sort) adopts the tuneful Lyle (pc animated, and voiced by the pop star Shawn Mendes), and the 2 proceed to leap, faucet and twirl their means via an enthralling and exuberant musical quantity. The track, “Take a Have a look at Us Now,” was composed by the songwriting duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who additionally wrote songs for the 2017 musical “The Biggest Showman.” Like that movie, “Lyle” has a brisk, whimsical momentum that’s completely infectious within the early going.

Then it stops useless: Hector absconds, 18 months cross and Lyle will get a brand new set of human foils to cope with, none of whom — Mrs. Primm (Constance Wu), Mr. Primm (Scoot McNairy) and their son, Josh (Winslow Fegley) — are remotely attention-grabbing. Lyle, by the way in which, can’t communicate: he can solely talk by singing. Nonetheless, and unforgivably, one other track doesn’t come alongside for practically half an hour — an eternity by musical requirements. Lyle and Josh go dumpster diving to search out unique meals: why isn’t this a musical quantity? After Lyle is jailed in a zoo by Wildlife Management, Hector (again within the movie finally) and Josh orchestrate a late-night jail break: this could undoubtedly be a musical quantity. This battle, like many within the movie, is resolved a lot too simply, in a present of writerly laziness. Or maybe it’s a case of deus ex croc-ina.

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile
Rated PG. Working time: 1 hour 46 minutes. In theaters.

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