Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Mr. Popper's Penguins Blu-ray Movie Review

Or, Mr. Carrey’s Cash-In.

Reviewed by Casey Broadwater December 8, 2011

In the culmination of a sad inevitability, it would seem that Jim Carrey has officially, completely, and probably irreversibly gone the way of Steve Martin and Robin Williams—once great comedians who, in their waning years, have disregarded all notions of quality control when it comes to what kinds of films they’re willing to do for a paycheck. It’s a familiar career move, of course; the once-edgy comic gets older, loses that fire in his belly —yes, his, as this is an almost strictly male phenomenon—and succumbs to hammy, deprecating roles in formulaic family comedies that feature button-cute kids and/or even cuter animals. (I’m looking at you, Dr. Doolittle.)

The particular film in question here—Carrey’s latest—is Mr. Popper’s Penguins, an extremely loose and soulless reinterpretation of Richard and Florence Atwater’s 1938 Newbery Honor-winning children’s story, a perennial favorite on elementary school reading lists. Now, it’s been quite some time since I’ve read the book, but I’m fairly certain that—unlike the film—it doesn’t include graphic depictions of the titular penguins’ pooping habits. Sure, gross-out humor is a staple of the kid-friendly genre, but this is probably the only movie—I hope—in which you’re actually forced to watch as goopy white fecal discharge issues forth in full view from a flightless bird’s anus.

In this thoroughly modernized adaptation, Mr. Popper (Jim Carrey) is no longer a poor house painter—as he is in the book—but a fabulously wealthy real estate developer who lives alone in a luxury penthouse suite. He’s a total workaholic, the kind of guy who looks forward to Mondays and unsarcastically greets a freshly photocopied pile of paperwork with “I love the smell of toner in the morning!” Semi-amiably divorced from Amanda (Carla Gugino), his wife of fifteen years, Popper gets custody of his two children every other weekend, but lovelorn teenager Janie (Madeline Carroll) and her kid bro Billy (Maxwell Perry Cotton) never look forward to spending time with their no-fun dad.

Popper has his own lingering daddy issues, so he’s not particularly perturbed when he finds out that his absentee father—a world explorer who was never home for birthdays or Christmases—has passed away. He’s more troubled by the fact that papa Popper has bequeathed him an Antarctic penguin named Captain, which arrives in a chilled crate and begins to wreak havoc as soon as it thaws out. Later, after a botched attempt to send Captain back, five more penguins show up: Bitey, Loudy, Lovey, Nimrod, and—heaven help us—Stinky. They run wild in Popper’s 3,200-square-foot flat, getting stuck in the toilet, flooding the place, and squawking louder than those South African vuvuzela horns at the 2010 World Cup. The only way to mollify them is to herd them up and place them in front of a Charlie Chaplin film on the TV.

Popper initially tries in vain to get rid of the “little snow rats”, but when he forgets Billy’s birthday, they turn into an inconveniently convenient present. (“BEST BIRTHDAY EVER,” Billy says, practically in all-caps.) The birds switch on Popper’s latent fatherly instincts—especially when three of them lay eggs—and, in turn, he becomes a better dad to his kids. The trouble, of course, is that penguins thrive in sub-zero temperatures, which necessitates that Popper turn his apartment into a literal icebox, his furniture half-buried in mounds of snow. There’s also the matter of the mean expert from the New York Zoo (Clark Gregg), who wants to take away the penguins and trade them to zoos around the world for other animals. As a villain, he lacks any real menace.

Meanwhile, there are a few boring grown-up sub-plots that won’t even register with kids who just want to see penguins dropping deuces in the commode. Popper makes a pitch to become full partner at his real estate agency, but to get the thumbs up from his boss—played by the appropriately penguin-ish Philip Baker Hall—he has to convince the curmudgeonly Selma Van Gundy (Angela Lansbury) to sell the run-down Tavern on the Green, the only privately owned property in Central Park. (Sample hijinks scenario: Popper’s penguins crash Van Gundy’s fundraising party at the Guggenheim, sliding down the spiral walkway and terrifying the other tuxedoed guests.) No surprise, Popper also gradually woos back his ex-wife once he learns not to be so work-obsessed and emotionally distant.

The film can be terribly obnoxious at times—you might be tempted to go out to the nearest zoo afterward and verbally harass the penguins in retribution—but Mr. Popper isn’t the worst kid-flick to come out this year. (I’d probably give that dubious honor to The Smurfs.) It’s well-meaning and inoffensive—minus the gratuitous poop—and it’ll be passably entertaining for average eight-year-olds, especially kids who got a kick out of March of the Penguins and Happy Feet. Adults, however, will probably want to vacate the living room and find something else to do for 90-odd minutes. There’s nothing for you here but a few tame innuendoes that will fly over the heads of the target audience. While word-nerds might take temporary pleasure in the ability of Popper’s British assistant, Pippi (Ophelia Lovibond), to speak exclusively in plosive alliteration—“Punctuatuality is a priority for this particular person”—I suspect non-English majors will roll their eyes.

You may also heave a sad sigh for Jim Carrey, who has been shuffled into the kind of role you can’t come back from—the inept, out-of-touch dad who has to re-earn the affection of his kids. He mugs and pratfalls and contorts his iconically rubbery face, but that wild-eyed insanity just isn’t there anymore. Several questions come to mind—Did he take the role for the money? For the sake of his kids?—but what I really want to know is this: Who decided to give him such floppy, middle-parted, Kyle MacLachlan-in-Sex and the City hair?

Mr. Popper's Penguins Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shot using the Arri Alexa digital motion picture camera—Arri's new answer to the popular Red One—Mr. Popper's Penguins glides effortlessly onto Blu-ray with a 1080p/AVC encode that's sharp, clean, and vibrant. 20th Century Fox has shown consistently that they know how to treat their contemporary and catalog titles right—look no further than this week's fantastically restored re-release of Tora! Tora! Tora!—and Mr. Popper is no different. Simply put, you get a sense that this is exactly how the film is intended to look. There's no digital noise reduction, no halo-inducing edge enhancement, no over-the-top color grading—just an image that's almost noiseless, naturally crisp, tonally balanced, and free from any overt compression artifacts. I could ramble on about the defined textures of Jim Carrey's face or point out endless examples of vivid color, but that's ultimately unnecessary. What you need to know is this: Mr. Popper's Penguins may not be the most visually interesting film you'll see this year, but there are really no complaints to be made about its picture quality. Okay, one—at the end of the film, you'll notice some strong moiré shimmer on Jim Carrey's suit jacket. But that's it. The film looks wonderful.

Mr. Popper's Penguins Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

I also have a single complaint about the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track included here, although it's more of a sound design grievance —that godawful squawk those penguins make, a throaty honk that made me reach for my remote to turn down the volume every time I heard it. Really, it's almost as grating as fingernails on a chalkboard. Otherwise, the film features the kind of pleasing, moderately engaging sound design that you expect from a big budget family comedy. Most of the action is anchored up front, but the rears channels are used quite often for effects and ambience, from water rushing towards us and New York City street sounds to the swooshing of the penguins as they go shooting down the Guggenheim's spiral ramp. There's even a scene where we hear the penguins causing a multi-directional ruckus in Popper's apartment, arousing a neighbor's suspicions. Popper shrugs and replies, "Digital surround sound." Indeed. The film also features a rather dramatic, large-scale orchestral score by Rolfe Kent, and the music sounds appropriately rich and dynamic. Dialogue throughout is clear and easy to understand. The disc also comes with French and Spanish dubs in Dolby Digital 5.1, along with optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles.

Mr. Popper's Penguins Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Mike Waters, Editor Bruce Green, and Visual Effects Supervisor Richard Hollander: I always wonder who listens to these kinds of commentaries. Surely not the film's intended under-10 audience, and surely not their parents, who probably don't care much about the production details of a rather average family comedy. It's a mystery.
• Nimrod and Stinky's Antarctic Adventure (1080p, 6:11): A short animated sequel that pits the penguins against their zookeeper nemesis.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 14:32): Twelve deleted scenes with optional commentary from director Mark Waters, editor Bruce Green, and visual effects supervisor Richard Hollander.
• Gag Reel (1080p, 2:05)
• The Legacy of Mr. Popper's Penguins (1080p, 4:04): A brief backstory on the book that inspired the film.
• Ready for their Close-up (1080p, 8:28): An uber-cute featurette about the live penguins on set.
• Ladies and Gentooman (1080p, 5:55): A SeaWorld scientist gives us a rundown on penguins and their natural habitat.
• Stuffy Penguin Theater (1080p, 4:21): A short piece about how the filmmakers used stuffed penguins as stand-ins for the eventual CGI creations.
• Penguin Pandemonium (1080p, 3:12): Another featurette about planning out the scenes by doing puppet rehearsals and lighting passes.

Mr. Popper's Penguins Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mr. Popper's Penguins is ultimately one of those forgettable family comedies parents patiently sit through, hoping their kids are having a fun time. It's not terrible—you can't dismiss it outright—but it's not exactly inspired either. Let's just hope this isn't the default Jim Carrey role from now on. On the plus side, Fox's Blu-ray release is excellent, with near-perfect picture quality, a solid audio track, and some fun extras. I wouldn't go so far as to outright recommend this one, but if you've got kids in the 5-9 range, they might enjoy it.