6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
When Jack and Nim learn that the Buccaneer Resort Company has plans to purchase Nim's Island, Jack heads to Brisbane to convince the powers that be that the island is worth preserving while Nim insists on staying behind to try another way to save the island - by proving that at least three endangered species live there.
Starring: Matthew Lillard, Bindi Irwin, Toby Wallace, John Waters (III), Sebastian GregoryFamily | 100% |
Adventure | 33% |
Coming of age | 6% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy (as download)
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The 2008 film Nim's Island starred Jodie Foster, Gerard Butler and Abigail Breslin and, as aptly described in Martin Liebman's review, was a charming family film that delighted audiences around the world. For reasons known only to itself, the production company, Walden Media, chose to make the sequel as an Australian film, recasting most of the principal parts with players from Down Under and seeking financing from the Queensland government. The result was released theatrically in Australia, but in America it played on the Hallmark Channel in March 2013, before being issued on DVD and Blu-ray as a Wal-Mart exclusive. Consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble helped fund the release, which probably explains why commercials play before the disc loads. (I won't add to the advertising by naming the products, but both have obvious placement in the film.) Based on a separate novel entitled Nim at Sea by author Wendy Orr, Return to Nim's Island is set some years after the events of Nim's Island and provides a much expanded role for the young boy from the cruise ship, Edmund, whom Nim met in the latter part of the film. It is Edmund who returns to the magical place of which he has been dreaming all these years. Both he and Nim are now teenagers, and the story focuses on them, relegating the adult drama that played such an important role in the first film to secondary status. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but anyone expecting to repeat the experience of the first Nim's Island will be disappointed, given the cast changes and the absence of Jodie Foster's Alexandra Rover character. The torch of adventure that Alexandra and her fictional creation, Alex Rover, carried in Nim's Island has now been passed to Edmund and Nim.
Return to Nim's Island was shot digitally with the Arri Alexa (according to IMDb) or a Panavision Genesis (as suggested by the credits). Either way, the image on ARC Entertainment's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray has obviously been taken from digital files color-corrected and edited in post-production, because the image has the smooth, clean and noise-free appearance of digital photography with no intervening analog stage. Cinematographer Judd Overton's lighting is designed to maximize the impression of a sun-drenched tropical paradise (and, I suspect, to minimize any teen-related complexion issues), and it also helps to blend the location footage with the sets constructed to simulate portions of the island. The image may occasionally strike some viewers as overbright, but the brightness never comes at the expense of detail, whether it is in the features of the actors or, more importantly, the detailed marking of the many lizards, reptiles and insects that inhabit the island, or the delicate shadings and textures of the sea lion Selkie's skin, or the feathers of the many exotic birds (some of which, admittedly, are animated). The relatively brief Brisbane scenes are slightly darker, and they make it clear that the contrast levels are properly set, as well as the black levels. The latter are also well displayed in Edmund's night escape from Booker's boat, where both the sky and the sea reveal shades of deep black. Banding and other artifacts, including compression anomalies were nowhere to be seen. This is an impressive job from ARC.
From the opening frames, when Nim and Selkie are swimming underwater and the sounds of the sea and of Selkie's presence rumble all around, the Blu-ray's DTS-HD MA 5.1 establishes an effective sonic presence for Nim's environment. Above the surface, the island is represented by wind, trees, animal and insect noises and lapping waves when characters are near the shore. For the brief period that Edmund is on Booker's boat, the surrounding waves are the main accompaniment. The Brisbane cityscape is positively ordinary by comparison, especially since most of those scenes are indoors. Dialogue is always clear, and the score by Nerida Tyson-Chew (Anacondas: The Search for the Blood Orchid) strikes just the right amount of swashbuckling tone to call Alex Rover's spirit to mind.
Return to Nim's Island is the first Blu-ray I have ever reviewed that plays nothing but ads at startup: a promo for the Hallmark Channel, followed by two commercials for consumer products. Fortunately, all of them can be skipped with the chapter forward or top menu buttons. The Blu-ray jacket advertises "Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes" and a trailer, but the trailer is nowhere to be found. The following items are too short to qualify as featurettes in my book. They're more like short promotional spots to be aired in anticipation of a TV broadcast.
Return to Nim's Island is the sort of basic adventure fare for young people that Disney used to turn out on a regular basis in the glory days under Uncle Walt. Walden Media seems determined to fill that need today, and it still exists, even if the audience for it skews somewhat younger. Today's fourteen-year-olds are more likely to want something a little edgier, but pre-teens can still enjoy a well-told yarn, especially when the production values are high, the location is exotic and the heroine is appealing. Young girls in particular should enjoy having a female action hero who saves the boy from falling off a cliff. It's a role reversal that's overdue. Highly recommended.
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