Russell Madness Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Russell Madness Blu-ray Movie Review

"Well I'll be a monkey's uncle! The dog has moves!"

But kids'll laugh! That's how these reviews go, right? No matter how much our children cheer, we all know how terrible the movie really is. Nothing brings filmfans together like mutual disdain for a direct-to-video talking animal flick. But it's made for kids, we reason... just before making the very calculated decision to look the other way, shrug our shoulders, and grant mediocrity a pass. It's hard to get too angry at a film that panders to five-year olds after all, particularly when said five-year olds smile those adorable five-year old smiles, glancing sideways every three minutes to verify mom and dad are also enjoying the greatest movie ever made. (When, in fact, we're putting on a brave face, bracing ourselves for the next cartoonish horror that's about to unfold.) Being the good, nurturing parents we are, we smile back. Dutifully, deliberately and with love. Grin fake grins, applaud things unworthy of applause. No need to crush their spirit. No need to spoil their good time. If you've been there, congratulations. You're a compassionate parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle. If you haven't been there, you've never watched a bad movie with a beaming, bright-eyed little boy or girl.

That devil's dance is never more challenging than when watching a movie like Russell Madness; lowest common denominator family entertainment that only boasts one redeeming quality: ensuring beloved character actors like Cheers' John Ratzenberger, Anchorman's Fred Willard and Night Court's Charles Robinson have enough work to keep food on the table. Everything else, from the script to the story, comedy, performances, music, and visual effects, are either painfully familiar (the stuff of hundreds of other kids' movies) or a brand new assault on cinema. Will kids laugh? Sure. But that doesn't take much, does it? The question is, will you laugh? The answer: if you love your children, yes... you'll laugh. Will you mean it? Nope. Not in the slightest. Just another day in the life of an Oscar-worthy parent.

Russell Madness Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Russell Madness features a proficient 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 video presentation. The image itself is flat and particularly bright on occasion, but none of it traces back to the quality of the encode; this is the direct-to-video digital cinematography you get, for better or worse. Colors are faithfully represented, with serviceably saturated hues, generally natural skintones, reasonably vibrant primaries, and decently deep blacks. Detail is also as refined as should be expected, though FX-dependent close-ups of talking animals are a tad soft compared to other shots. Fortunately, there isn't any macroblocking, banding, noise, aliasing or ringing to speak of, meaning the experience is largely distraction-free. "Remarkable" would be far too strong a word. "Solid" would be dead on.

Russell Madness Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Fox's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track grabs hold of the movie's wrestling scenes, but other sequences aren't nearly as enveloping, with a thin, front-heavy soundscape that doesn't create a particularly engaging experience. Dialogue is clear and intelligible, with smartly prioritized effects, and dynamics are decidedly decent, with enough low-end oomph (at least mid-ring match) to take isolated advantage of the LFE channel. The rear speakers are, again, used more sparingly than you might expect, but when crowd shouts and other directional touches are needed, the mix delivers a few welcome flourishes.

Russell Madness Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Raising the Woof: Training Russell (HD, 5 minutes): Initially, the cast and filmmakers pretend Russell is a real wrestler. Dropping the gimmick, the featurette shifts its focus to the trainers, the people who make talking animal movies possible. But soon it's right back to the gimmick.
• Five Little Monkeys Sing-Along (HD, 2 minutes): "Five Little Monkeys," karaoke style.
• Gag Reel (HD, 3 minutes): Real and fake outtakes, combined.

Russell Madness Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Russell Madness may delight the kiddies, but let's be honest. They're still learning. If I let my son eat a bag of Chips Ahoy every day, he'd leap at the chance, and continue chowing down right on through the inevitable stomach ache. It's my job to make sure he isn't cramming his mouth full of cookies, or filling his days with groan-inducing direct-to-video movies. Oh sure, it's harmless. It's not like the future of your children's cinematic tastes will hinge on Russell Madness. But there's far better family entertainment on the market -- far better talking animal flicks even -- than this. That said, those who buy into the Madness will at least be treated to a solid video presentation and a decent DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track.