The Nut Job 3D Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Nut Job 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

"We get a crew, we break in. And we're doing this my way!"

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown April 16, 2014

I'm a sucker for heist flicks. Love 'em. I was actually a bit more excited about The Nut Job than my son, if you can believe it. He was in it for the wise-cracking animals, I was in it for the heist. But I was caught up in a moment of genre weakness. I should have seen the writing on the wall. I'd ignored the early warning signs; the trailers and the oh so telling word of mouth (or lack thereof). I shrugged off that telltale nagging feeling you get before dropping $30 at the theater to subject the family to an animated misfire, thinking, even saying beforehand, "how bad could it really be?" Twenty minutes in, though, we all knew we were in for a long, exhausting slog. The animation was decidedly decent; bright, vibrant and full of colorful characters. The rest of the film? Rough, rough, rough. Wooden writing, muddled storytelling, a derivative plot, flat jokes, flatter dialogue, and voice performances that suggest that each actor in the admittedly solid cast had quickly realized exactly what sort of mediocre misfire they had signed onto.

Back in the theater, my son, uncharacteristically bored and disinterested, tapped my arm once, twice, three times, asking if we could duck out early. I whispered, "give it a little more time. Maybe it'll get better." I had genuine hope. Fleeting, but genuine. Heist flick. Remember it's a heist flick. Alas, that sentiment soon devolved into a disheartened, too often repeated "stick it out, kiddo. There're only x minutes left." And it was only an 85-minute film...

Surly (Will Arnett) is a mischievous squirrel with a mission: to find the tastiest nuts for winter and horde them all for himself. He doesn't care about the other animals in the park, much less the community, making him a rebel and an outcast. But when Surly discovers a store filled with his favorite food after being banished by group leader Raccoon (Liam Neeson), he plans a heist of nutrageous proportions. Soon, though, he has to choose between what's good for himself and what's good for his friends. The nut shop is owned by ruthless robbers, and it's up to Surly and his furry frenemies to stop a nearby bank heist, save the town and gather plenty of nuts for the winter.

"I've heard this rant already," you say. "Is it really that bad?" Without a serious lowering of expectations, the simple answer is yep, The Nut Job is precisely that bad. The story shows seeds of promise from the get-go, but the execution is lacking on all fronts. Still, most of you that give it a chance will walk mumbling a mere "meh," free from all the critical baggage. It's bad, sure, but it'd be more accurate to go on at length (or not) about how average it all is; how unremarkable, forgettable and mind-numbingly by-the-numbers even the film's cleverest standout sequences are. As genre sendups go, it plays like the first draft of an already slippery screenplay carried through to the bitter, uninspired end. It's a lesser, direct-to-video-esque effort with the $42 million budget of a full-fledged theatrical release.

The cast means well enough. They valiantly work to elevate the material, land gags that just aren't there and spice up an impossibly bland script, they do. But I have a hard time believing the lines that make it to the screen are the actors' best takes. Arnett, ever quick on his feet, meanders along, embracing a suitably gravely, devil-may-care delivery that's weirdly divorced from the rapidfire wit and invention the LEGO Movie filmmakers exploited so brilliantly earlier this year. Brendan Fraser tries on his best Patrick Warburton to no avail. Liam Neeson growls and soldiers on... to no avail. Katherine Heigl tosses in some fire and good-natured feistiness... to no avail. Stephen Lang, Maya Rudolph... it's not as if the film is short on talent. Yet misadventure after misadventure plods into view, without much in the way of actual hilarity, excitement or thrills for the kiddies. Ultimately, The Nut Job is an animated short stretched to the limit; a dull, dim-witted expansion of a sharp, fairly smart concept. Younger children will laugh and cheer, as they tend to do with anything with a bright palette and an animated pulse. Most everyone else in the family, though, will throw in the towel long before the credits roll, underwhelmed by the been-there, seen-that'edness of it all.

The Nut Job 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Nut Job's animation falls short of Pixar and DreamWorks glory, but Universal's 1080p video presentations are as pristine, proficient and faithful to the animated source as anyone could hope for. Subjectively, the resulting 3D experience is more of a mixed bag than its 2D counterpart, but more on that in a moment. Both presentations -- the AVC-encoded 2D and MVC-encoded 3D transfers -- exhibit a tiny bit of banding, as well as intermittent hints of aliasing along thinner strands of the animals' fur. Even so, there isn't much in the way of distractions, leaving the vibrant colors, eye-popping primaries, satisfying black levels and vivid contrast plenty of chances to shine. Detail is straight-from-the-digital-tap perfect too, with crisply resolved textures, clean edges (free of ringing) and zero noise. Better still, artifacting and other nuisances aren't a factor, making The Nut Job's video presentations the undisputed highlights of the disc.

All that being said, as 3D punch and pop goes, The Nut Job again comes up a little short. Depth and dimensionality are quite good -- areas in which most animated productions tend to excel -- but flat backgrounds and tight, two-dimensional framing limit the resulting oomph of the 3D image. Several shots dazzle (wide cityscapes, looming villain close-ups, chase scenes and hero poses particularly). Too many others simply eek by, looking the part without bolstering the vast, scary big city stomping grounds of Surly's world. Again, though, the animation is the root of any shortcomings, so take all that as you will. From a technical perspective, aliasing appears to be a tad more pronounced in the 3D presentation (not significantly but enough to earn a scribble in my notes) and crosstalk-prone displays will have trouble resolving some of the smaller leaves, blades of grass, the letters of distant advertising signage in the city, and the aforementioned strands of animal fur. It's hardly a debilitating issue, mind you, but worth noting all the same.

Objectively, The Nut Job's video presentation looks great regardless of whether you choose 2D or 3D. Love the film or loathe it, you can at least take comfort in knowing Universal's encoding efforts are spot on.

The Nut Job 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Nut Job's sound design isn't quite as involving or enveloping as those of other animated theatrical releases, but it more than gets the job done, sinking its teeth into the more action-oriented sequences with ease. LFE output is big and bold when nut carts hurtle down the street, explosions rip through concrete, or giant-footed robbers give chase to scampering rodents, even if it isn't all that remarkable beyond Surly's antics and the central heist. And the rear speakers are spry and playful, delivering ample ambience in Raccoon's park and the busy streets of downtown. Directionality is decent and pans are smooth, without anything in the way of major problems. Voices are clean, clear and intelligible too, although never really as grounded in the soundscape as they should be. Too many lines seem a tad detached from the rest of the soundfield. That said, the film's sound design is the culprit, nothing more. Will The Nut Job's lossless track sweep you up into the wild hijinks of Surly the Squirrel? No. It won't disappoint, but it isn't going to blow anyone away either.

The Nut Job 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Animated Shorts (HD, 15 minutes): Two shorts are available: "Surly Squirrel," the 2005 pre-viz quality short from director Peter Lepeniotis that inspired the film, and "Nuts & Robbers," a higher quality short also produced before the feature film. Sadly, Arnett and his voice cast co-stars are nowhere to be found... erm, heard.
• Deleted Scenes (HD, 5 minutes): A handful of deleted and extended scenes.
• Storyboards (HD, 3 minutes): Short but less than sweet, this storyboard roundup offers little.
• The Great Nut Heist (HD, 2 minutes): A brief EPK featurette. More an extended promo than anything else.
• End Credits Sequence (HD, 4 minutes): The end credits musical number, minus the credits.

The Nut Job 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Nut Job has big screen aspirations but direct-to-video execution. It lumbers where it should scamper, languishes where it should excel and bores where it should engage and excite. Worse, it's as predictable and derivative as any other paint-by-numbers talking animal romp. Younger kids may light up at its colorful adventuring, but adults and even older children won't be so easily impressed. Universal's Blu-ray release doesn't suffer the same fate, thankfully, offering those who can't resist sampling The Nut Job to at least enjoy a first rate video presentation, a solid 3D experience and a strong DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track.