Studio and Year: 20th Century Fox – 2011
MPAA Rating: PG
Feature running time: 94 minutes
Genre: Comedy/Family
Disc Format: BD-50
Encoding: AVC (MPEG-4)
Video Aspect: 1.85:1
Resolution: 1080p/24
Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio, English, Spanish, French Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Starring: Jim Carrey, Carla Gugino, Madeline Carroll, Angela Lansbury, Maxwell Perry Cotton, Philip Baker Hall, Ophelia Lovibond, David Krumholz, Jeffrey Tambor
Directed by: Mark Waters
Music by: Rolfe Kent
Written by: Sean Anders, John Morris, Jared Stern Based on the novel by Richard & Florence Atwater
Region Code: A
Blu-ray Disc release Date: December 6, 2011
Film Synopsis (courtesy of imdb):
Chill out with the funniest family comedy of the year! Jim Carrey stars as Tom Popper, a successful businessman who’s clueless when it comes to the really important things in life… until he inherits six “adorable” penguins, each with its own unique personality. Soon Tom’s rambunctious roommates turn his swank New York apartment into a snowy winter wonderland – and the rest of his world upside-down.
My Take:
This is yet another book adaptation movie. This time it’s of the book by Florence and Richard Atwater. Jim Carrey as Mr. Popper runs hot and cold for me. The trailer for Mr. Popper’s Penguins didn’t look too promising yet it was still interesting enough for me to want to watch the screen adaptation of a very fun book to read. This is a good natured family film that maintains an upbeat feeling. The best penguin moments are unfortunately handled by CGI which seriously diminishes the cuteness factor. As a long-time Carla Gugino fan I am always glad to see her although this role presented zero challenges and doesn’t make her shine.
Mr. Popper’s Penguins isn’t all bad but its reliance on a middling script make it forgettable although still rather entertaining during the first viewing. Younger audiences (or the young-at-heart like myself) will get quite a kick out of it.
Image detail is exemplary as images look clean, sharp, and lifelike. I never felt that the video was lacking in terms of depth or the perception of visible detail within the structure of objects or people onscreen. Colours are cleanly reproduced with eye catching primaries and without too much of secondary hues. Fleshtones appear natural with complexional variation and subtle texture that varies among the differing skin types of the cast members. Blacks are fairly deep and exhibit very good dynamic range. Images are pristinely rendered and appear free of compression related artifacts when viewed at 45-degree angle in my theatre room .
The DTS-HD MA sound effects have a lot of dynamic energy and sounds full bodied yet proportionate. This is not a film that requires heavy use of surround sound to deliver its message but it does rely on the entire soundstage for proper atmosphere from time to time which makes it quite a good test for speaker timbre matching test.
Equipment used for this review:
Anthem MRX-700 Receiver
Grandviewscreen 96” 21:9 matte-white 1.0-gain screen
PSB Century 300i (front and surround speakers)
PSB Image C5 (centre speaker)
PSB Subseries 300 (subwoofer)
Panasonic PT-AE7000U projector
Panasonic BDP-310 BD player
Ultralink Ambiance MKII speaker wires
Viewing room is as per THX and SMPTE recommendation with 45-degree Field of View
Audio: 8/10
Video: 8/10
Storyline: 5/10 (the movie adaptation) 7/10 (the original book)
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