The Good
A great movie that will have a long life on DVD and other formats!
The Bad
A Wimpy commentary would have been nice.Diary of a Wimpy Kid tells the story of Greg Heffley. He and his best friend Rowley are just starting middle school and things couldn't be any worse. Nobody likes them, they are socially ostracized, and making things worse is the fact that Greg doesn't realize just how much of a dork he is. Every time it seems like he tries to fit, every time he hatches a scheme (where Rowley ends up having to do most of the work), it all just seems to blow up in Greg's face. In the end, not much changes for our anti-hero. His life doesn't get too much better but along the way, Greg does learn the most important lesson:
The value of friendship.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid sees an excellent kids' book get changed and rearranged for the big screen. While it isn't as big as the now paint by numbers Harry Potter franchise, it is much better because it is grounded in reality and in that special time of being a kid. Great work, Fox!
Features
More Gross Fregley Fun
If you like the character of Fregley (and lets be honest, who didn't?) then this is a section of the DVD you will want to check out. Basically, what we get here is more moments with this character. If you have ever known somebody who was an oddball, if you were ever the oddball that everybody knew, this section (and this character) will ring true.
The Benefits of the Cheese Touch
Rowley's Lost Zoo-Wee Mama Cartoons
I happen to love the character of Rowley. He represents all that is good and earnest about the coming of age experience. If you have seen the film then you know that Zoo-Wee Mama is a comic strip he created much to the consternation of his best friend, Greg. Well, those of you who just loved what he did with that cartoon will be pleased to see that his work will now live forever on DVD.
Chirag's Trail of Tears
Video
Widescreen. 1.85:1 - I had the pleasure of watching this movie two times in the theater and now on DVD. The fact that theatrical and DVD windows are so short, I can very much recall how this film looked on a much bigger canvas. All told, things looked really good on this release. Fox has done a solid job with the telecine and the transfer. I didn't see any dirt or hairs on the screen, and there weren't any moments where things were pixilated or muddy.
Audio
Dolby Digital. English and French 5.1 Dolby Surround. Subtitled in English and Spanish. The audio on this DVD was well put together. I find it hard to really say too much more than that mainly because this isn't a movie where sound is really at the forefront. Lets be honest, they could've recorded the audio in the most pristine way possible and would anybody really know? Would they really care? Would it make this movie better? NO! What makes this movie is the story and characters and not all of that other hullabaloo.
Package
The amaray case that stores this DVD is orange which strikes me as somewhat odd but I guess that is what Fox wanted. The front cover features the same poster of the real life Greg Heffley, and then you have the cartoon version looming next to him. The back cover features four images, two of which are promo pictures of the cast. There is a succinct description of what this movie is about, a Special Features listing and technical specs. Zoo-Wee Mama!
Final Word
All in all I was pleased with how Fox brought out this movie on DVD. While I think the extras could have been more in-depth, I had to remember that Diary of a Wimpy Kid geared towards kids. Ultimately, their opinion of the DVD matters more than my 37 year old one, but I still five Fox Home Entertainment kudos for attempting to make this release stand out.