Diary of a Wimpy Kid Blu-ray delivers great video and solid audio in this enjoyable Blu-ray release
Middle school isn't all it's cracked up to be for self-described "wimpy kid" Greg Heffley, who discovers a frightening new world teeming with boys who are taller, tougher and hairier than he is — and decides to document it all in his diary. Directed by Thor Freudenthal, this kid-friendly comedy based on Jeff Kinney's illustrated novel cast its star by asking kids to submit their auditions online.
The sprouting of hairs and the production of new, wholly unpleasant odors. Social stratification and
bullying by post-pubescent gorillas. Gym class locker room embarrassment. The weird height disparity
between boys and girls. The nascent hormonal urges. It's junior high, and it's the pits. As one
character says in Diary of a Wimpy Kid—the film adaptation of the bestselling cartoon novel
by Jeff Kinney—"This place is a glorified holding pen. It's where adults put you as you make that
awkward transition between child and teenager so they don't have to look at you." And if there's one
thing that Wimpy Kid gets right—don't worry, there's more than one thing—it's that it
(mostly) accurately captures the awful bodily and emotional awkwardness of junior high, the dire
longing for popularity, and the general bewilderment at the unfairness of it all. This is a kid flick that
may make adults uncomfortably reminisce about their own middle school days, and for those
tweeners just entering the social battlefield of the 6th grade, Wimpy Kid will hopefully be
some small comfort. In one way or another, we were all wimpy kids at that age, and it's always good
to know you're not alone.
A wimpy kid and his diary...sorry...journal.
The film's pre-teen protagonist is 11-year-old Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon), a mildly delusional
kid whose sole aspiration for his first year of junior high is to be voted a "class favorite" in the
school yearbook. He's an inbetweener in more ways than one. He's not the littlest runt in school—
that honor goes to the ultra-tiny Chirag (Karan Brar)—but he's puny in comparison to the
monsters who already shave twice a day. He's a middle child, squashed between a baby bro with
potty training issues and an older teenaged brother, Rodrick (Devon Bostick), who wears
"guyliner," plays in a band called Löded Diper, and aggravates Greg to no end. And he's also
somewhere in the middle of the social spectrum, far below the popular kids but well above the
class freak, Fregley (Grayson Russell), a bespectacled, red-headed weirdo with poor hygiene and an
obsession with all things gross. Ever conscious of his social standing, Greg is worried that he might
be embarrassed by his best friend, Rowley (Robert Capron), a roly-poly innocent who rides a girl's
bike and still asks if Greg wants to "come over and play," instead of the more age-
appropriate term, "hang out."
The school year passes in a series of adventures and mishaps. A Halloween trick 'r' treat outing
goes bust when Greg accidentally weed-whacks the side of a mulleted teen's Ford F150, requiring
a quick getaway through the supposedly haunted "Devil Worshiper's Woods." Wrestling club proves
disastrous when Greg gets trounced by a feisty girl who invokes her legal, Title IX right to fight.
And a moldy slice of Swiss cheese becomes a schoolyard legend; anyone who comes in contact
with it is cursed with the dreaded "Cheese Touch," which instantly renders the afflicted as a social
pariah. The real conflict, though, comes when Greg accidentally terrorizes some grade school kids
while on Safety Patrol, but lets Rowley take the blame, pulling their friendship apart. This is
exacerbated by Greg's lingering resentment over Rowley's newfound popularity. Unlike Greg, who
scrambles and strains to be liked, Rowley comes by his new social status honestly, penning a series
of popular cartoons—called Zoo-Wee Mama!—for the school newspaper. And here's the
film's main problem: Greg, as a protagonist, is outright unlikeable. He's selfish and petty, obsessed
with being a cool kid to the point of betraying his best bud. Yes, this just sets him up for the
ending's expected redemption, but he's not exactly a pleasant kid to be around for the first two
acts of the film. All our rooting is for Rowley, who is right to dump his former friend after being
treated like crap for so long.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid is slightly hampered by a muddled message, an episodic plot that
never feels cohesive, and an abundance of a gross out, kids'll squeal but parents'll roll their
eyes humor, but there's also a lot to like here. It's not easy to balance comedy with real,
resonate junior high emotions—the bipolar ups and downs, the hormonal swings, the
disappointments and joys—but Wimpy Kid does it well. So many kids' movies talk down to
their intended audience, but this one has more depth and wit than most and a genuineness that's
as infectious as the Cheese Touch. Fans of the book will inevitably have thoughts about the casting
—how do you turn stick figures into flesh-and-blood, live action humans?—but the performances,
with a few bit-role exceptions, are funny and full of spontaneity. Zachary Gordon has the toughest
job here—he has to be a jerk who learns his lesson—and he gets it right, an everykid with a self-
possessed edge. Steve Zahn and Rachael Harris are good—but underused—as Greg's parents, and
Kick Ass' rising star Chloë Moretz gives a surprising turn as a Ginsberg-reading 7th grader,
wise way beyond her years. The one to watch, though, is Robert Capron, who seems like
someone you knew in middle school and captures the sheer exuberance of being a kid, the
boundless energy and naiveté we all have before the social self-consciousness kicks in.
The first thing you'll notice about 20th Century Fox's 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer of Diary of a
Wimpy Kid is how spectacularly colorful it is. The image pops off the screen with vivid red
wrestling outfits, bright yellow gym uniforms, crisp blue skies, and rich green grass. The look is a little
exaggerated, yes—and it's certainly a swing in the opposite direction from the sparse black and white
line drawings of the books—but it totally fits the junior high mood. Despite the boosted hues, skin
tones stay natural, and deep black levels carve out a picture with impressive—but not overdone—
contrast. Shadow delineation, during the dark Halloween sequence, proves surprisingly revealing.
Clarity is slightly less impressive—the film sometimes looks like it was shot with deliberate diffusion—
but I don't think anyone will have any real complaints about the sharpness of the image. There are
never any shots, at least, which are downright undefined and indistinct—fine textures just look a little
soft. A thin layer of grain adds warmth and character to the image, and I didn't spot any edge
enhancement, excess filtering, or compression issues. This is A- material—not perfect, but definitely on
the leading edge of the Blu-ray bell curve.
If you assume that a film about junior high school dweebs probably lacks a full-on, ceaselessly active,
wholly immersive soundtrack, you're right. Diary of a Wimpy Kid's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
surround mix is indeed on the wimpy side. Aside from the occasional pop tune, rambunctious cues
from the score, and extremely quiet ambience—hallway chatter, outdoorsy sounds—the rear speakers
rarely get any notable action. The one exception is the "Devil Worshiper's Woods" scene, which
features some creepy cross-channel cackling and movement, courtesy of a seemingly omni-present
Fregley. There are definitely some missed opportunities here for engaging sound design, but otherwise
the front-centric, dialogue driven track is fairly solid. LFE output is sparse, but the film has a broad
dynamic range, with ample heft for effects and faultless clarity when it comes to high-end sounds.
Narration and conversation are easy to understand, and for those who need them, English SDH,
Spanish, Portuguese, Cantonese, and Mandarin subtitles are available in easy to read lettering.
Feature Commentary with Director Thor Freudenthal and Writer Gabe Sachs
The most substantial bonus feature is this audio commentary with the director and one of the film's
five credited writers. Freudenthal and Sachs give a loose, entertaining track—filled with on-
set anecdotes and details of the book-to-screen process—that older fans of the book and film will
enjoy.
Deleted Diary Pages (1080p)
Here we have a deleted material stream of flotsam and jetsam. In Fregley's Scavenger
Hunt (2:56), the bespectacled dweeb shows off some of the disgusting stuff he's found around
school. Chirag's Trail of Tears (2:37) is a guided tour of all the places Chirag has been picked
on, and Fregley's Shuffle (00:47) is a pale imitation of the immortal Truffle Shuffle.
Following that, we have a string of self-explanatory deleted scenes: Mom Drops Greg Off at
School (00:55), Greg and Rowley Jump Over the Wall (00:26), Mr. Winsky's Safety
Patrol Assignment (00:23), Mom Suggests a Friendship Card (00:44), Greg Meets
Fregley's Mom (00:37), and Greg Has the Cheese Touch (00:38). Finally, there's a
user-directed gallery with five of Rowley's Lost Zoo-Wee Mama Cartoons.
Theatrical Trailer (1080p, 1:52)
Sneak Peaks (1080p)
Includes sneak peaks for Tooth Fairy (2:25) and Percy Jackson (2:23).
Digital Copy "How To" (1080p, 3:35)
BD-Live Exclusive: And Now a Word from Our Author (720p, 3:39)
Author Jeff Kinney sits down with Zachary Gordon and Robert Capron to ask and answer a few
questions about the making of the film.
I talked with one young Wimpy fan the other day—an 11-year-old boy—who told me, quite
defiantly, that "the movie is good, but the books are better." So, there you go, straight from the
source. Diary of a Wimpy Kid does suffer from a surfeit of gross-out jokes and an episodic,
scatterbrained plot that would work better on the diary page, but it's also true to the painful
awkwardness of junior high and it never patronizes its intended audience. In fact, the film itself is
much like a junior higher, sometimes crass and sometimes self-possessed, but gangly and funny in a
real and charming way. Kids will naturally love it, and adults may enjoy recalling their own pre-
pubescent gracelessness. Recommended.
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has announced Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules is coming to Blu-ray on June 21st. Based on the 2011 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award for Best Book Series, the sequel reunites the original Diary of a Wimpy Kid's young cast, ...
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment has announced Diary of a Wimpy Kid, based on the best-selling illustrated novel by Jeff Kinney, for release on a Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo pack on August 3. The BD comes custom-packaged with additional cartoon pages, ...
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