Adam Collins posted on April 19, 2011 00:00
Rio is a very refreshing old-school animated movie. The story is nothing new and there are no plot twists to keep you guessing. Rio opens with a musical number straight out of The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast with all the choreography and color. The music is very reminiscent of Tarzan with the drumbeats and nature starting the music and leading into a song. Since Rio drew from movies that came out years or even decades ago, the little ones may not be familiar with these animated movies from my childhood.
Rio opens with a musical number about living free in the jungle. Of course, this ends in tragedy as the wild birds are all caught and caged by bird smugglers. One of the captured birds is a little blue macaw baby who fell out of a tree and was captured on the ground. After being shipped to the United States, his crate falls out of a panel truck in Minnesota where he is found and raised by Linda (Leslie Mann).
Flash forward fifteen years, Linda is a bookstore owner, and her bird Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) is her best friend. Tulio, a bird breeder and rescurer, (Rodrigo Santoro) comes to visit Linda and explains that Blu is the last living male of his species and he would like for Blu to mate with the last living female, Jewel (Anne Hathaway). There is just one catch; jewel is in Rio de Janeiro. So, Linda and Blu pack up and travel to Rio.
Now in Rio, we are introduced to a plethora of birds voiced by a number of celebrities including George Lopez, will.i.am., Jamie Foxx and Tracy Morgan. In short, Rio and Jewel are bird-napped by bird smugglers. Linda and Tulio try to find out what happened to them. The main thing getting in their way: Carnival. The writers use this as a character itself. It reminds me of the use of Mardi Gras in Disney’s The Frog Princess.
Along the way, Raphael (Lopez) helps the two lost birds find a way to escape the chains holding them together, find love, and attempt to solve Blu’s problem of being flightless. Some of the jungle wildlife featured is a cockatoo, a bulldog (Morgan), and a band of hilarious marmosets. As I mentioned at the beginning, there is nothing really original here, but it was still a very entertaining and refreshing film. I did see it 3D, which is always cool. I try not to let that sway my opinion of a film.
In the end, I do not think that Rio will be winning any awards come early next year. Pixar has yet to release their major film of the year, Cars 2. Also in the running for an Academy Award nomination will be the other animated sequel Kung Fu Panda 2. Then there is Puss in Boots. Personally, Rio is my second favorite animated film of the year, behind Gnomeo & Juliet, but I haven’t seen Rango, yet. It was worth the time and the watch. Is the 3D premium worth it? For this movie, maybe. Kids will love all the birds flying around the heads. 3.5/5