Rio 2

As someone who loved the first film, while the advertising was not the best it didn't put me off seeing Rio 2. And it was very enjoyable, not as good as the original but it is an example of animated sequels that do work. The story and the pacing are uneven here, with the film getting off to a slightly slow start and feeling rushed in other places, though you do have to admire the energy there is. There are plenty of fun parts with the second half far more compelling than the first and the film rarely has a dull moment, but structurally it is on the thin side and content-wise it feels overstuffed. However, if you want lots of colour, catchy music, fun and good characters and voice acting, Rio 2 very like its predecessor doesn't disappoint. The animation is amazing with lots of vibrant detail especially in the backgrounds and nothing looks hurried or static. The colours are even more brighter and colourful than the first film too. The music has that Brazilian flavour and the songs are incredibly catchy. Don't Go Away is a very touching song, but the highlights are the pizazz-personified Poisonous Love and the hilarious rap version of I Will Survive(thought I'd never say this, can't stand rap on the most part). While the film does feel overstuffed, the content is actually really good, dialogue-wise it's smartly written and has a fair amount of heart while the gags provide plenty of laughs with sharp timing, the best being the soccer match, the jungle auditions and any scene(the Romeo and Juliet part in particular) with Gabi and Nigel. The characters are still engaging, Blu and Jewel are likable lead characters though they had more to do in the first one and Nigel has that menacing streak but is a riot. There are some great new characters as well, with Gabi as good a character as and in some cases even better the original ones. The voice acting adds to that, Jemaine Clement and Kristen Chenoweth are both phenomenal helped by that they have the film's best moments, though Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Andy Garcia and everybody else acquit themselves more than fine too. To conclude, a good sequel to a great original, enjoyed it a lot and when it comes to animated sequels there is definitely much worse(ie. Secret of NIMH 2). 7/10 Bethany Cox

While it wasn't the best movie or even the best animation I have seen this year, this movie is definitely entertaining.

The movie begins with Blu, Jewel and their three kids having fun in their home in Rio, while Blu's former owner, Linda, and her husband, Tulio, are in the amazon. While in the Amazon, they discover a flock of blue macaws. Seeing this on the news, Jewel is desperate to visit and the story begins as Blu, his family and his friends from the last movie accompany him to the Amazon.

The story is decent. There are quite a few songs and plenty of comedic moments as well. While Blu is trying to fit in the tribe, there are a couple of dangerous foes around, Nigel and an illegal tree logger (one of which had plenty of moments which kind of reminded me of Avatar). There are plenty of great moments in the amazon when Blu is trying to fit in, which leads to one of my favourite moments, which was when they revealed the Pit of Doom. Also, it was fun to see Nigel (the white cockatoo) back, along with some new characters. The voice-work and music were quite good as well.

This movie is entertaining, the story and ending are nice as well. Although I have rated it the same as Rio, I think this was a little better. Found it to be quite funny and more action packed as well. A fun family movie.

Getting back into thinking about how narratives get put together, I am reminded of how many radically different strategies there are in approaching a film.

If you talk to the (old) Pixar guys, what you'll hear is a focus on story, a cinematic notion of story, above all else. The story comes first; characters emerge whether they are promising franchise characters or not. It is all about making the flow engaging and creating a lasting experience.

As I go through my list of valued filmmakers, I can pull out a number of different approaches: Ruiz looks for the dissonance between narrative layers and removes the middle. Cronenberg finds a disturbing edge, creates a situation, then builds things to present it. Spielberg makes comics that are refined in story boards then mechanically reproduced in film. I'll have to think about the varieties.

Then we have this guy, Saldanha, who has sold a lot of tickets to happy viewers.

The strategy here seems to be to create characters above all else. Make characters. Find some kind of simple enclosing story, it doesn't matter what. Have all the characters create their own local, small static narrative. Then just embellish and display those.

I suppose this approach has been refined over on the half hour TeeVee comedy side where story is just an excuse to have character spaces interact. I am always surprised when I see this work, and it plainly does here, though none of the characters are compelling in the ordinary way.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. In other films, I see stories getting ever more compelling in surprising ways and exhibiting self-awareness with increasing sophistication.

These are fun movies, not art films I'm talking about. So it makes sense to have films like Ice Age and Rio for minds that don't work that way, that have shorter narrative attention spans and undeveloped narrative sense.

While this is designed for international audiences, and made by a Brazilian and set in Brazil. But most of the voices and nearly all the songs are hip hop urban style that is uniquely American.

As a sequel to the 2011 original, Rio 2 continues in the tradition of its older sibling with screwball humor and madcap mischief. While maintaining a pedigree for celebrating song and dance through a kaleidoscopic burst of colors, Rio 2 is gorgeously rendered but offset by a clichéd script that is also laced with classroom lecture.

This sequel begins in Rio de Janeiro where our feathered friends Blu and Jewel (Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway) discover that they are not the last of their species after all. Along with their three kids, they leave Rio and fly to the Amazonian rain forest where an entire flock of blue macaws was reportedly spotted. As it turns out, the flock exists and is headed by Jewel's long lost father Eduardo (Andy Garcia) and guarded by her old flame Roberto (Bruno Mars). Now reduced to a stuttering parrot, Blu must man-up to his overzealous father-in-law (think Robert De Niro in Meet the Parents) while thwarting Roberto's attempts (think Owen Wilson in Meet the Parents) at charming Jewel. Meanwhile, Blu's nemesis Nigel (Jemaine Clement) has resurfaced and is all out for revenge.

Come school days and kids will have plenty of reason to mimic their favorite characters. From human characters voiced by Rodrigo Santoro and Leslie Mann, to Blu's crooning friends Nico (Jamie Foxx), Pedro (Will.i.am), everyone is back for a second round of slapstick shenanigans. And joining the old cast are some feisty new voice talents including Kristin Chenoweth as Gabi, a poisonous dart-frog so obsessed with Nigel, you could even think of her as his psycho girlfriend. Haunted by a disastrous turn of events in the first movie, Nigel himself is loonier than before with a thespian swagger that pokes fun at none other than the Bard of Avon. Speaking of which, lookout for a hilarious scene aimed at adults where Nigel and Gabi find themselves dramatizing one of Shakespeare's greatest plays. While many such segments are genuinely funny, the story strays at times with subplots from deforestation to male bonding, before stepping into a puddle of teary-eyed melodrama. Kids laughed and adults clapped, but there were periods of silence too, and I am not referring to those brief scenes where death was implied.

Emerging as a game changer in animated films, Blue Sky Studios, a subsidiary of 20th Century Fox, struck gold with its very first feature production – Ice Age (2002). It's been tunneling through a gold mine ever since. While Rio 2 might seem like a cash cow for some viewers, it is still a delightful animation with foot-tapping music to get your groove on. And like a Gloria Gaynor hit song performed by Clement's Nigel, there is every reason to believe this sequel will survive.

Quickie Review:

Like the title of this review says, Rio 2 is basically an animated version of Meet the Parents (2000). Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) and Jewel (Anne Hathaway) with a family of three kids, venture into the Amazon to find a flock of their own kind. Blu faces his father-in-law for the first time and must now prove his worth to him and the flock. Hollywood is filled with movies that repeat a general formula or idea. Even with a predictable story, Rio 2 does enough to keep your attention with beautiful animation and some memorable characters. Kids especially will have a lot of fun, but the adults are not left behind.

Full Review:

Rio 2 starts with Blu and Jewel living in the Blue Macaw reserve with their three kids. Blu and the kids feel completely at home living side by side with the humans, while Jewel longs to live out in the wild with her family. They soon find out that they are not the last of their kind, and there might be a whole flock in the Amazon. This provides the perfect opportunity for the family to reconnect with their roots. Once they arrive and find the flock, Jewel is reunited with her long lost father Eduardo (Andy Garcia). Blu must now prove to Eduardo that he is worthy of his respect and blessing, while preventing Roberto (Bruno Mars) from reigniting an old flame with Jewel. In the meantime, Nigel (Jemaine Clement) along with his new obsessed companion frog Gabi (Kristin Chenoweth), seeks revenge following the events of the previous movie.

The plot in itself is nothing special or unique. Here's a quick challenge for you: just by reading the synopsis, think what the beginning, the middle, the climax, and the end of this movie is going to be… Done? Well then, I don't know exactly who you are but I'm 99% sure you got it right. So yes the movie is predictable, and does fall into the trap of the many father-in-law subplot clichés. Still the movie is charming enough to not put you to sleep. It is clear that the movie is mostly targeted for the kids but there is still some humor for us adults, or the parents, or the baby sitter to enjoy.

Most of the cast have returned from the original, and they all play their parts well. However the stand outs for me has to be Nigel and newcomer Gabi. Every time they are on screen they put a smile on my face. Nigel is this over the top diva, who wants all the attention on himself because he truly believes he deserves it (well, I won't argue against it!). Gabi on the other hand is a poisonous frog that is deeply and helplessly in love with Nigel (think the popular "overly obsessed girlfriend" meme). She is also probably one of the cutest animated characters yet. These two play many of the scenes that the adults will enjoy as they dramatize popular songs and hilariously re-enact Shakespearean scenes from Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet.

In essence this movie serves the purpose of being entertaining. Rio 2 is a beautifully made animated movie with a satisfactory plot. There is nothing wrong with Rio 2, but there's not much great about it either. Kids will love this movie, and adults will not feel like they wasted their time.