Rio 2

Like "Avatar", only instead of blue humanoids, we have blue parrots. It may be visually fascinating in 3D, but at home, on the computer, it did not leave a special impression. If you liked the first one, you will like this one too. If not, skip it.

6/10

A good animation is made weak by clichéd writing.

Lot of work and thought and detailing goes into an animated film. But if the writing is weak it cannot be pulled off easily. RIO 2 precisely suffers from that. The scenes are too clichéd for my comfort and the plot is very age-old. The bird formations, their beautiful feats have been all been seen in RIO and there is nothing new to offer on that front too in RIO 2. I felt like the basic format of the earlier film RIO was taken and just few modifications were done in writing. So it has that been there, seen that feel that does not add up any value.

The voice over is good and it seems like Jesse Eisenberg did make effort to feel like the bird Blu. Although the chemistry between the two birds, Blu and Jewel does not show up adequately, individually voice over of each was good. It's Anne Hathway for the female protagonist, Jewel.

The other aspects were fine, considering this is a commercial animated film. A word about music, which was good in RIO, comes weak and though are many songs, not even one was memorable, as I left the theater. So the music did not make any impression either.

If people like average stuff or have not seen RIO, perhaps will like it as they may find some new things here. For me, I did not like it and felt like a big bore. An average rating of 2/5 for this. It's not bad, it's purely mediocre.

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.

Story: The story here suffers from too many subplots, and a lack of focus. It also doesn't help that all the subplots here are generic. This would would kill a film......if it was made by someone like Pixar or Studio Ghibli. But since this film's plot isn't the main focus, or why audiences watched the 1st Rio, then the bad story doesn't really hurt this film as much as it could've been. But it's still a bad story nonetheless. 4/10

Animation: It's beautiful, gorgeous, colorful, and worth watching on Blu-ray or Blu-ray 3D. 10/10

Characters And Comedy: All characters here follow standard archetypes we all know of, but Nigel and Gabi serve as the most original and most entertaining. Comedy is solid with some funny moments in the film. 6/10

Sound: Good score and amazing soundtrack. Love the songs here more than Frozen, but none really hit the heights of Hot Wings from the 1st. Although some of the songs do come close. 9/10

Acting And Casting: All actors/actresses do a good job voicing their roles, especially with Jesse E. as the voice of Blu. I'm also surprised Bruno Mars didn't suck. 7/10

Verdict: Don't watch this film for the story. Watch it like you would a Madagascar film and just sit back, relax, and enjoy an entertaining family film with some beautiful animation, good comedy, and amazing songs.

Extra: +1 for being a sequel I enjoyed.

Rating: 8/10

For a more in-depth review (stupid 1000 word limit), check out my Metacritic review: http://www.metacritic.com/user/DemonicSoul?myscore- filter=Movie

Review: I did prefer the original Rio because of the catchy tunes, but that's not to say that this is a bad movie. The storyline was quite good and the animation looked brilliant. The vibrant colours and the attention to detail was spot on but the jokes weren't as funny as the original. I liked some scenes like the auditions and some of the songs and the new characters were a great addition to the cast. The main problem that I found with the film was that it seemed like there was a lot going on at once. You've got the humans taking down the forest and the main character, Blue, trying to convince his wife that there old life was better than life in the Amazon. Then you've got a human couple who are trying to explore the Amazon and get caught up with thugs who don't want there operation interrupted. Anyway, when you put all of these elements together, it does make a good movie that must have taken a lot of work from the creators, but for some unknown reason, the simpler original was more enjoyable. 

Round-Up: This movie really does have some top names used as the voices of the characters. From Jesse Eissenberg, who seems to be in form at the moment, to Anne Hathaway and Andy Garcia who voices Eduardo, all the characters really do work together. Even Jamie Foxx, Bruno Mars, Tracy Morgan and Will.I.Am bring some urban flavour to the movie which really works as the comedy element. Anyway, on a whole, it's a great watch for the kids and there is some jokes for the adults which makes it fun for the whole family. Judging by the box office takings, I'm sure that were going to see a 3rd instalment of the birds on there adventures.

Budget: $103million Worldwide Gross: $496million (WOW!)

I recommend this movie to people who were fans of the first Rio and who are into there animation movies about birds saving the Amazon. 6/10