Ainbo - Spirito dell'Amazzonia

The title is the best way to describe this movie.

The main character says she's 13... but voice sounds like a 4 year old. She acts like a 4 year old, sounds like a 4 year old, speaks like a 4 year old, moves like a 4 year old. And everyone talks to her like she's 4 year old. She toddles around like a barely developed 4 year old. Her dialog and speech patterns... 4 year old. It's like watching Dora: the Explorer, or blues clues.

It's like the original script and voice acting was done with the intention that the main character was 4 years old... but for some reason swapped the character model with that of a 13 year old.

It's *barely* watchable for adults... and probably boring for preteen+. Toddlers and small children would probably like it.

That summarizes all. I don't understand how do you spend so much money on an animation while almost utterly failing the storyline, dialogues, and characters.

It could have been much more. Setting was good. The animation was a shame, it has nice pieces but near the end it got terrible and also some pieces the (human)characters were not "flowing" as they should have. However the surroundings and animals were very good. As for the story, it was meh. I thought it would go towards preserving nature in the Amazone or like a Pocahontas kind of Thing. But in the end totally different, but no positive surprise.

The initial premise of the movie is decent enough and the for the first 20 minutes or so I thought this would get a 7. Points however dropped the longer the movie went on.

The story is a run-off-the-mill quest story made for children, plenty of things make no sense and especially in the second half it is all over the place. You can clearly see the influence from Disney/Pixar but it doesn't go any further than copying ideas without actually bothering if it makes sense storywise.

One of the worst parts, and one that annoyed me to no end, is that the main protagonist, Ainbo, never seems to solve any of the problems she faces. It's always the sidekicks that provide the answer (a blatant Timon and Pumbaa rip-off up to the point where they literally copied classic Lion King shots), or Deus ex Machina "Magic" explanations.

It's somewhat frustrating as a dad to bring your girl to a movie where a girl is the "hero" only to see that she, at no point, is able to do things herself. Even when she faces the big evil she just gets handed the right tools with no real explanation.

This movie had potential if they invested a bit more time in developing a decent story and character arc. As it stands: if you want an eco-friendly story about the rainforest: Ferngully is head and shoulders above this.

Unlike many Disney/Pixar or Dreamworks animation, where the story appeals to the young and old alike, this movie only appeals to the very young.

With basic storyline and childish comedy gags, this will make the little ones laugh and entertained. But as an adult, I found it all tedious and very childish.

SUMMARY: Animation is good (not Pixar great but good) however the movies demographics is more for the very young (ie. 12 years and younger). Adults will be bored.

VERDICT: Entertaining for the kids, Avoid if you're an adult.