Movie: Rio
Year: 2011
Director: Carlos Saldanha
Honestly, animated movies just aren’t my thing. I’ve never been big on cartoons, but Rio was by far an entertaining and great use of 96 minutes of my life. The movie, from the same creators of Ice Age, grabs your attention from beginning to end threading colorful scenery and catchy songs throughout. I honestly left the theater contemplating buying the soundtrack and taking a trip to Brazil.
Of course as with any animated movie focused on grabbing the attention of the little ones, this one doesn’t fail to give you the moral that bad guys don’t finish first. The movie begins with a colorful sequence of exotic birds enjoying their carefree lives in the jungles of South America, before their fun in the sun is interrupted by smugglers who end up distributing the animals across the globe and one very special macaw, Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) ends up in the loving hands of Linda (Leslie Mann), a small town bookstore owner from Minnesota.
As a young bird, Blu is very well taken care of and never has to learn that one important life lesson of most birds…to fly. When he’s given the chance to revitalize his species by returning to Rio de Janeiro at the most special time of the year, CARNIVALE, he is hesitant at first, but soon meets a colorful cast of characters like Nico (Jamie Foxx), Pedro (will.i.am) and Rafael (George Lopez) who coach him on wooing Jewel (Anne Hathaway), the feisty macaw he comes to love.
The movie surges with excitement as the town prepares for Carnivale and Blu and Jewel aren’t without a little excitement of their own as their nemesis, Nigel (Jermaine Clement, Flight of the Conchords), a bitter and less than attractive cockatoo remains intent on assisting smugglers with abducting the two.
If you have inquisitive youngsters, not unlike my nieces who accompanied me on my trip to the theatre, then you’ll enjoy this film and it’ll have you tapping your feet and wanting to Samba in the aisles.
4 out of 5 stars
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