Director: Carlos Saldanha
Writers (Story): Carlos Saldanha, Earl Richey Jones & Todd Jones
Writers (Screenplay): Don Rhymer, Joshua Sternin, Jeffrey Ventimilia & Sam Harper
Running time: 92 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): U
Genre: Animation/Adventure/Comedy
UK Release date: 8th March 2011
Watched on Sky+ Friday 1st June 2012.
PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.
As a bit of a fan of animated films I felt I would be remiss if I left this one out and so I gave it a viewing this morning. Without doing anything extraordinary, it was entertaining enough but I did find it a little predictable I’m afraid. Having said that it did have a couple of good points which I will expand on after this very brief summary.
Blu is a rare blue macaw who was taken from the jungles of South America when he was still a chick. He is taken in by a young girl, Linda, having been transported thousands of miles to Minnesota (USA). The pair grows up together and are inseparable. Blu is very happy to be Linda’s pet and Linda cares for him very much. This all changes when a scientist from Brazil, Tulio, comes to Linda and asks her to bring Blu to Rio. The blue macaw is on the verge of extinction and they have found a female and want the pair of them to breed. After much heartache, Linda agrees to take Blu to Rio and this is where his adventures begin! There are good guys, bad guys, an evil cockatoo, a carnival, monkeys and even a drooling bulldog; but you don’t want to know all about that… It would be spoilers and them Spoiler Police (Rio Division) are cracking down hard these days.
A film clearly made for 3D (I saw it in 2D) and so the animation is very well done with pin sharp images. I can’t say the film was groundbreaking at all, but I guess the filmmakers were happy enough as I see a sequel is already in the pipeline. The performances were ok, although I did particularly like Jemaine Clement as the voice of the evil Nigel. Of the others, well, nobody really stood out; Jesse Eisenberg played the part he always plays as Blu and Anne Hathaway did a decent job as the feisty Jewel. Honourable mentions go to; Leslie Mann as Linda, Rodrigo Santoro as Tulio, Jamie Foxx as Nico, Will i Am as Pedro and Tracy Morgan as Liuz.
Although I found it a little formulaic and a tad too predictable I found I did engage with the characters eventually. To be honest, I found the human characters more interesting than the animals. The songs were not to my taste, but I will say they fitted the mood of the piece pretty well. I guess at the end of the day the film will be entertaining enough for the younger audience but I can’t see it being stuck in the DVD player too many times.
My score: 6.4/10
IMDb Score: 7.0/10 (based on 58,702 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1436562/
MetaScore: 63/100: (Based on 29 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 72/100 (based on 141 reviews counted at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 72/100 ‘Liked It’ (based on 73,872 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rio/
If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3
FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Blu: [as Tulio is making strange bird like noises in front of him] Linda! Little help here! Linda?
Linda: Wow! You're actually communicating!
Tulio: Yes! Yes! I introduced myself and shook my tail feathers counter clockwise, thus referring to his dominance.
Blu: [to himself] I did not get that at all.
Jewel: Aw, this is great. I'm chained to the only bird in the world who can't fly! Is there anything else I need to know?
Blu: Yes. I can't fly, I pick my beak, and once in a while I pee in the birdbath!
Jewel: Luiz is a bulldog?
Luiz: You got something against dogs?
Jewel: I do when they're drooling on me.
Luiz: It's a medical condition!
Pedro: Yippie-ki-yay, monkey-man!
Nigel: I don't care about your nicked knick-kacks. Your burgled baubles bore me.
Blu: This is the coolest place I've ever seen! You know, despite the obvious health code violations!
Rafael: Ha-ha! I like you, nothing you say makes any sense!
LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.rio-themovie.com/
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/riothemovie?ref=ts
Official Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/RioMovie
Trailer:
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