April 23, 2011
Review - " Rio " - (in theaters) By Roland Hansen
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Rio
Directed by: Carlos Saldanha
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jesse Eisenberg, George Lopez,
will.i.am, Jamie Foxx, Tracy Morgan
A domesticated blue macaw conveniently named Blu gets
lost in the streets and jungles of Rio with a female blue
macaw named Jewel. They both represent the last of their
species and are brought together by their nerdy and bird
obsessed owners to mate. However they are birdnapped by
smugglers intent on becoming rich off their sale. Blu and
Jewel meet a large cast of supporting characters as they
escape their captors and try to find their way home.
Rio is colorful and hosts a large number of talking wildlife in
this adventure. Although the themes of near extinction,
mating, and being chased by smugglers may sound like
serious and dark themes for young children please don’t be
worried. Everything in Rio is very “fluffy” and safe. So while
the children will be entertained by the spectacle, the adults
will see every twist coming from a mile away with zero
surprises in store. This is not to say Rio is a bad film, just
not a very creative one. They hit all the requisite songs and
action scenes at just the right moments, but the songs are
not particularly catchy or memorable and the action
involves mostly creative falling. It is almost as if the film
makers had a child’s movie manual and they followed it to a
tee. They executed the manual well, but there was nothing
bold in the story or the film as a whole.
Children will like Rio. The pace is quick and the visuals are
bright and fun. The lead characters banter a lot but
fortunately for the little ones there are a handful of comic
relief supporting characters always lurking to throw a joke
or to do something silly. The writers and filmmakers did not add a lot of adult humor or pop culture references in the movie.
What “Rio” lacks in invention it makes up in presentation, generating an infectious, amusing adventure. As a family film Rio
works, but it will never be confused as a “animated film classic.”