Rio | Review
‘Rio’ is another animated film from the creators of the ‘Ice Age’ series and ‘Horton Hears a Who’. Having only seen one of the ‘Ice Age’ films (though I saw it too long ago to remember much), but thoroughly enjoying ‘Horton’, I didn’t really know what to expect besides a fun animated feature. ‘Rio’s’ gorgeous animation is obvious from its trailers and commercials, but the humor and strength of its storytelling wasn’t felt at all – and that’s exactly the problem with the film overall.
I appreciate the beauty of ‘Rio’, and it features some pretty remarkable shots; the aerial shots with all of the bird characters is amazing, though not as breath-taking as the ones featured in ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ or ‘Avatar’. The film also features some nice and catchy songs with entertaining musical sequences. But ‘Rio’s’ beauty and catchy songs doesn’t hide the film’s weaker and more important aspects: the comedy and story.
There are a few jokes scattered throughout ‘Rio’, but only one or two are actually “funny.” The humor of the film is geared more towards the younger audience, which should be disappointing to those who were hoping for a nice balance of childish, as well as, adult humor in the same vein as Pixar’s best films. ‘Rio’ is more “cute” and “adorable” than it is funny.
As for the film’s storytelling-strength, it could have been improved so much more. The plot involves a male blue Spix’s Macaw named Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) who’s been domesticated as a household pet since an early age. Blu is soon sent off to Rio in order to mate with the only other member of his kind, Jewel (Anne Hathaway). Since Blu and Jewel are the last two remaining members of their species, they’re obviously worth a fortune, which leads to animal smugglers/dealers being involved in the film.
The plot of ‘Rio’ is definitely not original, for it’s been used in previous films such as ‘Alpha & Omega’, and also Pixar’s recently-abandoned film, ‘Newt’. However, the unoriginality of ‘Rio’ doesn’t affect the film as much as its predictability does.
‘Rio’ surprisingly, though kind of un-surprisingly, features an A-list voice-acting cast with the likes of Jesse Eisenberg (‘The Social Network’), Anne Hathaway (‘Love and Other Drugs’), George Lopez, Jake T. Austin (‘The Wizards of Waverly Place’), Tracy Morgan (’30 Rock’), Jamie Foxx, Will.i.am, Leslie Mann (’17 Again’), Jane Lynch (‘Glee’), and more! It’s fun having such great voice-actors in the film, and it only improves upon the film’s underwhelming aspects. However, I only wish the ensemble cast of voice-actors had more to do, and more to say, in ‘Rio’.
The film is currently the biggest film of 2011, though it definitely doesn’t deserve that title. ‘Rio’ is certainly a cute, musically-catchy, and for the most part an entertaining film. However, it’s weak story and lack of jokes prevents the film from being great.
