Rio 2

Blue Sky Studios are a bit of an odd one. While Pixar, Disney and Dreamworks have been pumping out some classics and even some stinkers in the last ten years, Blue Sky have been giving us solid animated films. There’s no real stinkers in their line ups but there’s no real stunners either. Yeah there might be no Up, but there isn’t a Chicken Little at least.

So we come to their latest effort, Rio 2, the sequel to the enjoyably flawed Rio. Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) and Jewel (Anne Hathaway) are happily living the domesticated life with their three children, even though they believe they are the last of their species. However when Blu’s owner Linda (Leslie Mann) discovers more of his kind in the Amazon rainforest, they set off to find them. There they meet up with Jewel’s long lost father Eduardo (Andy Garcia).

However the plot is the big issue with this film. While a simple Meet the Parents with birds would work in theory, there is way too much going on. There is a territorial dispute with some Scarlet Macaws, some guys who want to cut down the rainforest illegally and Pedro (will.i.am) and Nico (Jamie Foxx) from the last film trying to find an act for the Rio Carnival. On top of all that, the villain from the last film Nigel (Jermaine Clement) is trying to get revenge on Blu for what happened in the last film. It’s all way too much and if you mind the bad pun, some of it needs clipping away.

And it’s not as if these plot points actually get resolved. In particular, one major plot point set up at the Pit of Doom is completely forgotten at the end as they try and give us a big finale, which is in fact massively rushed because they need to try and tie up all the story lines. It left me incredibly annoyed because it’s just lazy writing.

I also have some issue with the voice acting. While the original cast are mostly fine the new additions are quite poor. Andy Garcia is just doing a pale imitation of Robert De Niro from the aforementioned Meet the Parents and Bruno Mars as Roberto is just plain terrible. As soon as the voice comes out you instantly know it’s him and not in a good way. You can’t separate Bruno from the character and it is a big issue. He is almost reprieved with an amusing character change at the end but that is way too late.

There are some good things in this film though. The animation is absolutely amazing. You can tell they got bored doing the white backgrounds in Ice Age because they’ve given us a colourful treat in the film. It particularly shines in the fun song sequences, especially the one in Rio at the beginning. Even if the actual content of the film is clunky, at least it’s quite nice to look at it.

And I’ve got to admit, one of the side plots that go nowhere involving the auditions is absolutely great. Pedro and Nico are trying to get an act for the Rio carnival and the wide range of applicants are hilarious, as well the interactions between Pedro and Nico. It may be a shock to pretty much everyone that will.i.am is good in this film, but he is and I daresay he’s the funniest person it seeing as Nigel doesn’t get enough screen time. His chemistry with Jamie Foxx is unbelievable, especially as they’ve probably only met at script readings.

But that can’t help Rio 2 get over it’s terrible flaws. There’s too many plots that are fulled with cliches and end with a whimper or don’t actually end. The voice acting is hit and miss and not all the colours in the world can save it. I’m sure the kids will be entertained for his hundred minute run time, but you certainly won’t be.

Best Moment: The auditions in the Amazon. Hilarious, especially the rapping sloth. Voiced by Amy Heidemann of Karmin, though I thought it was Nicki Minaj. Hey if Will.i.am can be funny, so can Minaj.

Worst Moment: The whole Pit of Doom sequence. Cringe worthy because it’s so cliche filled.

2/5