Rio 2 - Missione Amazzonia

As someone who loved the first film, while the advertising was not the best it didn't put me off seeing Rio 2. And it was very enjoyable, not as good as the original but it is an example of animated sequels that do work. The story and the pacing are uneven here, with the film getting off to a slightly slow start and feeling rushed in other places, though you do have to admire the energy there is. There are plenty of fun parts with the second half far more compelling than the first and the film rarely has a dull moment, but structurally it is on the thin side and content-wise it feels overstuffed. However, if you want lots of colour, catchy music, fun and good characters and voice acting, Rio 2 very like its predecessor doesn't disappoint. The animation is amazing with lots of vibrant detail especially in the backgrounds and nothing looks hurried or static. The colours are even more brighter and colourful than the first film too. The music has that Brazilian flavour and the songs are incredibly catchy. Don't Go Away is a very touching song, but the highlights are the pizazz-personified Poisonous Love and the hilarious rap version of I Will Survive(thought I'd never say this, can't stand rap on the most part). While the film does feel overstuffed, the content is actually really good, dialogue-wise it's smartly written and has a fair amount of heart while the gags provide plenty of laughs with sharp timing, the best being the soccer match, the jungle auditions and any scene(the Romeo and Juliet part in particular) with Gabi and Nigel. The characters are still engaging, Blu and Jewel are likable lead characters though they had more to do in the first one and Nigel has that menacing streak but is a riot. There are some great new characters as well, with Gabi as good a character as and in some cases even better the original ones. The voice acting adds to that, Jemaine Clement and Kristen Chenoweth are both phenomenal helped by that they have the film's best moments, though Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Andy Garcia and everybody else acquit themselves more than fine too. To conclude, a good sequel to a great original, enjoyed it a lot and when it comes to animated sequels there is definitely much worse(ie. Secret of NIMH 2). 7/10 Bethany Cox

As a sequel to the 2011 original, Rio 2 continues in the tradition of its older sibling with screwball humor and madcap mischief. While maintaining a pedigree for celebrating song and dance through a kaleidoscopic burst of colors, Rio 2 is gorgeously rendered but offset by a clichéd script that is also laced with classroom lecture.

This sequel begins in Rio de Janeiro where our feathered friends Blu and Jewel (Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway) discover that they are not the last of their species after all. Along with their three kids, they leave Rio and fly to the Amazonian rain forest where an entire flock of blue macaws was reportedly spotted. As it turns out, the flock exists and is headed by Jewel's long lost father Eduardo (Andy Garcia) and guarded by her old flame Roberto (Bruno Mars). Now reduced to a stuttering parrot, Blu must man-up to his overzealous father-in-law (think Robert De Niro in Meet the Parents) while thwarting Roberto's attempts (think Owen Wilson in Meet the Parents) at charming Jewel. Meanwhile, Blu's nemesis Nigel (Jemaine Clement) has resurfaced and is all out for revenge.

Come school days and kids will have plenty of reason to mimic their favorite characters. From human characters voiced by Rodrigo Santoro and Leslie Mann, to Blu's crooning friends Nico (Jamie Foxx), Pedro (Will.i.am), everyone is back for a second round of slapstick shenanigans. And joining the old cast are some feisty new voice talents including Kristin Chenoweth as Gabi, a poisonous dart-frog so obsessed with Nigel, you could even think of her as his psycho girlfriend. Haunted by a disastrous turn of events in the first movie, Nigel himself is loonier than before with a thespian swagger that pokes fun at none other than the Bard of Avon. Speaking of which, lookout for a hilarious scene aimed at adults where Nigel and Gabi find themselves dramatizing one of Shakespeare's greatest plays. While many such segments are genuinely funny, the story strays at times with subplots from deforestation to male bonding, before stepping into a puddle of teary-eyed melodrama. Kids laughed and adults clapped, but there were periods of silence too, and I am not referring to those brief scenes where death was implied.

Emerging as a game changer in animated films, Blue Sky Studios, a subsidiary of 20th Century Fox, struck gold with its very first feature production – Ice Age (2002). It's been tunneling through a gold mine ever since. While Rio 2 might seem like a cash cow for some viewers, it is still a delightful animation with foot-tapping music to get your groove on. And like a Gloria Gaynor hit song performed by Clement's Nigel, there is every reason to believe this sequel will survive.

Like "Avatar", only instead of blue humanoids, we have blue parrots. It may be visually fascinating in 3D, but at home, on the computer, it did not leave a special impression. If you liked the first one, you will like this one too. If not, skip it.

6/10

Getting back into thinking about how narratives get put together, I am reminded of how many radically different strategies there are in approaching a film.

If you talk to the (old) Pixar guys, what you'll hear is a focus on story, a cinematic notion of story, above all else. The story comes first; characters emerge whether they are promising franchise characters or not. It is all about making the flow engaging and creating a lasting experience.

As I go through my list of valued filmmakers, I can pull out a number of different approaches: Ruiz looks for the dissonance between narrative layers and removes the middle. Cronenberg finds a disturbing edge, creates a situation, then builds things to present it. Spielberg makes comics that are refined in story boards then mechanically reproduced in film. I'll have to think about the varieties.

Then we have this guy, Saldanha, who has sold a lot of tickets to happy viewers.

The strategy here seems to be to create characters above all else. Make characters. Find some kind of simple enclosing story, it doesn't matter what. Have all the characters create their own local, small static narrative. Then just embellish and display those.

I suppose this approach has been refined over on the half hour TeeVee comedy side where story is just an excuse to have character spaces interact. I am always surprised when I see this work, and it plainly does here, though none of the characters are compelling in the ordinary way.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. In other films, I see stories getting ever more compelling in surprising ways and exhibiting self-awareness with increasing sophistication.

These are fun movies, not art films I'm talking about. So it makes sense to have films like Ice Age and Rio for minds that don't work that way, that have shorter narrative attention spans and undeveloped narrative sense.

While this is designed for international audiences, and made by a Brazilian and set in Brazil. But most of the voices and nearly all the songs are hip hop urban style that is uniquely American.

Review: I did prefer the original Rio because of the catchy tunes, but that's not to say that this is a bad movie. The storyline was quite good and the animation looked brilliant. The vibrant colours and the attention to detail was spot on but the jokes weren't as funny as the original. I liked some scenes like the auditions and some of the songs and the new characters were a great addition to the cast. The main problem that I found with the film was that it seemed like there was a lot going on at once. You've got the humans taking down the forest and the main character, Blue, trying to convince his wife that there old life was better than life in the Amazon. Then you've got a human couple who are trying to explore the Amazon and get caught up with thugs who don't want there operation interrupted. Anyway, when you put all of these elements together, it does make a good movie that must have taken a lot of work from the creators, but for some unknown reason, the simpler original was more enjoyable. 

Round-Up: This movie really does have some top names used as the voices of the characters. From Jesse Eissenberg, who seems to be in form at the moment, to Anne Hathaway and Andy Garcia who voices Eduardo, all the characters really do work together. Even Jamie Foxx, Bruno Mars, Tracy Morgan and Will.I.Am bring some urban flavour to the movie which really works as the comedy element. Anyway, on a whole, it's a great watch for the kids and there is some jokes for the adults which makes it fun for the whole family. Judging by the box office takings, I'm sure that were going to see a 3rd instalment of the birds on there adventures.

Budget: $103million Worldwide Gross: $496million (WOW!)

I recommend this movie to people who were fans of the first Rio and who are into there animation movies about birds saving the Amazon. 6/10