Movie Review: Rio

From the makers of the hit Ice Age series comes Rio, a comedy adventure about taking a walk on the wild side. Blu is a domesticated Macaw who never learned to fly, living a comfortable life with his owner and best friend Linda in the small town of Moose Lake, Minnesota. Blu and Linda think he's the last of his kind, but when they learn about another Macaw who lives in Rio de Janeiro, they head to the faraway and exotic land to find Jewel, Blu's female counterpart. Not long after they arrive, Blu and Jewel are kidnapped by a group of bungling animal smugglers. With the help of street smart Jewel, and a group of wise-cracking and smooth-talking city birds, Blu escapes. Now, with his new friends by his side, Blu will have to find the courage to learn to fly, thwart the kidnappers who are hot on their trail, and return to Linda, the best friend a bird ever had


Review:


Not award-worthy, but something I want on my DVD shelf for nights when I want to sit down with a tub of ice cream in the dark and feel like a kid again.

Although kid-targeted with its brightly colored scenery and, of course, talking animals. Along with an attempt trying to hone on the older generation with the voice talents of George Lopez, (who I think has voiced about every CG animal known to man) Anne Hathaway, and two hit singers I have truthfully, never heard of. This movie has something that will make you realize that you can still feel like a kid going to the theaters.

In the area of kid movies, I am one that does not budge, if lame jokes and songs are ingredients in the movie's batter....I would rather not taste it. So when my young brother insisted we go view "Rio" I felt like I was in-between a rock and hard place. Knowing the reason of "family time" I reluctantly joined them. Anyway, John Powell does the music, right?

The very first happening in the film was.....a musical number... The movie was speeding down on the incline I already had it set upon. But as the picture continued I was hit with something, colorful scenery....but I was also hit with a few somethings I did not see coming....A plot, and characters I started to get attached to. Which somehow found a way to knock down the barrier that was keeping me from enjoying the movie.

Though this movie was predicable just by the trailers (Blu would learn to fly, He and Jewel would get together in the end, and George Lopez would crack wise) The characters made the predicability fun! The plot was predicable, but the characters were not. This made the movie purely enjoyable! On top of this, I began rooting for something that I usually fight against in movies. The inevitable "marriage" of the two main characters. I am the one normally cringing at the "love" scenes in movies, but in this twist I was sent through, I found myself mentally cheering, hoping to see the two opposite birds "get together in the end". But again, predictability was one my side, so I knew they would.

Its time to get serious. What do you go to the movies for? Action, drama, explosions and those little chocolate chips with the white BBs on them. And all of above are...not in the movie. (I even checked with the concession stand and they never even heard of the snack) This film had nothing the average movie goer wants out of a movie (in other words, Michele Bay would leave the theater). But it does make you remember what you went to the movies for when you were five, and that is want makes this watchable.

In conclusion, I would like to say that, if you have kids, without a shadow of a doubt they will love the picture for its sheer kid-candy. But, if you are like me, you will find the cleverness of it and its undeniable effect on you, realizing that although your childhood has ended, like the film inevitably will, and is fading in the in the distant fog of your once-domant youth, you can still have fun like a child going to see a movie with his mother and father.

Cute, brilliantly animated, lovable, Rio is one for kids, and the kid in you.

P.S. If anyone can remember what was happening during the scenes with the drooling dog, tell me, I was too distracted.