Rio 2

RIO 2

Director : Carlos Saldanha
Year : 2014
Genre : Animation
Rating : **1/2

 

Blu, Jewel and the rest of the gang return for 'Rio 2', the colourful and music filled sequel to the 2011 Academy Award nominated monster hit 'Rio'. Once again featuring the voices of Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Jermaine Clement, will.i.am, Jamie Foxx, Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro and Tracy Morgan, 'Rio 2' continues the story of the macaws Blu and Jewel as they learn to be a family, adapt to a life in Rio De Janiero and eventually discover that they may not be the last of their species after all. 

Now when I first saw the original 'Rio', I was grossly unimpressed and I would go on to name it as one of the absolute worst films of that year. I found it to boring, I found it to be unfunny and most importantly, I found it to be utterly pointless. However, having watched it again very recently in preparation for it's sequel, I actually found myself rather liking it. It was certainly nothing special but it was beautifully animated, the landscapes were very, very impressive and the characters, while generic were likable and generally quite funny. And this is exactly the same way I feel about 'Rio 2'. Upping the level of computer animation to a point now where each individual feather seems genuinely real, the film looks gorgeous. Made by Blue Sky Studios (who also made the equally impressive but equally pedestrian 'Ice Age' quadrilogy), 'Rio 2' is just as colourful and visually stunning as it's predecessor and while many of it's joke fall flat, it still manages to keep it's head above water thanks to it's stellar voice cast and it's beautiful, eye catching palette. 

When Blu (Eisenberg) and Jewel (Hathaway) realise that they may not be the last two blue Spix macaws on the planet, they embark on a 2,000 mile journey to the Amazon rainforest accompanied by their three children and their trusty companions Pedro (will.i.am), Nico (Foxx) and Rafael (Lopez) to save their kind from attack by illegal loggers. While traversing the trees and the vines of the jungle, Jewel encounters her father (Andy Garcia) as well as hundreds more of their kind and it is not too long before Blu, Jewel and the rest of the gang are integrated into the flock.

However, Blu's humanised way of life doesn't sit to well with his father in law who hates anything remotely man made and it is not too long before he and Jewel come to blows over their future in the rainforest. Unfortunately, trouble with the father in law should be least of his worries as Blu's nemesis Nigel (the insane but hilarious white cockatoo from the first film voiced by Clement) has followed him and his family to the Amazon to seek revenge for his unrepairable wing damage whilst all the while being accompanied by an obsessed, love struck poisonous frog (Kristen Chenowith).

Much like the first film, 'Rio 2' relies on a lot of quick fire, sporadic animation to generate a sense of excitement or entertainment and much like the first film, this can become unbearable at points. The humour is pretty juvenile and the visual gags are uninspired to say the least. However as a kid friendly U rated family comedy, 'Rio 2' isn't bad. Sure it's conventional, predictable and highly generic but so are many other animated films released these days. If it wasn't for the poorly constructed and badly handled moral message which leaves a bad taste in the mouth, 'Rio 2' would be a perfectly functional animated comedy. The silly gags and funny characters will entertain very young children (as was evident screening I attended) while the adults can enjoy Eisenberg's nerdy shtick and Jermaine Clements over the top performance as the pompous and ridiculously camp villain.