Rio

“Rio” is as bright, fun, and dramatic as the Brazilian Carnivale where the final act occurs. The 2011 animated musical as a whole is one edge-of-your-seat race to give a bird back to his human friend, stop an evil gang of bird smugglers, and make sure that, eventually, love will prevail.

The bird is Blu, voiced by Jesse Eisenberg, a blue macaw stolen from his home in the rain forest before he learned how to fly. Ending up in a place no one would expect, Minnesota, he is adopted by Linda, voiced by Leslie Mann. Andrea Chase said in her review, “For fifteen years, they are inseparable and though Blu has never learned to fly, he has become handy around the house and learned to take the taunting of the local wild birds in stride.” Everything is fine until Tulio, voiced by Rodrigo Santoro, a clumsy ornithologist from Brazil arrives with a surprising announcement that Blu is the last male of his species, and Tulio needs him in Rio to meet the last female blue macaw, Jewel, voiced by Anne Hathaway, newly removed from the wild, in order to let nature do its work and save the species from extinction. Chase noted, “They arrive just in time for Carnivale, but, alas, the glitter and glamour do nothing to charm Jewel, who is more interested in escaping than mating.” On top of that, Blu has arrived just as an evil plan is made by Marcel, voiced by Carlos Ponce, to steal the residents in Tulios bird lab and sell them to the highest bidder.

Blu and Jewel find themselves chained together, grounding them both, as the thieves and their army, Nigel, voiced by Jermaine Clement, an unstable cockatoo with stagey tendencies and no mercy, are on their path, with Linda and Tulio close behind them.

Chase mentioned, “There is a nice attention to character detail, making the denizens who occupy this flick vivid, and driving it all with a real sense of the warmth between Blu and Linda. Macaws may not take to hot cocoa in real life, but Blu’s attachment to the perfect ration of mini-marshmallows in that beverage doesn’t seem a stretch in this context. Nor does his constant babbling of random facts gleaned from his years at Linda’s side in her bookshop.” The supporting roles have less depth, but the toucan (George Lopez) who helps Blu out has the right type of comic relief also found in Nico and Pedro (Jamie Foxx and rapper will.i.am), a pair of party birds who break into a catchy song when not thinking of the mystery of why Blu would rather stay in his cage than fly over Rio. Chase credited, “The animation takes full advantage of its South American setting, roseate spoonbills flutter over the Sugarloaf, marmosets swarm, and a determined visitor from Minnesota bashes through the favela of the titular city in search of her stolen macaw. It’s at its best, story- and animation-wise, with the romance, avian and human, which is sweet in a goofy rather than syrupy way. With little to work with in bird physiognomy, the animators have found a way to make the eyes startlingly expressive without violating an inordinate number of the many inherent restrictions. The voice component adds to it, with Eisenberg’s earnest if tentative mutter contrasting with Hathaway’s determined purr. Attempting to have them kiss, as inevitably they do, however, with such prodigious beaks was perhaps ill-advised.” Now with Nigel, animation has found one scary villain, and Nigel has found in Clement a voice that has the relaxing voice of the most dangerous criminal.

The adventure is fast-paced, with twists and turns as unexpected as they are quick. Pursuers and pursued race through the streets, over rooftops, and in the air using all type of transportations and the many ways of an adrenaline rush. Also, it takes time to make a few relevant points about effective conservation. The ending is never really in doubt, but how “Rio” gets there makes the most of its silly type of mayhem.

For a movie from Blue Sky Studios, the same one that brought us the “Ice Age” franchise, I was surprised at how well done this movie was. I’m also surprised that no one talks about this film because I think this film should be seen by everyone because I think they will love it. Check it out on Disney+ because you will enjoy this one a lot. Children will love this film a lot, I promise you.

Tomorrow I will look at a film that I found to be uninteresting in “Disney Month 2024.”