Rio 2 (2014)

After the events from the first instalment, Blu, Jewel and their three kids embark on a two thousand mile journey to the Amazonian Rainforest where there are rumours about a flock of blue macaws. Obviously, their adventure won't prove to be without perils as an old "friend" is on their track in order to get revenge, while getting used to the new environment will become quite a challenge for Blu.It's an animation which introduces a new adventure for the blue macaw family, one which will influence everyone on the journey, hopefully in good. Unfortunately, as far as I'm concerned, this is one of those, how I like to call them, unnecessary sequels. They used the universe and the success of the first one and hoped to add something equally interesting, but I'm afraid that they failed. The story is as predictable as it is boring, reusing old characters which simply shouldn't have been there just to introduce a bit more "suspense", one which also fails in bringing something good into the equation. The new characters aren't pleasant or good either, each following a stereotypical pattern of a human character, only making the whole matters worse.Still unfortunately, all which was great in the first one somehow vanished or is present in a much lesser proportion. Take for example the comedy, one which managed to make me laugh many times in the first movie, simply does not exist in this one. It desperately tries from time to time, but doesn't manage to do anything regarding this aspect. The only thing which keeps its pride is the animation itself, which is simply amazing, no matter how you look at it. It simply lost the idea of the first one, its emotion, its story and, above all, its comedy, which made it overall a very good animation. They managed to create something which is truly mediocre from something very good, and this "achievement" shouldn't bring any praise for anybody.Overall, I have to say that I saw a mediocre animation, one that simply shouldn't have existed if you ask me, but since it does, it manages to be average in almost every aspect, making it a skippable movie. It reminds me of "Cars", which started as a masterpiece and got a sequel which simply dumped everything good about its predecessor and decided to use its own ways. Too bad...

Rio 2(2014) Starring:Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Leslie Mann, Jamie Foxx, Andy Garcia, Bruno Mars, Jemaine Clement, Rodrigo Santoro, Jake T. Austin, Amandla Stenberg, Pierce Gagnon, Rita Moreno, Kristin Chenoweth, Tracy Morgan, Will.i.am, and George Lopez Directed By:Carlos Saldanha Review HE'S VILLAINOUS, SHE'S VENOMOUS. You know I actually liked the first Rio movie a lot actually and I didn't even want to see it but my sister made me anyway and I actually thought it was great. When I heard the sequel and saw the trailer a billion times on comcast to rent or own, I knew this would be some generic family animated sequel I wouldn't enjoy and guess what I was right. The Film revolves around Blu, Jewel and their three kids after they're hurtled from Rio de Janeiro to the wilds of the Amazon. As Blu tries to fit in, he goes beak-to-beak with the vengeful Nigel, and meets the most fearsome adversary of all: his father-in-law. The story isn't that interesting, it's basically a generic animated family feature where the main character doesn't want to leave his home because he's so use to things and when he does leave and gets to the Amazon the father of his wife doesn't like him, and there is a much more attractive character that his wife is spending more time with which makes him jealous. It's been done too death and I don't like it. The movie does not achieve it's goal, thanks to its generic story the movie is bland and boring, even if I do like the performances from the actors it's just not that well interesting for me to care about what's going on in the picture. All the elements of a good film are not present it's just bland, generic,boring, and tiresome. With good performances that help not making a stupid waste time. I give Rio 2 a two out of five.

What can I say about the Rio movies? Well they're very fun, silly, upbeat and cute with a cute romance and dazzling animation. However, Rio 2 is definitely the weaker of the 2 movies. It feels much sillier and over the top than the first movie. At least the first movie had a sweet center and could be taken seriously despite being a bit silly. With Rio 2, every other scene is a joke and most scenes are way over the top and goofy. It doesn't quite get to the point where it's cringe worthy but it does come close. The other major problem with this movie is how many subplots there are, I mean it's just ridiculous. At least the first movie had one main plot with one side-plot but Rio 2 has 10 subplots at least. Let's see, we have, the city boy in the country, the hard to please the father cliché, the jealousy story despite the couple being married and have kids, Linda and Tulio searching for blue macaws, the red macaws and blue macaws playing football, Blu and Jewel's kids, one of the kids putting on a talent show, the environmental message, one of the birds looking for a new hat, Nigel plotting against Blu and Jewel and the poison dart frog with a huge crush on Nigel. Did I miss a few? So as you can probably tell, none of these subplots get enough focus. The movie often sporadically switches between stories until the climax where every single subplot crashes together and resolve the plot. Because of this, the movie is extremely sloppy, scattered and unfocused that it becomes hard to follow. Most of the subplots could've been cut out since they're so meaningless. The only ones that felt necessary were the loggers' subplot, Nigel's subplot and maybe Linda and Tulio's subplot. However, I don't really like the former subplot either because like many others, I am sick and tired of movies shoving this message down our throats. It worked in Wall-E only because it's Pixar and Andrew Stanton. However, to this movie's credit, it doesn't get that much focus and it isn't shoved down your throats as much as some other animated movies. *cough cough* Epic *cough* Ferngully *cough* Avatar *cough cough* Cloudy with a *cough* Chance of *cough* Meatballs. However, this movie isn't all bad. Despite being extremely over the top, Nigel is a fun villain and the poison dart frog that has a crush on him is a fun character and yeah I ship it. I really did love the first 25 minutes of this film where we see Blu and Jewel interact with their kids and it shows their differing ideas on raising the kids and we do get a fun song and a cool montage. However once they started introducing all those subplots like I said, the movie started getting really sloppy. Anyways, I also have to give props to the animation of this movie. It's some of the most fluid, colorful, fast-paced, and smooth animation Blue Sky has ever done along with the first Rio, and The Peanuts Movie. Every little detail of the animation is accounted for including every little feather and leaves on the trees however, it still is it's own style and doesn't look overly realistic. It's still catoony and over the top but also stylistic and colorful. The songs, as few as there are, are the highlights of the movie and why it deserves to exist. The animation really shines in these scenes, the instrumentals and the music itself is really nice and easy on the ears. I'll admit, the humor was also pretty good at parts. Overall, this movie is a fun watch but not as good as the first. I'd say at best it's a mindless time-killer.

I can finally add a new film to my "Sequels Nobody Really Asked For" list,so congratulations RIO 2!You've joined the class of works like a G.I. JOE:RETALIATION and CARS 2.RIO 2 is the sequel to the surprise hit RIO that opened back in '11 and meets up again with the last Blu Macaws on the planet;Blu,Jewel,and their three kids.They're enjoying life in a wildlife protective center located in beautifully animated Rio De Janeiro.When their caretakers are exploring the Amazon rain forest,they come across evidence that there might just be an entire flock of Blu Macaws still alive in the wild in the forest.Blu and the gang of fowl fools hear of this and decide to go find answers for themselves and bump into no good humans,old enemies,and maybe some long lost family.And there's music.Lots of music.And a Nicki Minaj sloth. I enjoyed the original RIO,it was a fun,beautiful animated family movie with enjoyable musical scenes and some pretty impressive animation.In hindsight it's no surprise that movie was gonna make bank but this sequel honestly passed me by quick.You don't get a completely gripping story as you would with Pixar or a good Dreamworks movie.The story is pretty basic and linear,which obviously makes sense being this is a movie clearly aimed to a young demographic.Three acts,happy ending,with plenty of fluff thrown in.If I'm coming off as completely crapping on this flick,let me say it's not a bad movie at all.It's just so easy.The song sequences can range from being Bluray beautiful to being just a pop music insert. The animation is strong with this one though,the big shots of the city of Rio and green forests of the Amazon really please the eyes and the characters are all colorful,likable and cute as they should.My favorite character was actually the most developed and had this interesting hook to her character,it's the painfully adorable poison dart frog.Loved her. There'a plenty of star voice talent and they all bring real life to each of their characters,JEMAINE CLEMENT is awesome in his return as the evil Nigel.ANDY GARCIA is in this movie but kinda just cashes it in IMO.BRUNO MARS is a new voice and he was decent.He didn't annoy me as much as I thought. RIO 2 is a movie meant and made for kids.Maybe around 12 and younger,but THERE ARE those moments for adults to chuckle at.The music and animation are also more than enough to warrant that I RECOMMEND A RENTAL!The Bluray would be a good family movie night rental but it doesn't really reach the caliber of the big boys like Disney or Miyazaki.