Release Date: April 15, 2011. Director: Carlos Saldanha. Stars (voices): Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Jamie Foxx. Runtime: 96 min.
Blue Sky Studios produces decent animated movies; from the Ice Age flicks to Horton Hears a Who! to Epic. The studio is just that, though, decent. Their movies aren’t anything extraordinary usually – and that’s just the case with Rio.
As feel-good and foot-tapping as the movie is, it’s quite generic and simply forgettable. It’s a good way to pass the time, and it offers a few laughs, but I don’t remember any of them. The voicework is also fine. It’s a story about believing to fly, because Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) was taken from his natural habitat before he learned to fly. I don’t remember hearing any R. Kelly song throughout this movie, so that seems like a missed opportunity. The supporting characters are mildly amusing.
The movie goes down like a bitter pill. The movie is solid entertainment, but it hurts to know that Pixar could have made a movie just like this. They had to cancel their project, called Newt, because theirs was a similar premise with geckos — and I just can’t help but think their finished project would have been superior to this only mediocre film.
Score: 63/100
It’s a pleasant movie that took me by surprise. The sequel isn’t that good though. Good review Dan.
I feel like I hate this without even seeing it!
Hahah, that’s funny!
Agreed. Nice enough film, but no great shakes
Are you going to check out the sequel?
Sorry, I meant the sequel, but I guess it applies to both films.
It’s also hard to imagine that this was one of the rare G-rated films from recent years (even though it was an initial PG).
Ooooh, G-rated, no wonder it’s so goofy at times haha. Nothing too bad about that though.