By the Numbers: A Review of Rio 2

directed by Carlos Saldanha

The fact that the animated sequel Rio 2 is riddled with narrative cliches ranging from bad in-law jokes to "save the forest" tropes is hardly its biggest sin. Filmed storytelling, even the animated kind, has been around so long that repeating stories from older films is almost inevitable, but the perfunctory way the filmmakers toss everything together is nearly unforgivable.

This film departs from the bustling city of Rio de Janeiro (which makes the title a bit of a misnomer) and heads for the jungles of the Amazon, where Tulio, the ornithologist from the first film (Rodrigo Santoro, strangely enough the only Brazilian with a major role in the film) traveling with his wife Linda (Leslie Mann) discovers that there may be more blue macaws in the rainforest, a species of bird previously thought on the verge of extinction. Meanwhile, back in the city, Linda's and Tulio's domesticated Blue Macaws Blu (Jessie Eisenberg) and Jewel (Anne Hathaway), who now have three kids, happen to see their "guardians" on television. Jewel, who came from the Amazon, is ecstatic at the thought that there might be more birds like them, and basically twists Blu's wing into going there with the whole family. Blu tells his friends, yellow canary Nico (Jamie Foxx), red-crested cardinal Pedro (will.i.a.m), toucan Rafael (George Lopez), and bulldog Luis (Tracy Morgan), and they encourage him to take the trip to make his wife happy, though the three birds also accompany them. A surprise awaits Blu and his family in the forest as they encounter not one but a whole tribe of blue macaws led by Jewel's father Eduardo (Andy Garcia) and her childhood friend Roberto (Bruno Mars). Jewel is also welcomed back by her aunt Mimi (Rita Moreno). Things are not hunky dory for everyone; Roberto, a strapping, singing specimen of a bird makes Blu insecure, while Eduardo views the highly domesticated Blu with considerable disdain.

These, however, could be the least of Blu's problems as an illegal logger (Miguel Ferrer), threatened by the thought of his cash cow being declared a wildlife sanctuary, has evil plans for Tulio and Linda, while Nigel (Jemaine Clement), the murderous cockatoo from the first film, who survived a plane crash but is now flightless and working as a sideshow attraction, has evil plans for Blu, plans which involve the venom of a tree frog (Kristen Chenoweth) and a porcupine's quill fired from the snout of an anteater.

I don't quite know what was played out worse, the whole in-law, old-boyfriend-by-whom-the-hero-feels-threatened storyline, or the whole animals get together to save-the-rain-forest story.  The problem wasn't that these stories are cliche (even though they are); it's that I could discern no effort on the part of the filmmakers to present them in a fresh way. Sure, there are lively visuals and livelier musical numbers and the movie is still good for some laughs, but, really, in this day and age lush visuals are practically a dime a dozen; Blue Sky studios gave us similar eye-candy with last year's Epic, and after Frozen, nearly every musical number in this movie feels second rate, especially Jemaine Clement's insipid cover of "I Will Survive." As for the slapstick gags, just about every animated movie has those too, even the low-budget ones. There is very little about this movie that makes it stand out.

For me, the movie's one truly saving grace was the positively manic performance by Kristen Chenoweth as Gabi the poisonous tree frog who is head over heel in love with Nigel, replete with a show-stopping song number and a Shakespearean twist near the end of the film. The whole film is the better for having her in it; she brings an energy and enthusiasm to her role that none of the other actors in this film did. Quite honestly everyone else feels like they're phoning it in (and with an animated film, this possibility feels even more distinct than usual), especially next to Chenoweth.

I really don't know what else to say. Kids will love it, to be fair, especially the very young ones who haven't seen this sort of thing several times before, but the adults who will accompany them to see it really shouldn't expect anything.



5.5/10