Movie Review: Rio 2
The first Rio came out in 2011 and I gave it a Yes review. I remember really liking the film, but sequels are usually "hit or miss," especially for animated movies. This sequel, however, was just as good as the first film - if not better - and I enjoyed it yet again.
In this installment, the blue macaws (Blu and Jewel, voiced by Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway) head from Rio to the Amazon when they find out that there might be more of their species there - Linda (Leslie Mann), Blu's previous owner, has found a flock. Blu and Jewel gather up their three kids, along with some Rio friends from the first movie, and they travel the 2,000 miles to the Amazon, where they find Jewel's father, Eduardo (Andy Garcia) alive and well; Jewel had thought he and her family had passed away in a fire. Jewel and the kids love the Amazon but Blu, who is more "domesticated," has trouble adjusting, and Eduardo doesn't take a liking to him either, at first.
To complicate matters, the villain from the original movie, Nigel (Jermaine Clement), is stalking Blu and Jewel, because he wants to exact revenge for what Blu did to him. He's accompanied by a poisonous tree frog, Gabi (Kristin Chenoweth), who secretly loves him but knows that they can never be together because of her poison.
Nigel was again my favorite in this movie, but Gabi (voiced by Chenoweth) was a close second - she was hilarious and Nigel had no idea she was so into him, either. Blu and Jewel's kids are also cute, and Roberto (voiced by Bruno Mars), an old flame of Jewel's, also steals scenes with his singing (hence why Mars was casted for that role, I'm sure). All of the new characters were good as well, and there is a lot of singing and dancing in the film that helped make it as good as it was.
Yes, see this movie, and see it in 3D - the 3D was fantastic. I'm hoping they do a 3rd Rio film, as well, since I thoroughly enjoyed both movies in the series so far. Kids are sure to like these films as well, between the singing/dancing and the colorful birds and landscapes in the movie. I'd recommend this movie for all ages, but especially for those that enjoy musicals (like Frozen) or other Disney-type films. I was surprised this movie was rated G, too, as it's rare to see G-rated films these days - usually even kid-friendly films are rated PG for some reason or another.
Rio 2 is in theaters today, April 11th, and is rated G with a runtime of 101 minutes. 4 stars out of 5.
