Rio 2011 7 out of 10
Rio follows the adventures of Blu, one of the last of his kind) . A Cerulean Parrot that is stolen from the jungle as a baby bird and exported out of the country as an exotic pet. He ends up falling off a truck in Minnesota and being raised as a domestic pet by young girl. Years later a researcher drops by the shop and convinces his owner to take him to Rio so that hopefully he can breed with the last female of his kind.
Well Blu and Jewel (the female bird) end up getting kidnapped--by some smugglers and their angry White Bird (the main villain of the film). They escape which is made more difficult by the fact Blu never learned to fly and along the way of trying to get back to his owner they have a bunch of colorful adventures along his several other birds and a slobbering Bulldog.
The film was definitely colorful...Made by the same folks that did the Ice Age movies...this film for me lacked the level of humor of those movies with the exception of the cool Birds vs Monkeys fight scene. The action sequences were good especially through the Carnival parade near the end and the flying scenes. The film captured a lot of what you hear about Rio including its darker aspects such as pickpocketing and the slums outside of the beach hotels. I'm surprised that it didn't get a backlash for being so honest about the city in this politically correct world we live in.
The kids loved this picture...I felt it was missing that extra something that all the Pixar movies have--but still found it enjoyable.
Rio 2 2014 6 out of 10
In Rio 2 Blu and Jewel now have a family. Blu is still the neurotic mess of a bird he was in the first film which comes out even more once they discover on TV that they aren't the last of their kind. Jewel convinces Blu to take the entire family in search of their kind. They are followed by the old white bird from the first film (thought to be dead) that is out for revenge. They find their fellow birds, which happens to be Jewels family she hasn't seen since she was a child. Blu has difficulty fitting in and adjusting to this new situation, since he still has too much of a domesticated bird in him. There is also a handsome and daring bird from Jewel's childhood that he has to worry about and a plot about human deforestation that is shoehorned into the movie as well.
The animation is once again very colorful and the visuals are excellent as well. The movie once again has several really good action sequences and several big musical numbers that look like they are directly patterned after someone that watched the Circle of Life segment from the Lion King. There was also a really cool action piece involving a mid air soccer match between the Blue and Red Parrots of the jungle. Once again the story and humor just didn't really capture me. I liked the first one a little better, because I felt the action sequences were more exciting and the story was a little stronger. That being said if you and the kids liked Rio --you will probably like Rio 2 as well -
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