Rio

Review by Jason Donner

There are movies out there that aren't very deep or intelligent, but possess the singular gift of making you feel good.  These movies, hereby called Cinematic Meth, are cheap and disposable and, yes, addictive because even though you know it's not good for you, you want more.  Unlike Meth, however, I'm sure I could quit any time.

With Rio, we have cinematic meth -- brewed in the shadowy garage of the guys who brought you such gateway drugs as Ice Age, Ice Age: The Meltdown, and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs!  (See, I knew that anyone who thought that dinosaurs were around in the Ice Age had to be on something!)  This dangerous confection of music, bright colors, dancing, singing, cute birds, and celebration may not be as well thought-out as the best of Pixar or the latest and surprisingly best offerings of Dreamworks, but it does put on on a high and who could really ask for anything better?

Rio tells the tale of Blu, an extremely rare blue macaw who is kidnapped from his home by poachers and accidentally ends up in the care of a nerdy little bookworm named Linda who loves him like a son.  She needs to get out more, obviously.

The years pass and Blu passes into manhood (or is it birdhood?)  Whatever it is, he passes into it and catches the attention of a bird expert in Rio who has a female blue macaw in captivity and wishes to breed Blue and his female.  Basically, he's a bird pimp.

Blue and Linda journey to Rio de Janeiro where Blu and his meant-to-be one night stand are kidnapped by poachers and are forced to work together to escape, but where do they escape to?  To Linda and a life of familiarity or to the jungle with the birdie that he loves?

Rio is a harmless and pretty straightforward movie that doesn't quibble with trying to be something it's not.  It doesn't spend a lot of time on phony character moments or anything that might detract from the fun.  Rio knows where it's going and the audience knows where it's going to, but getting there is so much fun that the audience doesn't care even if the ending is as predictable as a murder mystery starring only two people.

The predictability of the plot aside, Rio is a bright and happy celebration of color and music.  This is the type of movie that just makes you feel good and it makes you feel good long after you've left the theater.  I've seen location movies before, but few are able to capture the beauty and, at the same time, the ugliness of a city and culture.  From the decadent celebrations of carnival to the slums of the city where poachers and criminals make their money and children are forced to do terrible things to survive.  Rio definitely doesn't sugar coat everything and, believe it or not, that's one of its appeals.

The cast is full of very likeable voice talents.  Jesse Eisenberg voices Blu giving him a likeable paranoia and fear of his new environment.  Anne Hathaway plays the hard-to-know female macaw Jewel who, while a little psychotic, does have her reasons for being so gruff.  George Lopez, Jaime Foxx, and Will.i.am play fellow birds that try to help out while Tracy Morgan appears way too briefly as a disgustingly drooly bulldog.

If there is one person who steals the show, it's Jemaine Clement as Nigel, a very bad bird and the pet of the chief antagonist.  Clement is deliciously evil in the role and yet retains a fair amount of charm to the point that his scenes are still fun to watch. 

I can't say that Rio will change the world but, unless you're some hopelessly miserable butthole, it will at least put a smile on your face.  To me, that's really all I require to be satisfied with a movie like this -- just make me happy for a few minutes.  Inject my veins with that sweet sweet nectar and let me fly off and kiss the sky.