“rio” film review

Angry Birds.

That was my main reason for seeing this movie. Specifically Angry Birds Rio, which is the Angry Birds game with a Rio inspired plot, and features the main characters.

The movie itself, I was hoping to see a cameo of an Angry Bird or two, but the closest I could find were the small round squeaky birds. While they weren’t the same birds I fling around on my Droid, they were adorable and I felt sympathetic for them when anything bad happened to them. But leaving the video game alone and talking about the film: good family entertainment for sure. I mean, it’s no Pixar movie, and I can see parents watching just to watch with their kids vs adults enjoying it like, say, Up. I got worried when this was called a musical, but it’s not Rent, so the songs shouldn’t drive anyone crazy.

I’m struggling to write this review because quite frankly, it wasn’t that impressive of a movie to me. I don’t mean it was bad, because it wasn’t. I rather enjoyed it. I enjoyed the bright fun colors and characters, even the bad guys. It’s one of those films I don’t mind it being predictable… and some of that has to do with the Angry Birds game again.

The voice talent was different. I think maybe there was only one recognizable Brazilian actor, Rodrigo Santoro, whom I first noticed back in Love, Actually. The rest are mostly American, or ethnic American, like George Lopez, Jaime Foxx, Will.I.Am and Tracy Morgan. Part of my interests for seeing this movie is for Tracy Morgan’s role as a slobbering dog. I wasn’t disappointed by his character.

And let’s not forget our stars Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway. Hathaway at this point I don’t think can do no wrong. Eisenberg is great too, and you can’t help but feel awkward whenever his character as the flightless blue macaw  tries to do or say anything. In his defense, he doesn’t really want to be in Rio in the first place. I’m the first to admit that if I’m put in a situation I’d rather not be in, my A-game is non-existent. And the reason our hero, Blu, is in Rio is so he can mate with Jewel since they are the last of their rare species. I like how they played this up for a family/kids movie without explicitly saying “Hey, these two birds need to get it on.”

Overall, this is a fun little film that from what I can remember, did fairly well. Like I said, I’m sure kids would approve of this film and probably have it on repeat possibly driving their parents mad, thanks to bright and colorful scenery, characters, and music. Not a movie for my collection, but I’d rent it. Also, watch it if you like playing Angry Birds.