Movie review: ‘Rio 2’ salsas through bland plot with touching family fanfare

Everbirdy, carnivale!

Lights, music, and bird-launched fireworks opened 20th Century Fox's "Rio 2," the sequel to the 2011 avian-centered musical. This time, Blu the Spix's Macaw (Jesse Eisenberg) has finally adjusted to life in Rio and started a family with life-mate Jewel (Anne Hathaway), while his human Linda (Leslie Mann) has gone on a bird-spotting expedition with her new husband Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro).

When their humans are featured on TV for possibly finding more of their kind, Blu agrees to fly with his new family to the Amazon for a belated homecoming. Nico (Jamie Foxx), Pedro (will.i.am.), and Rafael (George Lopez), the birds-in-charge of Carnivale, fly with them in search of some poppin' new sounds.

Sure enough, after a rather timely kidnapping, a whole colony of Spix's Macaw is uncovered, led by Jewel's long-lost father, Eduardo (Andy Garcia). However, Nigel (Jemaine Clement), the first movie's villain, pursues his one-sided rivalry with two sidekicks tagging along for the ride: Gabi (Kristin Chenoweth) the poison dart frog and Charlie the anteater.

In between Blu's attempts to fit into the wild Macaw life and one-upping Jewel's childhood friend, Roberto (Bruno Mars), illegal loggers destroy the forest, creating a rivalry between the Spix's and Scarlet Macaws for food. The latter are led by Felipe (Philip Lawrence).

There's a lot going on in the film, but kids can keep up with it. It's paced well enough to thread all the plot lines together without getting tangled, and the gag storylines—the Carnivale birds or even Nigel and his entourage of evil—certainly kept the movie from becoming too serious.

And it could've been serious. Linda and Tulio's tangle with illegal loggers, a critical real-life problem, could've overwhelmed Blu's story. But like the previous movie's pro-environment stance, it complimented the emotional core of the story—Blu's attempt to reconcile his GPS-using nature with actual nature.

The Blu of the first "Rio" would never have thought of leaving his trusty fanny pack behind, but he grew and continued to grow in this movie. However, the same couldn't really be said of their three kids.

While charming, the kids didn't change beyond how they were presented: Bia is still the smart kid, Tiago is the puckish only-boy, and Carla is the musically-inclined teenager at the end of the movie.

Though idle, what's striking about Blu's family is their strong bond. All the serious conflict they faced comes from outside forces, and even with Roberto being set-up as a "better" fit for Jewel, their family dynamics were never strained.

An interesting point to explore in their dynamics is their heritage. While they're Macaws, they're also city birds who know how to use iPods and read books. Jewel overpowers Blu with the argument that kids need to go back to their roots, or nature. Instead of being a complete technology vs. nature analogy however, it was centered around children learning their birdly culture and ways.

For a people scattered abroad, this scenario may be familiar to Filipinos who raised their kids in other countries. While they'll grow up in the manner of the host country, parents struggle to give them a taste of how they grew up in the mother country.

It didn't come up frequently during the movie, but learning to harmonize modern ways with tradition becomes the reason why the film ended the way it did—with the good guys on the topside and carousing with a catchy tune.

Linda, Tulio, and the movie's pro-environmental slang also merit serious discussion. Doing away with long-winded explanations and villain speeches, the movie exposed kids to how much harm people can bring to birds through empty landscapes, toppled trees, and Felipe's rather-mean defense of his birdkin's food supply.

At the same time, though they're as charismatic as blocks of wood, Linda and Tulio showed a willingness to protect the rainforest and its critters. Everybirdy joining the couple also demonstrated that, while people may not agree with everything, they can agree to saving their home.

The story of the Carnivale birds and Nigel may seem like an afterthought, but their comedic sequences helped the movie avoid a common problem of children's movies. By stealing away to their talent try-outs and one-sided, frog-bird romances, the movie avoided pandering too much to adults.

But adults still have the movie's rich soundtrack to anticipate, which blends popularized Brazilian music, pop, and R&B to create upbeat, energetic tunes. Moments of dry—and in the case of the human antagonist's fate, dark—humor will also tide them over, not the least of which is Jemaine Clement and Kristin Chenoweth's fantastically-hammy villain songs.

Kids will love the gags and stunning depth 3D gave to the movie's lushly textured environment and feathered friends, and while the plot is predictable, the lure of talking birds may be enough for them to drag their parents to theaters. — VC, GMA News


"Rio 2" will open in theaters nationwide on April 9. All photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox.