Rio

I’ve yet to attend the showing of an animated feature without noticing the resemblance of some of the characters to real and famous people.  I could swear the little boy in “Rio” looked like Barack Obama.  But I won’t hold it against him or the movie.
 
A few other characters looked very familiar but I couldn’t put a name to them.
 
I went to see this movie with daughter and granddaughter.    First test, the movie kept the 7-year old interested, was not violent or sexual in any way, had a happy storyline and had the appropriate amount of action scenes as required to keep the young interested, to not lose them in boredom.
 
 
<blockquote>
Cast overview, first billed only:
Karen Disher  ...  Mother Bird (voice) 
Jason Fricchione  ...  Truck Driver (voice) 
Sofia Scarpa Saldanha  ...  Young Linda (voice) 
Leslie Mann  ...  Linda (voice) 
Kelly Keaton  ...  Bookstore Customer / Lady Tourist (voice) 
Jesse Eisenberg  ...  Blu (voice) 
Wanda Sykes  ...  Chloe (The Goose) (voice) 
Jane Lynch  ...  Alice (The Other Goose) (voice) 
Rodrigo Santoro  ...  Tulio / Soccer Announcer (voice) 
Gracinha Leporace  ...  Dr. Barbosa (voice) 
Jamie Foxx  ...  Nico (voice) 
Will i Am  ...  Pedro (voice) (as will.i.am) 
Phil Miler  ...  Aviary Intern / Waiter (voice) 
Anne Hathaway  ...  Jewel (voice) 
Bernardo de Paula  ...  Sylvio / Kipo (voice)  </blockquote>
 
These movies are never the stuff of Academy Awards and they are formulaic.  There must be a story line, there should be a chaste love interest ongoing, there should be a battle, however smallish, of good versus evil.
 
The degree to which one such animated movie is better than another is in nuance.
 
Rio had the most colorful characters of any recent animated movies I’ve chanced to see.  First, the movie was about birds living in the heart of South America.  Right there you’ve got a treasure trove of colorful and beautiful birds.
 
As an aside, and as a bit of serendipity which brings a smile to my face, the main animated character in this story is a  blue bird named …well “BLU”. 
 
So isn’t husband, who’s hardly  any dedicated bird watcher, sitting at the dining room table one day, eating his dinner in front of the sliding glass doors, when he suddenly and with great surprise shouts “What kind of bird is that?”  I turned to watch and for 1/100th of a second I saw a flash of deep blue wings.
 
“The bird was completely blue!” husband shouted with surprise and joy.  “It looked just like a cardinal only it was blue!”
 
Somewhere in my mind the species of that bird was tempting me but I walked away to muddle it through.  And I was a bit jealous that it was husband, who never fills the bird feeders which had attracted the bird to begin with, saw it for a much longer time then to rub salt in the wound…”Here it is again!” he shouts, only when I got back to the big window the deep blue bird was gone.
 
It was an Indigo bunting, this within a week of having seen the movie RIO, which was about a beautiful blue bird which looked a lot like that Indigo Bunting.
 
Husband becomes a bit insufferable, giving me details on Indigo Buntings, which are related to cardinals, as he informed me in one such info session, thus I should not forget that his first comments were that the blue bird at the feeders resembled a cardinal, only blue.
 
The week before last husband spotted a pair of Orioles and I heard all about this for a week, but moving on.
 
For the record, I DID see a flash of those inky blue wings so technically, I saw it too.
 
For the record, sometimes I wonder if God doesn’t have a sense of humor what with these whimsical things happening, like seeing a glorious blue bird I’d never seen before…me, a dedicated bird watcher, the same week I watched an entire movie about a similar bird.
 
For the record, God obviously has a touch  of satire in Him for giving husband the bigger glance at one of His more beautiful creations.
 
The love interest involves BLU and a lady bird, as well as a human couple, the female of which is BLU's human owner.
 
 
Along with the beautiful birds that lend themselves quite well to color, there were playful monkeys,  handsome drooling bull dogs, humans dressed in colorful costumes…the entire movie was as much a pleasure to the eyes as to the mind.

/</gispan/>/giIf you are a fan of Angry Bird, probably you should check this out. The birds are now in revenge (well not technically speaking) against the poachers and avian smugglers, a reality in our world where thousands of species are threatened over our greed. So the sweet revenge, Rio is the fist animated flick from Blue Sky Studios since 2009's Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Rio is a birdie story and like its title, it is all set in the city of Rio de Janeiro, a city we most probably familiar more for its samba and endless parades and carnival. Sure, it is a kiddo movie but how an adult like me sees it. Read on to find out more about Rio.</span><span>
</span><span>Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) who is one of a rare species of a Spix's Macaw (critically endangered in reality), who is a resident at a bookstore in Moose Lake, Minnesota, and the last male of his kind. Blu has never tasted much of the life in the wild but he always get the uppermost treatment from his owner, Linda (Leslie Mann). He is pampered with hot chocolate marshmallow, lives comfortably with human for all these years but the unfortunate reality is that he cannot fly. </span><span>

</span><span>When scientists learn that another macaw was spotted in South America and that the macaw, Jewel (Anne Hathaway) is female, Dr Tulio (a bird scientist) takes him out of Minnesota and send him to Rio de Janeiro to meet her. While there, he learns to confront his fear of flying in order to win her heart. Along the way, they get kidnapped by poachers to sell them to get a fortune. After they escape, they try to avoid the thieves and their pet cockatoo Nigel (Jemaine Clement), with the help from Rafael (George Lopez), Luiz (Tracy Morgan), Linda (Leslie Mann), Flora (Wanda Sykes), Fernando (Jake T. Austin), Pedro (will.i.am) and Nico (Jamie Foxx), with a bottle cap for a hat.</span><span>

</span>Now, here comes the review. Hats-off for the Brazilian director Carlos Saldanha, for his visionary to create yet another mesmerizing and colorful extravaganza movie that sets in his home town of Rio de Janeiro. In the past, we have seen many of his films like Robot or Ice Age trilogy but Rio could possibly be one of those movies that deserved recognition for his skills. I can't think off another director who is more suitable for this job. Been a Brazilian, his familiarity succeeds in bringing the audiences to settle down well with the movie. They are taken into a world of wonder - a place with spectacularly alive, engaging and possibly not a single soul will not in the end, fall in love with the majestic and rendered landscapes of the Brazil rain forest and the streets carnival.<span>

</span><span>Not so much can be talked about its premise because it is an animation that aims for the family with kids. Children are most likely to be able to accept the movie for its straight-forward and mildly hilarious story that makes more senses (read Hop!). The plot takes in a lot of awareness for species conservation, the picturesque the reality in our nature as well as the kaleidoscope the life in Brazil. For such elements, Saldanha tries to infuse a lively Southern American-Samba beat with those realities. The end result is a satisfying movie that works pretty well because the audience will be able to see more vibrants of colors and souls on its characters, story and humors. </span><span>

</span><span>The characterization in this movie is pretty much loud and solid for an animation standard. The characters are variety and interesting, yet possess believable and adhering bond. Imagine this - Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg, an 'imaginary' oddly-macaw-couple that charms with witty lines and workable chemistry in the movie. Nico (Jamie Foxx) and Pedro (Will.i.am)'s presences in the movie is thoroughly fun and a sooth to the ears when they start banging out or whispering musics in the air. George Lopez's character as Rafael works solidly as the motivator and guide to the pair.The ensemble of casting is just excellent. Rio does not need to try so hard to impress the audience, yet it is uniquely able to charm the audiences naturally, not by forceful of trying to be funny.</span>

Have yourself a cup of green tea

Last updated: 2011-05-24 17:50:06 by BernardGT