Rio 2

Passable but overall a let down

Our story begins (what seems like) a few years after the events of the first movie. Blu and Jewel are living happily in Rio alongside their old pals and children. All seems to be going well until Linda and Tulio stumble across another Blue Macaw in the amazon, which could mean a nest. Since the events of the first movie led us to believe that Blu and Jewel were the last Blue Macaws in existence, Jewel pressures Blu to go find the other Macaws in the amazon. When they arrive we find out that not all is well in the amazon, there are people destroying the rain forest. The Blue Macaws have been set upon by these humans destroying their home for quite some time which has led to some obvious trust issues between the birds and humans. Especially from Jewel's newly found, long lost father, Eduardo (or sir or pop pop). The humans aren't the only threats in the jungle as Nigel finds his way back in the movie to take his vengeance on Blu for crippling him (Nigel can't fly any more).

Seems like a lot going on in the film? There is and that becomes a bit of a problem. There are a total of three enemies in this movie, and the story line tries very hard to tie all of them together but it just seems cluttered. First we have the humans trying to cut down the rain forest, they seem to want to be the main antagonist but get over shadowed by Nigel and his team. Nigel is joined by a poisonous frog (named Gabi, played by Kristin Chenoweth) and an anteater, they provide some good comedy relief, but serve little purpose besides that. Nigel seems to have lost a lot of his edge from the first movie; before he was a cannibalistic bird obsessed with eating; now he is a revenge oriented bird easily distracted by stardom. He is still hilarious and probably one of the best parts of this movie, but I just wish he was still as crazy as before. The third and final "enemy" is actually just a rival bird clan (I think they are parrots) who keep trying for the Macaws part of the rain forest. So at the end of the day we have a "Ferngully" style enemy, "West Side Story" style enemy, and Nigel...again. I feel like if they dropped one of the villains it wouldn't feel as complete, but at the same time there is just too much going on at once. Among the villains you also have Blu feeling out of place and jealous of the other Macaws. You can see this coming from a mile away when you here that there are other Macaws, since Blu seemed to be banking on Jewel being with him forever for not having much of a choice. It gets resolved as you would think and takes up the most screen time. There is also this weird audition thing Nico, Pedro and Rafael are doing for Carnival (serves as a side story to seemingly every other story). See? A lot going on in this, and unfortunately way too much.

With all that is going in this movie we have to wonder if any characters are being neglected. Yes, they are. The kids serve more as set pieces then actually story drivers, I found myself wanting to see more of them only to be brought down by having to deal with Blu's insecurity again. Even the three amigo birds (Nico, Pedro and Rafael) get more screen time then the children do. The most we saw from them was in the first five minutes while they were being babysat. Aside from that it is bits and pieces. From that small time we can derive that they have three completely different personalities. The boy is a wild child, fixated with pranks and pyrotechnics. One girl bird is the brainy one, her nose always in a book and saying little known facts here and there. The other girl is fixated with music, always has headphones in and helps the three amigos try to find talent for Carnival. They are the most overlooked characters in this, and the movie should have put a lot more focus on the children of the two stars. I am not saying that the children are good characters (I was getting a bit of an "Alvin and the Chipmunks" feel from them), just that more attention should have been paid to them so that they were better (possibly more deep).

As with the last movie, everyone is true to form and performs brilliantly in this. The actors that were in the last one are just as prominent in this (in the right places), and haven't lost their touch. Jesse Eisenberg is still neurotic and phobic, Jermaine Clement is still amazing, George Lopez has a smaller part (thankfully), Will I Am and Jamie Foxx still compliment each others style brilliantly. The best part from the old cast is that I don't have to hear Tracy Morgan nearly as much, which was a big criticism on the first. Among the new talent we have Andy Garcia playing the protective, boisterous father to Jewel; brilliantly. Finally we have Bruno Mars playing the suave and cool Roberto, proving that he has more talent than originally thought.

The final part I have to address is: Was this as good as the original? As with most sequels, this was no where near as good as the original, but it was still fun. It may seem a bit cluttered at times, but it was still cute. It had some funny moments, and the end scene was pretty great. Going in to this, I hoped for more since I was a fan of the first movie, but I left a little disappointed. Even though I was disappointed, I still felt uplifted by having just seen it. It was weird combination, but not really an unwelcome one.

Final Verdict: Rent it This isn't going to live on as one of the greats, but it is still somewhat entertaining. Your kids will definitely love it, and you won't regret having seen it either. Not really worth the price of a movie ticket, but definitely worth a buck or two.