Rio (2011)/Movie Review

Release Date:  8 April 2011 (India)  Runtime: 96 min

Taglines:  This turkey can't fly

When Blu, a domesticated macaw from small-town Minnesota, meets the fiercely independent Jewel, he takes off on an adventure to Rio de Janeiro with this bird of his dreams.

Director:  Carlos Saldanha

Writers:  Carlos Saldanha (story), Earl Richey Jones (story)

STORYLINE

In Rio de Janeiro, the macaw baby Blu is captured by dealers and smuggled to the United States of America. While driving through Moose Lake, Minnesotta, the truck that is transporting Blu has a minor accident that drops the box where he is trapped on the road. The girl Linda finds the bird and raises him with love. Fifteen years later, Blu is a domesticated and intelligent bird that does not fly and lives a comfortable life with the bookshop owner Linda. Out of the blue, the clumsy Brazilian ornithologist Tulio visits Linda and explains that Blu is the last male of his species alive and he has a female called Jewel in Rio de Janeiro. He invites Linda to travel with Blu to Rio de Janeiro to mate with Jewel and save their species. Linda travels with Blu and Tulio to Rio de Janeiro and they leave Blue and Jewel in a large cage in the institute where Tulio works. While they are having dinner…

Box Office

Budget: $90,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: £1,515,853 (UK) (10 April 2011) (522 Screens)

Gross: $143,323,281 (USA) (7 August 2011)

Production Co: Blue Sky Studios, Twentieth Century Fox Animation

CASTS:

Karen Disher , Jason Fricchione  , Sofia Scarpa Saldanha , Leslie Mann , Kelly Keaton  ,Jesse Eisenberg ,

Wanda Sykes , Jane Lynch , Rodrigo Santoro , Gracinha Leporace , Jamie Foxx , Will i Am ,Phil Miler,  Anne Hathaway , Bernardo de Paula

REVIEW

Rio-an epic, lovable, beautiful and visually stunning animation

Not many animations like Rio come around these days.When i first saw the trailer and the team behind this very anticipated animation, the Ice Age team, i knew it will be very enjoyable and fun to watch.Seeing a TV spot right now, i remember that it was all those things, but much more as well.The quality of the animation was unique-only two or three movies can still compete with this and those are Tangled, Up and How to Train Your Dragon.But still, there was so much going on in Rio, the birds, the colors, the non-stopping stream of movement, lights, music and songs, around the carnival in Rio or in the opening and closing scenes with the singing and dancing of the birds in the forests around the city.So much was going on and with such quality, that no animation has matched.And those epic proportions of the animation are its strongest qualities.Something one can't see every day.

The character development was very good, beginning with a little background of the macaw bird Blu's life, with his owner Linda in Minnesota.Maybe, the other macaw, Jewel, was a little underdeveloped as a character, but with positive reviews coming, there might be a sequel coming on the way as well.Then, Jewel's background might be better developed.

With an animation of such proportions, some box office power along with a few Oscar noms will surely be along the way and the fact that it takes place in Rio alone, will act as an audience magnet, given that Rio's one of the most popular and non-stopping cities in the world.This magical feeling stays all along the movie.You just can't forget you're in Rio. Rio is as well another example of an animation, worth the time and money of both young and grown-ups.That's what catches the eye.20-th Century Fox has made a great animation and with the possible box-office power of the movie, a sequel might as well be on the works.

So, a great animation, very epic and visually stunning, Rio will keep everyone mesmerized and captivated long after the end, and personally for me is one of the best, if not the bast animation i've seen.

I definitely hope for a sequel and i'll definitely see it again, at the movies.

10/10 for this stunning, colorful, heartwarming and breathtaking experience, named Rio!