Another weekend brings another release of an animated kids film boasting the latest 3D technology, and while 20th Century Fox; the studio behind Rio (this weekends kids film); have had box office success with their previous forays into the world of animated films, they haven’t quite been able to attain the same level of mass appeal as other studios (such as Disney/Pixar or Dreamworks) have achieved with franchises such as Toy Story and Shrek.
Unlike Shrek and Toy Story (which gained their popularity from being able to appeal to children and their parents alike; by throwing in some references to pop culture and current affairs, that ensured Mums and Dads would chuckle and enjoy the film as much as their kids), Rio isn’t trying to capture the exact same crowd, and is quite clearly meant for a younger audience; a shrewd move from the creators, who by not including as many pop culture gags have created a film specifically for the 3-6 age bracket, that is both entertaining and heart-warming.
The film’s protagonist is Blu (voiced by The Social Network’s Jesse Eisenberg); a domesticated blue macaw from Minnesota; who lives a happy life in snowy North America, with his devoted owner Linda (voiced by Leslie Mann from Knocked Up), until one day a Brazilian ornithologist named Tulio arrives and enthusiastically tells Linda that Blu is one of the last of his species, and that he needs to come to Brazil to mate with a female.
Soon after their arrival in Rio de Janeiro, Blu meets his female counterpart Jewel (voiced by Anne Hathaway); who is as wild, bold, and confident as Blu is geeky, clumsy, and shy; and things become more complicated when their laboratory is targeted by exotic bird smugglers who kidnap the pair; leaving Linda to hunt for Blu in a foreign and bewildering Rio, which (to make things more exciting) happens to be in the week of Carnival.
One further plot point (which is by no means a spoiler) is that having been raised by a human as a pet, rather than in the wild, Blu cannot fly; and while not being able to fly when you are a bird is of course a difficulty, not being able to fly when trying to escape evil smugglers is a gargantuan problem.
Like all good kids films, Rio has its fair share of musical numbers, and the musical set pieces are solid (even if relatively unspectacular); none of the songs in it quite has the punch that one associates with their Disney equivalents, but they keep the story ticking along well enough, with one exception being the musical number performed by Nigel (the evil cockatoo who is hell bent on catching the two macaws), to which Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement brings great comic timing and lyrical dexterity (elevating an otherwise rather bland selection of songs), and helps create a character who is by far and away the funniest for the more mature spectators in the audience.
Rio follows the familiar formula of using established comedy stars to do voiceovers; including Jesses Eisenberg (who started his meteoric rise to fame on Saturday Night Live, and has no trouble conveying anxiety and nervousness), and the rest of the voiceover cast, who are all experienced comedians, such as Leslie Mann (Knocked Up), Wanda Sykes (from HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm), and Jane Lynch (The 40 Year Old Virgin) to name but a few.
Rio’s main comic relief comes from two smaller birds who befriend the hapless Blu; Nico and Pedro (voiced by Jamie Foxx and Will.i.am); who any older audience member will begin to realize fairly quickly are a simple carbon copy of Timone and Pumba from The Lion King (not that this really matters to an excited 4 year old who is having his first cinema experience).
Aesthetically Rio is very pleasant to look at; there’s something about the smooth lines and bright colours that have become a familiar trademark of 20th Century Fox’s style of animation that lends itself well to 3D; It looks much slicker and more polished than recent 3D animated films like Rango or Tangled, and there are several scenes in the Rio Carnival that are very impressive indeed; with the 3D technology being well layered to provide a jaw-dropping sequence; however, once again with 3D, one is left wondering whether the film really looked so different that the extra ticket price is justified? This critic is still waiting for a 3D film that is really groundbreaking (I hope you’re reading this James Cameron.)
Peering into my crystal ball I see Rio making a handsome amount of money at the box office and quite comfortably covering its budget (believed to be around $80 million). The filmmakers have a clear plan to target the younger age bracket; who perhaps find themselves slightly lost in the complex emotional relationships of Toy Story or Wall E; it looks good, the voices are funny, the plot is solid and the 3D is impressive in parts, although this will not be a classic children’s film remembered for many years to come; as Rio is certainly not as good as something like the Lion King, which as anyone of sound and rational body and mind knows is, quite simply, the greatest film ever…
