Rio

2011 - 3.3/5

My natural instinct told me to watch this movie, however, I was skeptical and put it off because I thought it was a Dreamworks movie. I decided to watch it and I found out that it wasn’t Dreamworks; it was 20th Century Fox! That was a good start. The movie it set in Rio, so that was a bonus too! I also liked the fact that Linda owned a bookstore.

The first time I saw this trailer I did want to see the movie, but, as mentioned earlier, the only thing holding me back was that it was Dreamworks. I had no idea that 20th Century Fox did any animated movies. After some investigating I found out that the Ice Age movies were also 20th Century Fox; again, I had thought they were Dreamworks. Now I might give those movies a shot!

First off, the animation right from the get-go was amazing! Way better than Dreamworks, but not as phenomenal as Pixar (It’s a biased opinion, I know). The colours were amazing, the birds looked great, and the scenery (the city, ocean, sky) were beautiful! I had always wanted to go to Rio, Brazil, and this movie makes me want to go even more!

Plot:
The storyline was simple and easy to follow, although it never explained how Tulio knew that Blu existed and where he was (“Tinysota”). Aside from that, for a kids/family movie, I think everything flowed. I also liked the amount of singing in the movie. It was added in at the right times and the songs were well done and I did like the different genres added.

Characters / Voice-Over:
There were a variety of characters and the voice-overs were done so well. There were only 2 characters that I recognized the voice (Linda and Raphael), otherwise, I had no idea who everyone was until I looked it up. Eisenberg’s voice fit Blu’s character very well, and I think he did a great job! Blu was defiantly my favourite character and everyone else did a good job as well.

Script:
My absolute favourite thing about this movie was the script. I thought it was so funny and clever! Here are some of the lines I think are worth mentioning:

(I forget who said this): Don’t forget to floss.

Pedro: I ain’t your princess, leave my alone.

Blu: This is the coolest place I've ever seen! You know, despite the obvious health code violations!

Blu: Oh, how I wish I was back in my own cage, with my mirror and my swing and my little bell! Oh, how I miss my bell.

Jewel: Now, uh... just come on! We need to find a safe place to spend the night.
Blu: Safe? Safe? We are in the jungle! You know when people say 'it's a jungle out there', well I'm pretty sure they don't mean it as a good thing.

Blu: [as Blu reaches the top of the tree house] You see? Who needs flying?
Jewel: Birds. Birds need flying. Flying is... it's freedom and... and not having to rely on anyone. Don't you want that?

Blu: Mmm, I don't know. Sounds a little lonely.
Jewel: Get some sleep.
Blu: Uh, I-I-I'm probably gonna be up for a little while. Well, cause I'm... I'm still on Minnesota time.

My favourite conversation:
Raphael: Pssst! Blu, down here. Just tell her, 'You have beautiful eyes'.
Blu: That's good. Great idea!
[he turns to Jewel]
Blu: I have beautiful eyes.
Jewel: Aah... yeah. Okay, Sure. They're... they're nice.
Rafael: [flying low, whispers to Blu] No! Her eyes! Her eyes!
Blu: Oh, right! Yeah!
[turns to Jewel]
Blu: Your eyes. Your eyes are great. Not mine. I mean, you know, mine are okay. But yours, I-I bet you can see right through them.

Overall:
It’s worth seeing for the script alone, but you also get to enjoy the animation and all the fun characters. Overall, it was a fun movie to watch. Lastly, although I didn’t notice it myself, it stated in the Triva section on IMDB that during one of the scenes in which Nigel is talking to the monkeys you can see that one monkey has his hands over his eyes, another over his ears, and another over his mouth: See, Hear, Speak No Evil.