Rio 2

I wonder if the four credited screenwriters behind Rio 2 just weren't sure which plot they were supposed to be focused on.  Here is a movie so overstuffed with plot, and loaded with characters (many returning from the 2011 original film, many more new), that there's just not enough time to focus on anything.  Even the main characters get ignored this time around.  The movie looks really good, and there are some fun musical numbers, but there's absolutely nothing for the audience to concentrate on or get behind.

This time around, our feathered blue macaw heroes, timid Blu (voice by Jessie Eisenberg) and the lovely Jewel (Anne Hathaway) are building a happy family with three little kids of their own (none of whom are given any personality, or anything to do by the undercooked screenplay).  Jewel, who grew up in the wild, is worried that Blu is overly-domesticating the kids by teaching them how to enjoy blueberry pancakes, watching TV, and relying on a GPS device instead of their natural bird instincts.  When their human friends, Linda (Leslie Mann) and Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro), discover a whole civilization of blue macaw birds living in the Amazon jungle, the family flies off so that Jewel can be reunited with her strict father (Andy Garcia), who is not happy to see his daughter hanging around a "pet" bird who values the domestic life over a free one.  This leads to a number of Meet the Parents-style moments, with Eisenberg's Blu in the Ben Stiller role, and Garcia doing his best De Niro imitation. 

In the earlier Rio movie, we got to spend time with Blu and Jewel, and see their mismatched partnership form into a loving relationship.  This time around, they barely seem to get any screen time at all, as they are pushed aside by one too many subplots competing for our attention.  Off the top of my head, I can remember plots concerning Linda and Tulio dealing with some evil loggers who want to cut down the forest that the blue macaws call home, a rival for Jewel's affections in the form of an old lover that she is reunited with (voiced by recording artist, Bruno Mars), a soccer match between the macaws and a clan of wild parrots, returning comic relief characters Rafael (George Lopez), Pedro (will.i.am) and Nico (Jamie Foxx) holding auditions for a singing competition, returning villain cockatoo Nigel (Jemaine Clement) seeking revenge on our heroes for defeating him in the last film, and Blu trying to figure out if his place is in the wild with his family, or back home.

Of the many, many new characters vying for our attention, the only one who manages to stand out is Gabi, a brightly colored little frog with the voice of Kristin Chenoweth.  She's a lovesick amphibian who has developed a crush on the evil Nigel, and follows him around wherever he goes.  The musical number that she sings early in the film, "Poisonous Love", hilariously spells out her dilemma - She would like to get close to the guy, but she fears she's a poisonous frog, and that her touch would kill him.  Chenoweth brings so much energy to the role, and easily gets the film's best lines.  It's a shame the movie keeps her off camera for a good chunk of it.  Whenever she is on screen, she brings a jolt of inspiration to a largely uninspired and unnecessary sequel.  It got to the point where I was waiting for her to show up again.

Rio 2 obviously exists simply because the first one made nearly $500 million worldwide.  In an attempt to make it into a franchise, the filmmakers were obviously at a loss, and so decided to throw as many ideas as they could into the project, without really focusing on one thing.  The end result is a movie that feels like it's been largely padded out.  Even with so many plots and characters, the movie throws in some lengthy musical numbers, as if it somehow thinks it doesn't have enough to support it.  While the original wasn't anything great, it at least had a unique setting, and an original angle by touching on the poverty situation in Rio de Janeiro.  This film, despite the title, doesn't even take place in Rio, except for the opening 10 minutes.  The fact that the filmmakers couldn't think of anything more to do in their exotic location makes this movie seem even more like a sequel that just did not need to be made.

I have no doubt that very little kids will find much to enjoy in Rio 2.  It's beautifully drawn, and just like the first, it's one of the most colorful animated films I've ever seen.  Adult animation fans, however, will likely be bored by the aimless plot and thin characters.  It's not unwatchable by any means.  It just doesn't serve any purpose other than being a quick cash grab.

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