Rio

Rio, directed by Carlos Saldanha, is a bright, colorful animated film that, at the heart, is more about motion than story. It may keep young viewers occupied, but I found it routine and a bit of a bore.

One thing the film has going for it is its exotic location--Rio during Carnaval. We begin in the rain forest, as a variety of birds are captured by poachers. A baby bird, not yet able to fly, is trapped. He ends up on a truck owned by an exotic pet store, but falls loose in the snows of Minnesota, where he is rescued and adopted by a young girl.

That girl grows up to be a bookstore owner, and she and Blu, as he is named, are the best of friends. One day a Brazilian ornithologist stops by, telling the girl that her bird is the last male blue macaw on the planet, and he would like to take him back to Rio to breed with the only known female.

Once in Brazil, Blue (voiced as a typical nebbish by Jesse Eisenberg) meets Jewel (Anne Hathaway). He's not exactly a Romeo, and discover their differences--she's used to the freedom of the jungle, he's happy with his cage. Then they are stolen by smugglers, and try to escape as they constantly bicker, while Blue's owners tracks him down.

Technically speaking the film is very well done, with lots of speed and motion, particularly when the birds fly. Blu can't, but of course we all know he will when the chips are down. There are also a multitude of supporting characters, both for comic effect (Tracy Morgan as a bulldog), and villainy, such as a cockatoo with an English accent.

But the film doesn't have the substance of the best of Pixar, and is pretty disposable. It certainly doesn't suck, but will be washed out of my memory in a few days. It was nominated for an Oscar for best song; one of the composers is the legendary Brazilian musician Sergio Mendes.