Rio 2

I was visiting family for Easter weekend and my sister-in-law asked if I wanted to go to the movies with her and her kids, ages 7, 6, and 4. I would have jumped at the chance to see Bears, but instead it was Rio 2. Now, I had seen Rio, so I wasn't totally in the dark Unfortunately, this film has basically the same good and bad: lovely animation, boring story.

We pick up on Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) and Jewel (Anne Hathaway), two rare macaws. They are living in a bird sanctuary in Rio, and have three mischievous fledglings. They are used to the ways of humans, and use iPads and eat pancakes. When Jewel hears that she might not be the only one of her kind, and a colony may exist deep in the Amazon, she gets Blu and the kids, along with some of their friends, to find it.

Once they do, Jewel discovers her father (Andy Garcia) is still alive, and that there are hundreds of her own kind. We get the fish-out-of-water humor, as Blu is taught the ways of the jungle by his overbearing father-in-law (the first thing is: lose the fanny-pack). 

Two things threaten their idyll: a vengeful cockatoo is after Blu, helped by a tree frog and an anteater, and the more real problem of an illegal logging operation, which threatens to destroy the birds' habitat.

As with the first film, Rio 2 is filled with light and color and swirling motion (it is again directed by Carlos Saldanha). A three-dimensional soccer game is one of the highlights. But the film dragged and is not appealing to adults. The kids enjoyed it, but there wasn't any laughing out loud--I suspect it simply held their attention.

What's most interesting is the distinctly pro-environmentalist stand the film takes. Not only is the sanctity of the rain forest and its wildlife upheld without question, the villain is heard more than once calling those who oppose him, "tree huggers," a favorite pejorative used by conservative pundits. The film was made by Fox, so I suppose that's why there's been nary a word of protest on Fox News.

My grade for Rio 2: C-.