Photo Courtesy of 20th Century Fox
Following the huge success of Blue Sky Studios movie “Rio,” released in 2011, a sequel to the animated film was inevitable. The film holds one of the biggest box office entries ever for the production company, earning $120 million more than the first “Ice Age” movie. After three long years of waiting, fans will finally be able to watch and enjoy “Rio 2” on April 11 in theaters.
The Brazilian-based story follows the Spix’s Macaw couple Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) and Jewel (Anne Hathaway), along with their three kids on a mission to the Amazon forest. The domesticated family leaves from Rio de Janeiro, flying 2000 miles to help their “owners” Linda (Leslie Mann) and Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro), who are in the rainforest trying to find other Blue Macaws.
Upon arrival, the five birds accidentally discover a whole tribe of their “extinct” species of which Jewel’s lost father is the leader. As they try to adapt to a new life, they encounter drama, happiness and serious environmental issues in the new habitat.
During a hypnotizing 100 minutes, viewers will be amazed even more with the incredible visuals of the 3D movie. Even though it is a computer-designed film, the images are so captivating they make you feel like you are in the scene. And you don’t want to blink too slowly because each second captures the real beauty and essence of the country.
The storyline is even more intense than that of the first movie. It is classified as an adventure-comedy motion picture and perfectly portrays both in almost every scene. There are numerous hilarious moments to make the entire theater laugh uncontrollably and also moments to make you feel the adrenaline and fear for what will happen to the characters next.
Combined with the drama and the visuals is typical Brazilian music —mostly samba — that played a major role in the last movie as well. The musical elements are still the same; however, there are bigger arrangements, bigger melodies and bigger voices. One of those, for example, comes from Bruno Mars’ character, Roberto, who comically sings a love song for his childhood friend and crush, Jewel.
During a Q&A; after the screening at the Zanuck Theater on March 25, the Brazilian director, Carlos Saldanha, emphasized that the songs were primarily written based on the story. Saldanha also made sure that the English lyrics still sounded Portuguese, the language in which all the songs were originally written.
Brazilian musician Sergio Mendes, who previously worked on the Oscar-nominated song “Real in Rio” in the first film, was also present at the Q-and-A. Besides talking about the music, he described what best defines the concept of the movie: “it is about family.” He went further, explaining that the scene where the birds are playing soccer in the Amazon represents the celebration of the World Cup, incorporating some of Brazil’s biggest symbols: nature and soccer.
Even though it hasn’t been released in the U.S. yet, there is already Oscar buzz surrounding the movie, and it is not surprising. “Rio 2” is a big contender for Original Song with “Batucada Familia” (featuring Rachel Crow, Carlinhos Brown, Jamie Foxx and more) and for Animated Feature Film. Having said that, it is fair to agree that it deserves five stars out of five as well as a future sequel.
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