|
|
Linda (voiced by Leslie Mann) teaches Blu the bird (voiced by Jesse Eisenberg) to brush his beak in the 3-D animated comedy “Rio.” |
“Rio” presents a blandly generic story pumped full of life by bright and crisp animation — despite being dimmed by 3-D glasses — plus a bouncy musical score equipped with a few serviceable but forgettable original songs.
The script runs the gamut from sassy, humorous dialogue to a disappointing dependence on kid movie clichés. (Do we really need more tired advice like “Be yourself” or more sight gags of males hurting themselves where it really hurts?)
At least “Rio” boasts strong voice talents, so even the silliest of nonsensical sentences — such as Raphael the toucan’s advice, “Flying isn’t what you think up here, but what you feel in here!” — sound almost like wisdom.
At the start of “Rio,” poachers in Brazil birdnap a blue baby macaw that hasn’t even learned to fly, then whisk him off to market in the United States. His cage falls out of a truck while traveling through snowy Minnesota.
That’s where a little girl named Linda (voiced by Leslie Mann) discovers him, names him Blu and takes him home to be her best friend for many years.
Inexplicably, a comically overenthusiastic Brazilian bird specialist named Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro) somehow locates the now adult Linda and tells her she must bring Blu back to the rain forest. (Read more…)