Now Playing: Rio

Not sure if you guys have noticed that I have been absent and Jim has been keeping this site running last week, good on him. I am back today, and I did watch a few movies last week but never had the time to write up anything. So this week I will be posting a few extra movies to make up for what I missed, sort of.

The first movie I saw last week was “Rio”, now I am a sucker for animation movies, especially ones with Tracy Morgan. But I never thought too much into this movie, I just thought it was “Angry Birds: The Movie”. And for the many who don’t know, I can’t stand angry birds. But enough about the game, I was dragged to go and I’ll be honest, I was presently surprised. Read why after the jump.

The story was rather childish, but that isn’t at all bad, it was sweet and simple. Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) is a blue Macaw that was found by Linda (Leslie Mann) in Minnesota. They live together in Linda’s little book store, until one day when Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro) comes by asking Linda to borrow Blu for mating purposes. After much hesitation she agrees, the two get to Rio during Carnivale. The following evening, Blu meets his future mate, Jewel (Anne Hathaway), but then are stolen by smugglers later that night. As the two Macaws break free and start their journey back home, they meet some new friends and find some tough challenges (like someone can’t fly). All in all, a basic children’s story: a comedy with a romantic sub plot and an evil villain.

Luiz giving a few pointers to Blu about the ladies.

To start off, this movie is funny. I mean really funny, I was belting out laughing in the theatre. This was due to, not only the jokes and script being good, but because the characters were absolutely amazing. I loved every bird, dog and critter that was on screen. The two I loved the most was the bulldog Luiz (Tracy Morgan) and the evil villain Nigel (Jemain Clement) who was the smuggler’s cockatoo. Luiz was just funny, and I am probably biased because I am a huge Tracy fan but he was this goofy likeable bull dog. Whereas Nigel was this cocky and scheme-ish bird, who you know you shouldn’t be rooting for but kind of are because he is so dastardly. I’d want to talk about all the characters who I’d love but I want to keep this blog short.

I really can’t think of anything bad about this movie, I guess if you were looking for a serious and more adult movie, this really wouldn’t be for you. But a lot of the humour could be enjoyed by a more mature audience. But if you hate musicals, I advise you stay away. I personally loved the music (most were original), they set a good mood and fit in really well.

Blu and Jewel face off to dance!

Look, I am saying this now. I really liked this movie, I mean a lot! The characters were awesome, the story was fine and I laughed all the way through. I totally would want to buy this when it comes out on Blu-ray, and yes it is worth it to see it in theatres. I didn’t see the 3-D version, but I assume I didn’t miss much. And honestly, the 10 minute clip of that squirrel from Ice Age that chases after the acorn was totally worth 10 bucks!