My Review: Interstellar (9/10)

“Do not go gentle into that good night; Old age should burn and rave at close of day. Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

Interstellar was my most anticipated film of the year so my expectations for this film were huge considering the subject matter and the fact that I am a Christopher Nolan fanboy. Despite the several flaws I found with the script, I wasn’t disappointed, but I can understand how this might not work for several audiences. First of all the scale of this film was huge even for a Nolan film. He is such a visionary director and he doesn’t settle for simple narratives. The script is so complicated at times that it does make you wonder and ask yourself questions about the logic behind the theories. I’m no expert in quantum physics, but I think Nolan does a pretty convincing job of selling it. He did his research along with his brother and they created a solid sci-fi script. Many people complained about the fact that Nolan sometimes explains his plot to the audience instead of just letting them figure it out, but I find it necessary at times because of the complex structure he elaborates for his films. He enjoys creating these puzzles, but at the same time he helps us put the pieces together. Interstellar is one of my favorite films of the year, but I wouldn’t rank it amongst Nolan’s top 5 best films. If there is someone who can make a film about physics interesting it’s Nolan and he manages to do so in this nearly three hour film. This is by far his most ambitious film, but it does fail at being the ultimate space epic film it so desperately tries to be. However there isn’t a dull moment in Interstellar and you are never bored by the world he creates. Unfortunately the final payoff of the film isn’t as rewarding as I was hoping it to be. The final 20 minutes of the film are perhaps the weakest part of the movie and it sort of tries to wrap everything neatly at the end like most Blockbuster and commercial films try to do. 

I know I have complained a bit too much about a film I really enjoyed, but I will now try to explain why this is one of my favorite films of the year. First of all the cast in this film is brilliant. There is no better time to cast Matthew McConaughey in a film than now. He had a fantastic 2013 and MUD was my favorite film of that year. He was also amazing in True Detective so I was ecstatic about him joining Nolan’s cast for this film. He is great in the lead role and provides some of the most engaging emotional moments of the film. Despite how highly ambitious the subject matter of the film is and how colossal his task, he manages to keep things small by narrowing it all down to the family dynamics (especially through his relationship with his daughter). He is not saving humanity, he is trying to save his daughter. We believe the sacrifice he is making and it is what makes the humanity aspects of this film work. He is going through an inner conflict of accomplishing his purpose by saving humanity while realizing that he has abandoned his children and is missing being a part of that. Jessica Chastain is also great in this film. She is a talented actress and is at a great moment in her career as well. The most emotional scenes of Interstellar revolve around her relationship with her father (McConaughey). There is a scene midway through the film where he receives a message from her in space that is emotionally gripping. Michael Caine and Anne Hathaway team up once again for a Nolan film and deliver despite not having such interesting characters. Casey Affleck, John Lithgow, and Topher Grace were underused, but they are all talented actors. The cast in this film is superb and they lifted this visionary tale even further. But the casting isn't the only element that Nolan gets right. The visuals in this film are fantastic! I was blown away by the scenes that took place in space. The first act of this film is solid and establishes the present world on Earth in a rather realistic way, but the second act raises the film to another level. The scenes in space and the wormhole are amazing. It also becomes suspenseful and full of tension. Unfortunately the third act didn't work as well for me and the ending was a bit too touchy feely. The score in this film by Zimmer was fantastic as usual and helps build the emotion. 

So in summary the film is incredibly well shot, it has astonishing photography, superb visual effects, an awesome cast and score, and one spectacular robot. The robot in this film has to be one of the best I've seen. He is also the funniest character and helps lighten the serious tone of the film. I loved Interstellar, but if you had issues with the explanation and exposition in Nolan's Inception, than you will have a similar experience with this film because there is a lot of exposition in space about the theories and what it all means. I have no problem whatsoever with this because it is simply part of Nolan's trademark. He wants us to understand every small detail of the plot because he has worked and studied these things before putting them on the script and he doesn't want the audience to miss out on his creative process. Interstellar doesn't get a perfect grade from me because it isn't as epic as it is trying to be, but I will give Nolan a lot of credit for his ambition and for delivering a fun action thriller with huge ideas. It also pays homage to early sci-fi films like 2001, Solaris, and Contact. The film has taken a lot of processing from me since I first saw it and that is what I look for in movies. I am sure I will be revisiting this film soon because it was a fun experience and one I am sure will generate a lot of debate amongst movie lovers. Interstellar is a carefully crafted and well executed film and Nolan continues to prove himself as one of my favorite contemporary directors. 

My Review: Rio 2 (6/10)

"We are not people, we're birds. We have to get out into the wild and be birds."

Director Carlos Saldanha takes us back to the colorful world of Rio in this sequel that takes place mostly in the Amazon jungle. I enjoyed the first film for the animation and how beautiful they made it look. Rio 2 is probably my least favorite animated film of 2014 so far, but I still have to give it a pass for the gorgeous animation. The film looks beautiful, it's a shame that the characters aren't as well developed. I wasn't a huge fan of the plot either, but the animation is so breathtaking that it is worth it. Adults might not have as much fun because it isn't as smart or witty as other recent animated films, but kids will enjoy this for the colorful characters. Of course like in most sequels you have to try to outdo yourself, more characters are introduced and ultimately the film just felt too crowded and the subplots and new characters didn't work very well. They kind of took me out of the movie, but the Amazon jungle is so gorgeously captured that I still had a decent time with this. I'm giving this a mild recommendation, but there isn't much more to this sequel other than that. 

As for the plot, the film continues to center on the surviving blue macaws that are living in a special reserve in the city of Rio. Believed to be the only surviving birds of their species Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) and Jewel (Anne Hathaway) have formed a family of their own and have three kids. Things take an unexpected turn for them when they discover that there might be more macaws in the heart of the Amazon jungle. They decide to travel to the wild jungle to meet up with the rest of their kind. They are not alone on their journey however, as Nigel (Jermaine Clement) is waiting for the perfect moment to have his revenge along with his new sidekick, a venomous frog named Linda (Leslie Mann). Once they arrive they are surprised to discover that among the surviving birds there's Jewel's father, Eduardo (Andy Garcia), who is happy to have found Jewel again. However, Blu has trouble adopting to the lifestyle of the wild and his father in law doesn't seem to take a huge liking of his city ways. 

The sequel has some funny moments and I chuckled a few times, but the plot was weak and predictable. It felt a bit long and dragged at times. It also felt too preachy with all the ecological messages and I could have done without those subplots with the humans tearing down the trees. Most of the characters are back from the first film and a lot of new ones were added although I really didn't care much for any of them. There are some fun musical moments that helped me get past the more tedious moments but overall I didn't have such a good time as I did with The LEGO Movie or Mr. Peabody & Sherman. The film is not even as close in terms of being witty, but it does look more beautiful and kids might enjoy it more for all the colorful scenes and the choreographed musical numbers. By the end of the film I kind of felt tired and exhausted, but the kids seemed to have enjoyed it.

My Oscars Reactions (17/24)

¨And the Oscar for Best Picture goes to Argo¨

Last night the 85^th Academy Awards were celebrated in a big way. Hollywood´s top actors made their way through the red carpet with a lot of glamour. I´m not a fashion expert so I won´t comment on who was wearing what, but I can say that everyone looked beautiful. The ceremony began with a monologue from first time host Seth MacFarlane who got some laughs out of the audience with his song ¨We saw your boobs¨ and with a sock puppet version of Flight while he was interrupted by Captain Kirk (William Shattner) who came from the future to warn him about his terrible hosting gig. He showed us some glimpses of what went wrong and MacFarlane tried to make amends by following Captain Kirk´s advice. The jokes were funny although not that irreverent as the Family Guy and Ted director has us used to. I still enjoyed his opening and I think he did a decent job hosting the Oscars, which once again ran about three and a half hours long. I know many people complain about the length of the ceremony, but I really enjoy this once a year event and loved every minute of it.

Despite opening with a surprise win for Christoph Waltz for best supporting actor, the Oscar were pretty predictable and the heavy favorites won. I loved Waltz´s performance, and he was my favorite in that category but I didn’t think the Academy would give him his second Oscar in three years. I was wrong, and I was happy about that. I was 17 for 24 in my predictions, but I knew some of the categories were going to be close races between one or two picks. So close in fact, that in one category we had a tie which hadn’t happened since the 1960´s. Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall shared the Oscar for Sound Editing. The biggest surprise of the night was Ang Lee´s victory over Steven Spielberg in the best director category. Life of Pi was one of my favorite movies of the year so I was very pleased once again with the Academy´s decision. The other categories I didn’t predict were both writing categories which did go to the favorites: Argo (adapted screenplay) and Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino). I loved Tarantino´s acceptance speech and this was his second win after Pulp Fiction. It was a long awaited win, but he finally got his moment. Brave beat Frankenweenie in the Best Animated category (a film I really didn’t like too much), Lincoln beat Anna Karenina in the Production Design category, and Inocente beat my pick Open Heart as the best short documentary. Those were my only misses; everything else went on as predicted.

Argo finally won for Best Picture and Ben Affleck got his redemption for not being included in the best director category since he was one of the producers of the film along with George Clooney. He gave one of the best speeches of the night and reminded the audience of how young he was when he won his first Oscar for writing Good Will Hunting. He never thought he would be back, but he made it and has proved to be one of the best directors of this last decade. Daniel Day Lewis won the Oscar for his portrayal of Lincoln and also gave a gracious speech. He is the only actor to have won 3 Oscars in a leading role. He made a joke about Meryl Streep who presented the award to him and his acceptance speech felt natural and authentic. Jennifer Lawrence was also a big winner as she won for her role in Silver Linings Playbook. She tripped while climbing up the stairs and also made fun of herself while accepting the award. She was gracious enough to congratulate Emmanuelle Riva on her 86^th birthday and was very classy. Anne Hathaway won for her performance in Les Miserables in the supporting role. Amour received love in the Foreign Language film category, and Searching for Sugar Man won best documentary (one of my favorite moments of the night because I really loved that doc). Adele was also a big winner for her song Skyfall which she got to perform live on the show. There was also a tribute for the 50 years of the James Bond franchise, and a tribute to musicals as well as we saw some of the cast from Chicago, Dreamgirls, and Les Miserables perform.

The awards were pretty much scattered throughout as there wasn’t one movie to take home a lot of awards as it usually happens. This is because there were a lot of strong contenders this year. Life of Pi was the big winner of the night as it took home 4 Oscars (Director, Visual Effects, Cinematography, and Original Score), Argo 3 (Picture, Adapted Screenplay, and Editing), and Les Miserables also took home 3 Oscars (Actress in a Secondary Role, Sound Mixing, and Makeup) and Lincoln only managed to win 2 (Lead Actor and Production Design) out of the 12 nominations it had. Django Unchained won two as well (Original Script and Best Supporting Actor). Zero Dark Thirty and Silver Linings Playbook each took home one Oscar, so the only Best Picture nominee to leave empty handed was Beasts of the Southern Wild, but that small independent film was a winner simply by being nominated.

It was pretty much an even race, but Argo won the biggest prize of the night in a ceremony which I really enjoyed. I thought it was one of the best in recent memory. I don’t know why people watch the Oscars if they always complain about how bad and long it is; I watch them because I really enjoy them. My favorite moments were the big acceptance speeches from Ben Affleck, Daniel Day Lewis, Quentin Tarantino, Chris Terrio, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Lawrence, and Ang Lee. If you missed them then perhaps you might want to look them up in YouTube. I also loved the musical performance from Les Mis cast, from Adele, and from Barbra Streisand who sang during the touching memorium tribute. We can´t leave out the most expected star of the show: Ted who entered with his co-star Mark Wahlberg and made some funny remarks. I thought the was a great show and hopefully next year I will improve my score, but for now satisfied with the overall picks. 

  

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My Review: Les Miserables (8/10)

¨But remember this, my brother, see in this some higher plan. You must use this precious silver to become an honest man. By the witness of the martyrs, by the Passion and the Blood, God has raised you out of darkness; I have bought your soul for God! ¨

Academy Award winning director, Tom Hooper (The King`s Speech), brings one of the most famous musicals based on Victor Hugo`s 1862 novel, Les Miserables, to the big screen with quite a remarkable screenplay adaptation, a beautiful production design, and some stunning performances from the cast. The film is directed in such a way that you feel like you are watching a conventional stage musical rather than a movie. For the viewers like myself that live far away from the big cities and have no option of watching a live musical this is as close as it gets for us. Hooper took a huge risk by letting his actors sing live on set while they were performing instead of simply having them doing playback like in most musical adaptations. This is in my opinion what gave the film such a livelier feel to it and made me feel like I was watching a play. The film is almost entirely sung as there is very little dialogue, so if you aren’t a big fan of musicals you will want to stay away from this one. My only complaint about Hooper`s style of direction is that he used extreme close ups on every character during most of the film, which didn’t allow us to enjoy the grandeur of the production design as much as I would have liked. These close ups were a bit too much for my taste. Most of the songs performed were done in long takes so I can imagine how hard and exhausting it must have been for the actors to get each take right. I enjoyed this film very much, but did have some issues with the length of the movie. Even so, this is a great film and Tom Hooper successfully manages to adapt this well known play. It deserves all the recognition it is getting.

For those of you familiar with the novel or the stage play you might want to skip this second paragraph focusing on the plot. The film takes place during the post-French revolution time period where we are introduced to prisoner 24601, Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), who has spent the past 19 years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread for his dying niece. He is finally being released, but Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe) warns him that he must not break parole. ¨Once a thief, always a thief¨ is his motto and he`s sure Valjean will end up behind bars again. Jean finds it extremely difficult to find a job after being marked as a criminal and is very bitter about life, but he finds redemption in a Bishop who saves him from returning to prison and makes him turn his life around. Jean breaks parole and begins a new life as a successful businessman who becomes mayor. He is a kind person, but his past continues to haunt him as Javert appears several years later and recognizes him. Jean has to go on the run again, but not before he makes a promise to a former employee of his, Fantine (Anne Hathaway), to care for her child. Jean wasn’t aware that she was fired from his business after the employees discovered she had a child and was single. Fantine was forced to turn into a prostitute in order to maintain her child, Cosette, who is being cared for by the Thenardiers (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter) who take advantage of her. Feeling guilty for what has happened to Fantine, Jean pledges to care for Cosette and buys her from the Thenardiers. Several years later we see Jean and Cosette (Amanda Seyfried) enjoying life together as father and daughter, but once again Jean`s past catches up to him as he runs into Javert during the student revolution led by Marius (Eddie Redmayne). When Cosette and Marius fall in love with each other, Jean realizes he won`t be able to run all his life.

We are all familiar with the story and the universal themes that this classic novel touches such as love, redemption, mercy, poverty, and the revolutionary spirit. The film captures all these themes perfectly thanks to some wonderful performances from Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway who both received Oscar nominations. My favorite character however was the young Gavroche who was played brilliantly by Daniel Huttlestone. Samantha Barks as the broken hearted Eponine also gave a strong performance. Much of the success of the film is owed to these great and inspiring performances. The songs were also beautifully delivered and I enjoyed most of them. I think my favorite one came from the student revolutionaries, ¨Do You Hear the People Sing? ¨ Les Miserables will please fans, but those who have no taste for musicals or haven’t enjoyed the stage productions will hate this film because it is manipulative and over the top. Having that said, I still think Hooper`s effort pays off and he`s made a great musical, although his best film was the much smaller and far less ambitious in scale, The Damned United, which catapulted him to fame. I did not feel as emotional as other people did about this film, and wasn’t moved. In all honesty I was a bit exhausted by the time the credits began rolling, but it still was an entertaining film worth checking out for the performances alone.

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My Review: The Dark Knight Rises (10/10)

¨ We were in this together, and then you were gone. Now this evil... rises. The Batman has to come back. ¨

The Dark Knight films have made other superhero movies look like a joke. These films have transcended its genre and created a different type of superhero. The film works more as a perfectly crafted thriller than an actual superhero film. For me The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises are way above the rest of superhero movies, but it`s a little unfair to compare them because this seems like a completely different genre, and a much darker one. When I first saw The Dark Knight I was completely in love with it, and it ranked among my favorite all time movies. I had high expectations for The Dark Knight Rises, but I thought there was no way this film could equal the greatness of its predecessor, especially because what I loved the most about the first one was Heath Ledger`s memorable performance as the Joker. Without the Joker I thought it would be impossible for this film to match it, but I was overwhelmed once again by the direction of Christopher Nolan and the great script that he and his brother Jonathan created. The movie is spectacular, highly entertaining, and it`s as good as its predecessor. When the movie ended, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of tremendous satisfaction and joy. It was a perfect ending to what is in my opinion the best film trilogy. Batman Begins was a great movie in itself, but compared to The Dark Knight sequels it falls way behind. This shows how much Christopher Nolan has matured as a director. I think he is without a doubt the best modern day director of big budget blockbusters. It will be hard for any other superhero movie to match the success of this franchise.

Batman (Christian Bale) hasn`t appeared in Gotham City for eight years after he accepted to take the fall for the Harvey Dent incident in the previous film. He is a fugitive from the law and isn’t needed anymore because the city has lived in peace after being inspired by the heroism of Harvey Dent. Under the new Harvey Dent law all the important criminals in Gotham have been arrested. Bruce Wayne has also disappeared from the public eye and is still mourning Rachel`s death. He has given up on life and lives secluded in his mansion without having contact with anyone except his faithful servant, Alfred (Michael Caine). But the peaceful days in Gotham seem to be reaching its end when a new threat arises. A masked man named Bane (Tom Hardy) has been building an army to destroy the city. He`s a former disciple of Ra Al Ghul and a great threat to the city. Meanwhile Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) continues to be on his guard and feels that the truth about Harvey Dent needs to be told. A young police officer named Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) follows a lead about a missing Congressman, who has been kidnapped by Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), an evasive jewelry thief who has dozens of criminal records and is known as the Cat. He follows the lead along with Gordon and together they discover about Bane`s underground army. It is time for the Batman to come out of retirement and defend the city once again. Morgan Freeman reprises his role as Mr. Fox and Marion Cotillard is introduced as Miranda Tate, a philanthropist and possible love interest for Bruce Wayne.  

The three hours the film almost lasts go by so fast that you think only a few minutes have passed by the time the credits begin to role. It is just that good. I`ve asked for my time back in many movies that I felt dragged for such a long time, but for this film I have to admit I wish every hour in my life was as sensational as the three hours I experienced with The Dark Knight Rises. This thriller works more like a Shakespearean tragedy than a traditional superhero movie. It makes the ridiculous premise feel as real and authentic as possible and takes a lot of elements from classical stories such as Dickens` A Tale of Two Cities. I`m not a fan boy, I don’t know anything about the Batman comics, but I was completely hooked and enamored with this franchise. The introduction of several new characters gave the film some freshness and I didn’t think they slowed down the story; on the other hand they made it much more interesting. Bane might not be as memorable a villain as the Joker was, but he is a different kind of threat for an aging Batman. Bane is Batman`s match in terms of physical power. He might not be as great of a schemer as the Joker, but Bane is powerful and presents an even greater threat to Batman. The other actors who had worked with Nolan in Inception all had important roles here; Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were great on screen. Gordon-Levitt is such an underrated actor, but he has proven time after time that he`s a real movie star. There are some truly great performances and in my opinion this is the best film of 2012. I doubt any movie will equal its greatness and Dark Knight fans shouldn’t worry about this movie failing to fulfill expectations because it lives up to its predecessor. There are so many symbolisms in this movie that we could spend hours talking about them.

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My Review: One Day (5/10)

¨Whatever happens tomorrow, we had today.¨

One Day is Danish director, Lone Scherfig`s, follow up to 2009 film An Education; a movie I really liked, but unfortunately this film isn`t as interesting. One Day is a romantic film with two characters that I had a difficult time believing they were actually best friends or in love with each other. My major problem however was with Hathaway`s British accent. I have no idea why they didn’t just get a British actress to play the role considering there are som many great ones. Jim Sturgess is a decent actor, but I just didn’t feel the chemistry between him and Hathaway. The key in a romantic film lies in the chemistry between the two main actors and I just didn’t feel it. The story is interesting and the premise seemed original considering we only get to see a glimpse of what happens during one day (July 15^th) of every year. Due to these constraints we do have to fill in a lot of gaps of things that have happened during the time, but the film does a good job at telling the story. I actually enjoyed the second half of the film, but I felt that the first half was just too slow and boring. I am glad however that I decided to stick with the film because it does get a lot better in the second half, although I still wouldn’t recommend this film, unless you are a true fan of the genre.

The movie opens with a scene that takes place on July 15^th of 2006; Emma (Anne Hathaway) is riding a bicycle in a street in London when all of a sudden we move back about 20 years to the late 80`s on July 15<sup>th</sup> where we see how Emma and Dexter (Jim Sturgess) meet. They are celebrating their graduation and end up spending a night together although they never had talked much in school before. They become real good friends and we see how their lives develop as every day we jump forward in time one year on that exact date. Dexter becomes a late night television star, while Emma despite being intelligent struggles to make it through. Their friendship continues to grow and Dexter is always telling Emma how soon she will become a famous writer. As the movie progresses we are introduced to new cities and meet some secondary characters as Emma and Dexter don’t see each other every year on that day. We are introduced to Dexter`s parents, Alison (Patricia Clarkson) and Steven (Ken Stott) and to some of Dexter and Emma`s love interests. Despite being away from each other they continue to be in touch and at times even travel together. We experience how these friends grow, the challenges they face, and the goals they achieve.

One Day is actually based on the bestselling novel written by David Nicholls. The great thing about it is that Scherfig got him to adapt the screenplay for this movie as well. This is one of those stories that probably work best in a novel because several details have to be left out of the film due to time constraints. I really wished the movie would have had a more entertaining first half because it does pick up pretty well during the second half. I also enjoyed some of the secondary characters like Patricia Clarkson who is always a great addition to a movie. One Day is a decent romantic film, but I think Scherfig did a much better job in An Education. This is not a memorable movie, it lacks better pacing, but it does have some decent performances.

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My Review: Rio (7/10)

¨This is great. I'm chained to the only bird in the world who can't fly! Is there anything else I need to know? ¨

Carlos Saldanha gives us one of the most colorful movies of the year, and it couldn´t have been any other way considering the story takes place in beautiful Rio de Janeiro. Saldanha pays homage to the city where he was born, and does it by showing us the beauty of its locations, its people, and its music, during one of the most fun and colorful events that take place every year: Carnival. It`s impossible not to like this animated film, despite having a weak and predictable plot, because not liking it would be like not enjoying a trip to Rio. Saldanha takes us to his city and shows us all the beauty Rio has to offer. The visuals in the film are excellent and we get plenty of aerial shots of the city, we see its beautiful beaches, tropical forests, and even get to experience a motorcycle ride across its infamous favela. We also get to meet some of their eccentric characters (Saldanha has a lot of fun with the stereotypes), although the main attraction of the movie are the colorful animals. Animated films have matured greatly over the years and we`ve come to expect excellent visual effects, but in Rio the visuals are the main attraction and the characters are just a product of their environment. Rio is much better than the other animated film 2011 had to offer: Rango. Rango was an animated film I disliked, but I admitted the visuals were fantastic. Neither of the films have a decent story or memorable characters, but the difference with Rio is that when you have Rio de Janeiro the city itself becomes a character and a very memorable one for that matter. That is why the movie is such fun because it’s all about Rio and not so much as the rest of the characters.

The film opens in the tropical jungles of Brazil where a blue macaw`s life will change forever when a group of poachers take him captive and smuggle him to the States. Somewhere along the way the bird ends up in chilly Minnesota after the truck that is smuggling him hits the breaks a little too hard and the box where he`s in ends up flying out of the truck. The macaw is fortunate enough to be found by a young girl named Linda (voiced by Leslie Mann) who takes good care of him. She names the bird Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) and they both seem to be enjoying a comfortable life together when all of a sudden they get a visit from a Brazilian ornithologist, Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro), who claims that Blu is the last male bird of his species. Tulio has found a female macaw (Jewell, voiced by Anne Hathaway) and needs Linda to take Blu to Rio so the birds can breed and save the species. Linda unwillingly takes Blu to Rio and that is where the fun begins because Jewel and Blu don`t get off to a right start. She is more of a free spirited bird who enjoys her liberty, and he is a domesticated macaw who can`t even fly. Somehow both birds are kidnapped from the lab by a smuggler named Marcel (Carlos Ponce) along with his stupid accomplices, and accompanied by an evil and scary cockatoo named Nigel (Jermaine Clement). Blu and Jewel manage to escape from these poachers but not before they end up being chained together. Both birds end up on a journey trying to free themselves while escaping from Nigel and the poachers and along the way they befriend Rafael (George Lopez) the toucan, Pedro (Will.i.am) the red-crested cardinal, Nico (Jamie Foxx) the yellow canary, and Luiz (Tracy Morgan), the bulldog.        

The plot is probably the weakest part out of the 96 minute movie because it is very predictable: it`s a formula picture where we have a male and female lead character that can`t stand each other at first only to end up discovering they have feelings for each other. We`ve all come to expect these stories from Hollywood were opposites attract. Fox-Blue Sky Studios may not have the depth in their stories as Pixar does, but they sure can deliver great visuals. Don`t expect a heartfelt story like Pixar`s Up or Toy Story and I guarantee you will enjoy this fun colorful movie because Rio de Janeiro is a fun place to be, especially during Carnival. The city itself becomes the main character in this film and that is why the movie is called Rio and not Blu or Jewel. The details of the city and the beautiful locations couldn’t have been enjoyed more if it wasn`t for Carlos Saldanha and his love for the city in which he was born. Rio is a fun and entertaining movie where kids and adults will have a good time alike thanks to the beauty of its scenery enjoyed mostly through aerial shots, and the soundtrack full of Samba which identifies the city. Saldanha couldn’t have picked a more different location from his previous film: Ice Age, and the result is visually noticeable. Rio is a lot of fun and I recommend this animated film for the entire family.

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