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 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.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/

My Review: The Spy Next Door (4/10)

¨I've brought down dictators. How bad can three kids be? ¨

The Spy Next Door is a family movie that actually won`t be enjoyed by the entire family. I can imagine kids having a good time with this film, but adults won`t find any of the material entertaining since they`ve laughed at the same jokes a long time ago. I don`t understand how Disney Pixar or DreamWorks can make animated films adults and kids enjoy alike (such as Toy Story, How to Train Your Dragon, and Shrek for example), but somehow no one has come up with a solution to making an entertaining live action family movies (Marmaduke, Cats and Dogs, and now this). We have seen these kinds of movies before where the villains are really dumb, and the hero can do just about anything except raising kids. Since we`ve been bombarded with so many remakes in the last years, I even thought this might be a remake of The Pacifier which starred Van Diesel as a marine who had to babysit a couple of kids. The only difference was that Jackie Chan was playing the role of Diesel. Even director, Brian Levant, had made a similar movie before this, starring Ice Cube in ¨Are We There Yet? ¨ I guess this was a similar version for white folks. Levant is also the man responsible for bringing us films like Beethoven, The Flintstones, and Jingle All the Way; the writers haven`t done anything better either: Jonathan Bernstein and James Greer are responsible for writing the script for such movies as Just My Luck and Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector. Gregory Poirier was also hired to help improve the script, but he was the director of Tomcats, so as you can see there wasn`t much talent behind the making of the film, except perhaps the actors.

Jackie Chan is Bob Ho, a Chinese Spy who is working for the CIA. His partner is Colton James (Billy Ray Cyrus) who really doesn`t do much except let Bob do all the work, and their boss is Glaze (George Lopez). They are on a mission to arrest Poldark (Magnus Scheving), a Russian spy who has broken into an American oil refinery. Once Bob makes the arrest he decides to retire because he wants to propose to his girlfriend, Gillian (Amber Valleta), who happens to be his next door neighbor. Gillian is a single mother who is very much in love with Bob, but her three kids aren`t very fond of him so she isn`t ready to commit. They don`t know he is a spy and actually think he is a boring guy who makes a living as a pen importer. Bob will have to find a way to befriend the kids: The oldest is Farren (Madeline Carroll), an adolescent teenager who wants to dress as she pleases, next is Ian (Will Shadley), a very smart kid who gets beat up in class and tends to lie a lot, and the smallest is Nora (Alina Foley), a very cute and adorable four year old girl who likes pink very much. When Gillian has to travel to take care of her sick father, Bob realizes it’s the perfect time to bond with the kids so he decides to take care of them. Little does he know that the kids are planning on making his experience a nightmare, and at the same time Poldark has escaped from prison and wants something from Bob.

The only entertaining value I got from this film was from Jackie Chan, whose stunts are always fun to watch. The opening scene where we got clips of Chan`s previous movies was actually the best part of the film with the ¨Secret Agent Man¨ song in the background. The rest of the movie is very predictable, the characters are one dimensional and stereotypical, and the dialogue is pretty bad. The kid actors were actually pretty good and I thought Alina Foley was very cute in the film (too bad they didn`t have the right material to work with). I have to admit that I watched this film dubbed in Spanish so that did affect the film quite a bit since some of the performances are missed in the translation. The movie was pretty bad and was very similar to The Pacifier and Are We There Yet? so it losses some more points there. I wouldn`t recommend this film, although I know some kids might enjoy the silly comedy, and Jackie Chan fans might want to check it out as well as he plays his usual self. Before watching this movie I had just seen The Godfather Part I and II, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo`s Nest, so that was probably a little unfair on my part to critique this movie right after watching those masterpieces. Anyways, I don`t recommend this.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/