Rio (2011)

Unfortunately, I would like to start this review with a rather negative statement, but one that rings true, no matter what the naysayers cry: original movies are of a dying breed. The market is ruled by sequels, remakes, and book adaptations, with each new series being directed by the same tried and tested people and starring the same tried and tested actors (how many Tim Burton/Johnny Depp movies have there been over the years?) . While none of these are sinfully wrong in any way, the cash cow can sometimes be milked dry, sacrificing quality along the way. Thankfully, a recent surge in CGI power means that more and more animations are being developed, and Carlos Saldanha's catchily-named effort, Rio, outdoes some of its closest rivals from the likes of Pixar and Dreamworks. Brave and Megamind can take a back seat; Rio has defeated them in the animation stakes, no thanks to its human storyline, despite all the main characters being birds.

The vague outline is this: a domesticated, flightless blue macaw, aptly named Blu (Jesse Eisenberg), is taken to Rio de Janeiro to breed with the last of his kind (Anne Hathaway), but subsequently get stolen by poachers. They must traverse Rio itself, chained together, so they can go their separate ways. As you might expect from a film of this certificate, that plan doesn't quite go according to plan. The story is human and Blu a relateably reluctant adventurer, but it can at times be very predictable, to the point where one fellow filmclubber left the room during viewing and came back to the sight of end credits, but predicted exactly what happened in the last half hour. Rio never leaves its comfort zone, and tries to keep the plot simple for younger, Disney-accustomed viewers. There are even some Disney-esque songs in there for good measure and, terrible rhymes aside, they're toe-tappable, if not at the Carnivale sized scale they're aiming for.

One of the most striking things about Rio, however, would be the crispness of the images on-screen. While Brave may have had more realistic physics and lighting effects, it was set in the Scottish highlands, and they're not exactly renowned for their eye-searing colour. Rio de Janeiro, however, is. Colossal, HD floats drive past like vessels to heaven, and a multitude of rainbow-coloured birds fly, in synch, through the canopy of the rainforest before a final Bond style showdown in a plane's open cargo hold. The spectacles never stop coming, and the quality of the CGI is what literally makes Rio shine brightest.

It, like anything else, is not without flaws, but the subtlety of them and the way Saldanha plays to his strengths rather than his weaknesses is commendable, so kids should be able to get enough out of it. The script is truly cringe-worthy at the best of times, and in places there's nothing to but just facepalm and wait until the next good-looking scene. The human characters especially seem undercooked and bleak, from the irritating protagonist couple (who bear no real relevance after the initial 5 minutes), to the clichéd antagonist with predictably thick henchmen. Essentially, the plot concerning animals is far more interesting, even though you know what comes next on first viewing alone.

When compared to the rest of the children's market in the film industry, Rio holds up well against such lukewarm efforts such as the current Ice Age films and the last round of Shreks. The script could use some serious work and the envelope needs to be pushed a little further, along with the running time, to make this truly essential to anyone above 8 or 9, but Rio is by no means a bad film and one of the best picks for under-12 Disney veterans, but to anyone else, it is simply eye-candy, wrapped in a heart-warming, if basic plot.