My Review of Rio · 6:06pm Nov 1st, 2022
Rating Scale:
12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made
Greetings, everyone! This is Mr. J back with another movie review for today! This afternoon, I will be reviewing Blue Sky Studios' Rio from 2011! This is yet another Blue Sky animated film I enjoyed watching while growing up. Although I didn't find it as more enjoyable and watchable as Ice Age, I nonetheless still loved how amazing the story was. Even to this very day, I love the voice acting, the well-written plot, and the dynamic relationship between the main characters.
This movie is about a Spix's macaw named Blu who was raised by a human named Linda; growing up with her, Blu loved and enjoyed every moment with her over the years. Convinced that he needs to be paired with a mate of his kind, he is taken to an aviary where he meets a strongly independent female Spix's macaw named Jewel from the Amazon jungle. However, they are both captured by a boy who reluctantly works for a smuggler gang. Rio and Jewel must find a way to save themselves and free all the other birds from the smugglers.
As I said, I enjoyed how well they wrote the story here. We see how comfortable Blu was in his domesticated life with a human owner whom he loved so much. But by the time he is paired with another member of his species, he realizes he doesn't know how to survive on his own or how untamed birds act. He had to learn to get out his comfort zone and learn from someone who has experience in the jungle. They both learned from each other, and even though they had a rough start, they eventually worked together in order to save the other birds.
This film also shows us just how cruel humans are when they smuggle birds from their habitations. As someone who loves birds with a passion, imagine how much I wanted to pummel the smuggling trio to the ground. Birds are amazing creatures with beautiful plumage, glorious feathers, and wonderful, unique singing calls. And yes, "non-pretty" birds are awesome too. I love ALL birds! But anyway, the point is that humans have no right in taking away the freedom of any animal in general just to sell them to a black market or anywhere else. If there is anything in the world that you see every day and something from which you can learn a thing or two, it's a bird. Enough said.
The animation is likewise perfectly well-made, if I may add. Although I am not a huge fan of the weird animation models for the human characters, the birds were done justice in this film.
The voice acting was pretty great too. The main ones that stood out to me were Jesse Eisenberg as Blu, Anne Hathaway as Jewel, Jamie Foxx as Nico, and Jemaine Clement as Nigel. The latter actor seemed to have so much fun with his role with his insane characterization and immaculate singing voice. I guess you could say that his vocal performance was "SHINY!"...…if you know what I mean. Nigel was a more enjoyable antagonist than the generic smuggler gang, that's for sure.
If there is one primary thing this film taught me, it's that I must continuously manifest love and care for birds even if it means indirectly feeding them via bird feeders. No seriously, I used to have bird feeders in my backyard years ago. It's a shame that squirrels kept ruining the fun every time they get their greedy claws on the food. Ugh!
Anyway, this is an awesome film to watch, and it definitely deserves a high ranking on the list of Blue Sky Studios' best films. I will give it a 10/10! I highly recommend this film if you haven't seen this yet!
Peace!
This is one of my top favorite animated franchises next to How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda, The Lion King, and Hotel Transylvania. Not to mention that Blu and Jewel are a great couple in my opinion. A shame that Rio 3 was never made before Blue Sky’s closure, it could have shed light on Blu’s past.
I agree with you about "Rio".
Everything about this movie wasn't like any other animated feature before it, and it showcased creativity at its finest. It was also the film that made me a fan of Jemaine Clement, and I've enjoyed his voice work for other characters ever since.