Vibrant but Tasteless

Rating: 4/10 (2 June 2012)

Rio is a vibrant, fun movie that will entertain both children and adults with its humor and spontaneity. In order to save his species, a flightless blue macaw and his keeper must spread their wings and journey to Rio do Janiero trailed by a ring of international bird smugglers. The main characters, a bird named Blue and Linda, his bookish owner, are both flightless in the sense that they choose not to explore beyond what they know. That is, until they discover that Blue is the last male of his species. Nothing forces them out of their comfortable lives except their sudden desire to help save Blue's species. The plot and themes are strong, making it functional and enjoyable to the audience, although it strongly lacks in characterization. Both Blue, Linda, and the entourage of secondary characters are either stock characters or merely flat. Additionally, the movie twists its positive theme of 'have the courage to be yourself' into a negative morale of 'being yourself is doing whatever feels good." It also has a secondary environmental theme. This theme is enforced by lyrics sung by cute birds singing, "I just want to live my life to party" and other similar tag lines. We repeatedly see birds and people dancing at Marti Gras and exploring being themselves by getting loose, partying, and learning to love others by being reckless instead of selfless. Not child friendly themes in my opinion. The movie also exhibits completely flat villains, no mystery, no true conflict (no impossible goal). It's a comedy only film with a strong theme and plot but no real substance.