Cute, funny, and musical

Rating: 8/10 (15 April 2011)

The most recent CGI comedy opened up today and one word to definitely use to describe this movie is colorful. From scene one, this movie is filled to the brim with a wide variety of bright colors that bring energy, excitement, and positive feeling to the movie. After we get a little bit of intro into the lives of Blu and Linda, we meet Tulio who takes us to the wonderful world of Rio de Janeiro. Here is where we get a CGI look of this country and some of the culture that it contributes to the world. Not long after arriving we meet about seven major characters in about ten minutes. From there the movie takes off.
To start with the positives of this movie let's start with the characters. The voice cast for this movie was well selected with Eisenberg making the perfect choice for a smart, well read bird that is socially awkward, after all he nailed that role in the Social Network. Anne Hathaway plays the snappy, headstrong bird Jewel who provides a lot of attitude that many girls will love. George Lopez's soothing voice and his comedy talents made him the perfect role of the toucan that was funny, but also a wise mentor to Blu. The sidekick bird duo, voiced by Will.I.am and Foxx were a welcomed comedy duo that provided those one lines constantly seen in kids movies and many will appreciate that funny nature.
I guess you could say the second strength would be the character variety. As I already mentioned the diversity of the two blue macaw's makes for an interesting combo that sort of portrays a kid odd couple mix. The two sidekick birds make you laugh with quips, which can also be seen in the two henchmen of the main villain, who remind me of a Latino Horace and jasper. Regardless there is also a malicious cockatoo that is reminiscent of Scar from the Lion King. His devilish nature really helps bring back the idea that even the most cuddliest of creatures can be truly evil on the inside, which they have captured well in this movie. Finally we meet the mysterious Louis who is mentioned throughout most of the movie, and turns out to be a dog that reminds you of Sid the Sloth from Ice Age.
They have also captured the beautiful scenery of Rio in their CGI work, which allows one to feel like you are in a cartoon version of the city. The divine statues, white buildings, fiestas, beaches, tropical jungles, and slums are all portrayed beautifully, which made a lot of the surrounding audience want to go there.
Perhaps one of the strongest aspects of this movie though, is the musical numbers integrated into this movie. Each song fits well with the characters that are singing it and again captures the mood like we have seen in many Disney movies. My favorite was the toe tapping song that the birds party to, sung by Foxx and Will.I.Am. Surely there is a song that everyone can get hooked to in this movie, you just have to look for it.
So I have mentioned a lot of good things about this movie, but what about bad. Well this movie is definitely not slow, but the comedy is not the is not the same as it was in the first Ice Age. One big thing I loved about the Ice Age comedies was Sid's dumb nature and unique ways of saying things that made you laugh hysterically. However, in this movie I didn't feel that same kind of comedy and felt it was a little more juvenile in nature. Despite the constant amount of one liners and situational comedies, I was not laughing as hard as I did in Ice Age, which may or may not be an issue for you. Perhaps the only other weakness I could find was that it was pretty predictable and simple in design with no real surprises, twists, or ideas thrown into the mix. Again I don't know if this is really an issue, but it's worth mentioning that it is no new CGI comedy.
My rating of this movie would probably be somewhere between an 8-8.5. I would recommend this movie to those that want a fun, colorful movie for their kids that like singing and dancing. People who like colorful and fun, happy comedies will also like this movie, but again i don't think it is a modern ice age comedy. Finally those who like cute movie, like UP, will like this movie and will not be as sad by the end of this movie. Until next time my friends, keep enjoying the movies.