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Rio

Voices by: Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Geroge Lopez, Leslie Mann, and Rodrigo Santoro
Directed by: Carlos Saldanha
Screenplay by: Carlos Saldanha and Don Rhymer
    
    Imagine being a domesticated parrot that is the last of its species and has to go to the wild for the continuity of the species.  If this happened, we would have "Rio" in real life.
    We first meet Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) as a domesticated blue macaw parrot (that doesn't know how to fly) in Minnesota.  He is best friends with his owner Linda (Leslie Mann) until one day, a Brazilian biologist, Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro), comes to her house and tells her that they need to go to Rio de Janeiro so Blu can mate with the last female of the blue macaw species (Blu is the last male), a bird named Jewel (Anne Hathaway).  Along the way, the pair of birds run into a few problems, like being chained together, being stolen, and getting separated from Linda and Tulio.  The bright side, the birds meet a few friends who help them become unchained, and help Blu learn to fly.
    "Rio" is a very colorful film, even though it is animation.  The birds are extremely colorful, and fun to watch.  In one scene, they are trying to get Blu to return to Linda, but they have to go through Carnival, the biggest party in the world south of New Orleans, first.  They are just part of the parade and fit in well with all the vibrant colors and sounds.
    My problem with the animation is that many of the peripheral characters look the same as one another.  Another problem is the 3D.  It seems pointless because there's nothing to feel part of except for one party scene and there's nothing that pops out at the audience.
    Overall, "Rio" is fun for the whole family.  I'm not usually one for family movies, but this one is very good.  It's a fun movie.  It's also a good story about a character who overcomes a major obstacle in their life.  For this, it has a good message, that we can overcome even huge obstacles (with the exception that people can't grow wings and fly).
I give "Rio" a B+.

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