Film Review: Rio 2

Amy Pratt takes a look at Rio 2, the latest offering from the guys behind Ice Age.

Rio 2 is the latest offering from Blue Sky Studios (think Ice Age, Robots and Horton Hears a Who!) and is the sequel to the successful 2011 film Rio!

It combines the vocal talents of Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, will.i.am, Jamie Foxx, George Lopez and Tracy Morgan amongst others, and follows the blue macaw family, led by Blu and Jewel, as they leave their home in Rio de Janeiro and head into the Amazon forest.

Once there, they encounter different nemeses, including Jewel's father who makes it obvious he is less than impressed with his daughter's choice of mate.

I went along to the movie with fairly high expectations as I love the Ice Age franchise produced by this company. I also took along two co-reviewers in the form of a nine-year-old and a five-year-old and made it clear I was relying on their honest feedback when it came to creating a review!

Lets start with the good stuff. The animation is brilliant, with some of the scenes that feature the rainforest and hundreds of birds in flight proving quite breathtaking.

As the movie is in 3D the impression that the birds are flying straight at you is very realistic and the detail in the scenes is fantastic. There are a few jokes thrown in for the adults that are genuine laugh out loud moments, and a couple of the characters are well developed and very likable.

In terms of the storyline the best word for it is 'nice'. This is definitely a movie that targets its young audience, rather then an animated movie that appeals to all ages.

There are some great scenes and funny moments, but I certainly didn't find myself too involved in the story (as opposed to other recent-ish animated movies such as Kung Fu Panda or Ice Age that grab the attention of children and adults alike). For me the best part was seeing how much the children enjoyed it, which is really what Rio 2 is all about!

Afterwards the five-year-old gave it a rave review, whilst the nine-year-old was a little more limited in enthusiasm although he still claimed to like it very much.

In summary, if you have children under the age of 10 this is a great movie choice - if you don't fit into this group then maybe wait for it to come out on DVD if you really want to see it!

Rating: 3/5