Animation, as far as feature films go, has become an increasingly popular medium of film making in the past 10 years. So much that films such as Wall-E, Up, Toy Story 3, and How To Train Your Dragon have garnered “Best Picture” interest from the Academy.
Pixar are no longer the only kids on the block when it comes to well-done animated story telling. Dreamcast have been making animated movies for quite some time and while their films aren’t as highly regarded as Pixar’s, the fact that critics no longer separate the two studios when discussing who’s the best of the best is an accomplishment all its own. Enter the distant third cousin animation movie studio, Twentieth Century Fox Animation. The studio behind Ice Age, Robots, and Horton Hears A Who! has been making animated movies for a while now but does not have half the credit that Dreamworks has and, comparably, couldn’t hold a candle to Pixar. Blue Sky Studios, owned by Twentieth Century Fox, brings us their newest addition to the computer animated genre with Rio.
Rio is a story about the last male Blue Macaw, aptly named Blu, venturing south from his wintry home in Minnesota to Rio de Janerio, Brazil to mate with the last female Blue Macaw, named Jewel. I won’t delve into the story too much, because frankly, it’s not the best nor is it the reason to go see this movie. Blue Sky Studios are known for one thing, and as much as they try to craft well-told stories about the meaning of life and what it takes to truly be yourself, the lasting impression this animated tale will make on you is how vibrant and life-like the colors of the characters and the movie’s location seem. Beautifully crafted, the entire movie is basically one big advertisement for the country of Brazil. If I had the money this movie would have sold me on a week long vacation to Rio de Janerio just in time to partake in Carnival (the festival that takes place every year in the country, which also happens to be the time frame the movie is set in). Animating a locale the way Blue Sky Studios have done with Rio is not necessarily a bad thing, it’s just not something that will hold up to the test of time. Let’s face it, animated movies haven’t always been as highly regarded in the past as they are now, so when a studio is trying to sell an animated feature they usually appeal to one of two audiences; 1) the movie connoisseurs who watch the animated movies for the voice acting, story telling, writing, and animation or 2) the children who need to be entertained for an hour and a half. Films such as Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Up, and The Incredibles have held up to the test of time. Sadly, Rio does not.
You should know that I typically avoid animated movies in the movie theater. Not because I hate paying $13 for a movie ticket but because 80% of animated films nowadays appeal to kids between the ages of 5 and 10. So you can understand why, at times during the film, I felt silly sitting in the theater watching Rio make a fool of itself after its huge marketing campaign labeled it as the next Toy Story 3. I’ve come to figure out that any movie with Tracy Morgan in it, voice or not, just isn’t going to live up to expectations. *Aside: Anyone remember “Cop Out” with Morgan and Bruce Willis? It was being touted as the next “Lethal Weapon”…I’m pretty sure it’s on the “worst movies of the last 20 years” list.* The voice cast, excluding Morgan, was actually one of the film’s stronger points. Jesse Eisenberg, fresh off the best performance of his young career in The Social Network, lends his voice as Blu while the always great Anne Hathaway is sensational as Jewel. Leslie Mann is the voice of Linda, Blu’s faithful human companion, with George Lopez, Jamie Foxx, and Will.I.Am (Black Eyed Peas) rounding out the rest of the main characters.
Rather than tell an awe-inspiring story about a misplaced Blue Macaw trying to find his wings while falling in love, the film forgoes that, opting instead to focus on cheap laughs and stupid music numbers that seemed to go on forever. It’s precisely the thing I love the most about Pixar movies, there isn’t any dancing – no singing, just straight up story telling that pulls at your heart strings and takes you on a magical adventure whether it be in a floating house, following a mute robot through space, or pairing two unlikely vehicle companions as they strike up a lasting friendship, Pixar just knows how to make movies.
If you’re looking for a cute movie that will entertain your children, then by all means, go see Rio and support the smaller animated developers. However, if you’re looking for a more engaging cinematic experience, please, go see Rango, as that should be the only animated movie released this year on Pixar’s level.