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BaftaBaby 
"Always entranced by cinema."
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 Posted - 04/14/2011 : 23:08:47
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With the execrable Big Momma's Don Rhymer on screenplay duty I was hoping he might uncover some "wit genes" to complement the excellent Fox animation and pretty fine voice performances. Uhn-uh!
Jesse Eisenberg is almost Woody Allenesque as Blu, an inadvertent pet Macaw, kidnapped as a fledgling from his Brazilian jungle home to be raised in freezy Minnesota. His devoted human companion Linda allows herself to be talked into a trip to Rio to mate Blu, the last male of his species, with feisty Jewel, the last female. Anne Hathaway adds another string to her bow collection, proving an understated but powerful foil for her would be avian paramour.
Most of the other characters aren't really strong enough to overcome the lack-lustre dialogue and a script that sacrifices originality to loud music and ersatz action.
But the inevitable carnival sequence engages, even if the story doesn't. I thought the kids in the audience had it about right -- sometimes the film held them, and sometimes they were just bored.
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Rio
