{"id":705,"date":"2011-04-16T07:36:09","date_gmt":"2011-04-16T14:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dvdpinson.com\/?p=705"},"modified":"2011-04-16T07:36:09","modified_gmt":"2011-04-16T14:36:09","slug":"rio-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=705","title":{"rendered":"Rio Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/24_0006_C+-merged211.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-706\" title=\"24_0006_C+-(merged)\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/24_0006_C+-merged211.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"55\" height=\"45\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/p>\n<p>  var _gaq = _gaq || [];\n  _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-22138541-1']);\n  _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);<\/p>\n<p>  (function() {\n    var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text\/javascript'; ga.async = true;\n    ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https:\/\/ssl' : 'http:\/\/www') + '.google-analytics.com\/ga.js';\n    var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);\n  })();<\/p>\n<p><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Rio<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/r3111.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-707\" title=\"r3\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/r311-300x137.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"137\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nSometimes the parts are greater than the sum. This is the case with the new family film, \u201cRio,\u201d which features beautiful, photo-realistic animation, great supporting characters and a scenery-munching villain that delivers giggles with a sneer. The problem is all elements other than the periphery (i.e. the main characters, the plot. You know, the little things) are bland and humdrum making for an ultimately stale experience with flashes of charm.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/r2111.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-708\" title=\"r2\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/r211-300x99.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"99\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n\u201cRio\u201d is the story of Blu (Jesse Eisenberg), an aptly named blue macaw who was stolen from his nest when he was a wee bird-ling by smugglers and hauled off to lovely Minnesota. There Blu is rescued by his adoring owner Linda (Leslie Mann) and, thanks to a years-spanning montage, we learn that the two are inseparable. Blu lives a pampered life that is disrupted when a man comes looking for him, claiming that he is the last male blue macaw in the world. Reluctantly, Blu and Linda head to gorgeous Rio De Janeiro to meet Jewel (Anne Hathaway), the final female blue macaw, and see if sparks fly.<\/p>\n<p>Blu is a bit too domesticated and Jewel finds him a bit fowl (pun. Sorry). He talks too much, he\u2019s too na\u00efve and, worst of all, he can\u2019t fly. The two don\u2019t seem to have much of a future together but when thieves steal endangered birds , they must work together to escape and survive.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_709\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-709\" style=\"width: 256px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/r5111.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-709\" title=\"r5\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/r5111.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"256\" height=\"192\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-709\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nigel the Killer Cockatoo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The film has a sprinkling of songs throughout (one of which teaches us that \u201cGazebo\u201d rhymes with \u201cRio\u201d thanks to a chorus that repeats the words ad nauseam). Only one song stands out: \u201cPretty Bird\u201d crooned by the film\u2019s evil miscreant named Nigel voiced to New Zealander comedian Jemaine Clement from \u201cFlight of the Concords\u201d fame.  Clement is the highlight of the film, channeling his inner Jeremy Irons and delivering a snarky villain reminiscent of Scar from \u201cThe Lion King\u201d. Tracy Morgan, George Lopez and \u201cBlack Eyed Peas\u201d front man Will I Am all lend their voices and deliver most of the humor to the film.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The film features some wonderful location shots of the city of Rio with the huge \u201cChrist the Redeemer\u201d statue overlooking the city. The 3-D effects are best used here as we fly through the city streets and nearby jungles. Any scene that takes place indoors is visually flat, however, and the \u201cextra dimension\u201d is lost for most the running length.<\/p>\n<p>Director Carlos Saldanha has worked on two of the \u201cIce Age\u201d sequels and this film has a similar feel and sensibilities. Fans of that series should have a fine time with \u201cRio\u201d. There is something pedestrian about those films to me though that makes them border on plain and boring. \u201cRio\u201d isn\u2019t offensively bad it\u2019s just uneventful.<br \/>\nhttp:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=p_8Pf8klXDU<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rio Sometimes the parts are greater than the sum. This is the case with the new family film, \u201cRio,\u201d which features beautiful, photo-realistic animation, great supporting characters and a scenery-munching villain that delivers giggles with a sneer. The problem is all elements other than the periphery (i.e. the main characters, the plot. You know, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1519,4237,9620,10549,10633,17074,24288],"class_list":["post-705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-anne-hathaway","tag-childrens-films","tag-ice-age","tag-jemaine-clement","tag-jesse-eisenberg","tag-rio-movie-review","tag-will-i-am"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}