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Description
"Alright, Blu, you're flying."

Lets continue our Disney/Warner Bros. 100th Anniversary celebration with the story of a domesticated blue macaw as he winds up in a brand new environment, and learns to fend for himself while foiling a sinister smuggling plot; Rio.

In Moose Lake, Minnesota, a crate containing a male Spix's macaw hatchling that was smuggled out of Brazil falls from a truck and is found by a child named Linda Gunderson, who names him Blu.
Fifteen years later, Blu is highly domesticated and unable to fly, and is frequently ridiculed by the Canada geese that come by Linda's bookstore. Ornithologist Túlio Monteiro invites Blu and Linda to Rio de Janeiro for Blu, the last known male of his species, to mate with the last known female.
At Túlio's aviary in Rio, Blu meets his prospective mate, the fiercely independent Jewel who longs to flee back to the wilderness. The macaws are captured by orphan boy Fernando and sulphur-crested cockatoo Nigel, who both work for a smuggler gang led by Marcel, who wants to leave the country quickly to sell Blu and Jewel on the black market.
Fernando learns of Marcel's lack of care for the birds, and begins to have second thoughts.
Meanwhile, Nigel reveals that he was a famous actor who was replaced by a Parakeet, causing him to despise pretty birds, and promises to make Blu and Jewel ugly, before Blu's familiarity with cages allows him and Jewel to escape.
Fernando helps Linda and Túlio search for the birds, while Blu and Jewel meet the toco toucan Rafael, whose bulldog friend, Luiz, will remove the legcuffs holding them together. Rafael tries to teach Blu to fly.
They meet red-crested cardinal Pedro and his yellow canary friend Nico. Nigel coerces a horde of marmosets led by Mauro to capture Blu and Jewel. Pedro and Nico take the macaws to a samba dance party, where they begin to fall in love.
But Blu and Jewel keep their eyes on their goals, and have to put an end to the smuggling gang's operations, and reunite with Linda.

The story is decently well written as while it does suffer from being easily predictable and somewhat formulaic, and does drag at some points, it is still mostly well paced, and it does have a pretty fun premise, and the movie's setting of Rio de Janeiro is a very unique one as it's a setting that's not used all that often in movies. On top of that, the movie does have a fun and adventurous tone, and there are some decently funny jokes as well as some genuine heart to it.
The movie does have a pretty decent sense of humor as although not every jokes lands, there are still a good chunk that do manage to get a decent laugh such as some of the witty banter and dialogue between the characters, some of the snarky remarks and comebacks, some of the wacky gags and slapstick, and some of the more dark and adult jokes.
The movie does have a bit of genuine heart and charm to it, which does lead to some decently heartfelt and charming moments such as the growing friendship/romance between Blu and Jewel, as well as Linda and Tulio
The movie does have a few action scenes that can be pretty fun and adventurous such as Blu and Jewel's escape from Nigel and the smugglers, the gliding scene, the brief battle between the birds and marmosets, and a pretty intense climax.
The animation is amazingly well crafted and looks very pretty and colorful. The characters all have pretty solid designs as well as some pretty lively and fluid movements, the backgrounds and setting are beautifully well crafted and detailed as well as being incredibly large which gives the movie a large scope, and there are some pretty solid effects like the lighting, textures, and more.
The characters
Blu is a decently likable protagonist as even though he is very timid and a little clueless at first, as the movie progresses he starts to grow more of a backbone and learns how to fend for himself, and put his friends before himself.
The supporting characters are a bit of a mixed bag as there are ones that are decently likable and can be decently funny like the fiery Jewel, the kindhearted Linda, the awkward but helpful Tulio, and the decently comedic duo of Rafael and Luiz. But there are those that i don't really care for as they can be pretty pointless like Fernando and the Marmosets, or can get annoying like Pedro and Nico.
The villains are also a bit of a mixed bag as while Nigel is a pretty solid and funny villain who can get pretty intimidating, the smugglers, Marcel, Armando, and Tipa are pretty lame.
The voice acting is pretty solid and does result in some great performances like Jesse Eisenberg as Blu, Anne Hathaway as Jewel, George Lopez as Rafael, Tracy Morgan as Luiz, Jemaine Clement as Nigel, Leslie Mann as Linda, Rodrigo Santoro as Tulio, and more.
The music and songs are pretty solid as the score by John Powell is very well composed and does capture the movie's lighthearted and adventurous tone, and there are some pretty solid and well written songs that can be very lively like "Real in Rio", "Let Me Take You to Rio", "Pretty Bird", the movie's version of "Mas que Nada", and "Telling the World".

Overall, while it's not a great movie, this is still a pretty fun and comedic adventure that is worth checking out, especially if you're really interested in birds.

Cast:
Jesse Eisenberg as Blu
Anne Hathaway as Jewel
will.i.am as Pedro
Jamie Foxx as Nico
George Lopez as Rafael
Tracy Morgan as Luiz
Jemaine Clement as Nigel
Leslie Mann as Linda Gunderson
Sofia Scarpa Saldanha as Young Linda
Rodrigo Santoro as Dr. Túlio Monteiro
Jake T. Austin as Fernando
Carlos Ponce as Marcel
Davi Vieira as Armando
Jeffrey Garcia as Tipa
Jane Lynch as Alice
Wanda Sykes as Chloe
Bebel Gilberto as Eva
Bernardo de Paula as Kipo
Francisco Ramos as the Lead Marmoset

Crew:
Directed by Carlos Saldanha
Screenplay by Don Rhymer, Joshua Sternin, Jennifer Ventimilia, and Sam Harper
Story by Carlos Saldanha, Earl Richey Jones, and Todd Jones
Produced by Bruce Anderson and John C. Donkin
Music and Songs by John Powell, Sérgio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown, Mikael Mutti, Siedah Garrett, Ester Dean, Jorge Ben Jor, will.i.am, Jemaine Clement, Mike Reiss, Taio Cruz, Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Antonio Pecci, and Filho Chico Buarque

Misc.
Production companies: Blue Sky Studios, 20th Century Fox Animation
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date: April 15, 2011
Running time: 1 hour, 36 minutes

Description
"Alright, Blu, you're flying."

Lets continue our Disney/Warner Bros. 100th Anniversary celebration with the story of a domesticated blue macaw as he winds up in a brand new environment, and learns to fend for himself while foiling a sinister smuggling plot; Rio.

In Moose Lake, Minnesota, a crate containing a male Spix's macaw hatchling that was smuggled out of Brazil falls from a truck and is found by a child named Linda Gunderson, who names him Blu.
Fifteen years later, Blu is highly domesticated and unable to fly, and is frequently ridiculed by the Canada geese that come by Linda's bookstore. Ornithologist Túlio Monteiro invites Blu and Linda to Rio de Janeiro for Blu, the last known male of his species, to mate with the last known female.
At Túlio's aviary in Rio, Blu meets his prospective mate, the fiercely independent Jewel who longs to flee back to the wilderness. The macaws are captured by orphan boy Fernando and sulphur-crested cockatoo Nigel, who both work for a smuggler gang led by Marcel, who wants to leave the country quickly to sell Blu and Jewel on the black market.
Fernando learns of Marcel's lack of care for the birds, and begins to have second thoughts.
Meanwhile, Nigel reveals that he was a famous actor who was replaced by a Parakeet, causing him to despise pretty birds, and promises to make Blu and Jewel ugly, before Blu's familiarity with cages allows him and Jewel to escape.
Fernando helps Linda and Túlio search for the birds, while Blu and Jewel meet the toco toucan Rafael, whose bulldog friend, Luiz, will remove the legcuffs holding them together. Rafael tries to teach Blu to fly.
They meet red-crested cardinal Pedro and his yellow canary friend Nico. Nigel coerces a horde of marmosets led by Mauro to capture Blu and Jewel. Pedro and Nico take the macaws to a samba dance party, where they begin to fall in love.
But Blu and Jewel keep their eyes on their goals, and have to put an end to the smuggling gang's operations, and reunite with Linda.

The story is decently well written as while it does suffer from being easily predictable and somewhat formulaic, and does drag at some points, it is still mostly well paced, and it does have a pretty fun premise, and the movie's setting of Rio de Janeiro is a very unique one as it's a setting that's not used all that often in movies. On top of that, the movie does have a fun and adventurous tone, and there are some decently funny jokes as well as some genuine heart to it.
The movie does have a pretty decent sense of humor as although not every jokes lands, there are still a good chunk that do manage to get a decent laugh such as some of the witty banter and dialogue between the characters, some of the snarky remarks and comebacks, some of the wacky gags and slapstick, and some of the more dark and adult jokes.
The movie does have a bit of genuine heart and charm to it, which does lead to some decently heartfelt and charming moments such as the growing friendship/romance between Blu and Jewel, as well as Linda and Tulio
The movie does have a few action scenes that can be pretty fun and adventurous such as Blu and Jewel's escape from Nigel and the smugglers, the gliding scene, the brief battle between the birds and marmosets, and a pretty intense climax.
The animation is amazingly well crafted and looks very pretty and colorful. The characters all have pretty solid designs as well as some pretty lively and fluid movements, the backgrounds and setting are beautifully well crafted and detailed as well as being incredibly large which gives the movie a large scope, and there are some pretty solid effects like the lighting, textures, and more.
The characters
Blu is a decently likable protagonist as even though he is very timid and a little clueless at first, as the movie progresses he starts to grow more of a backbone and learns how to fend for himself, and put his friends before himself.
The supporting characters are a bit of a mixed bag as there are ones that are decently likable and can be decently funny like the fiery Jewel, the kindhearted Linda, the awkward but helpful Tulio, and the decently comedic duo of Rafael and Luiz. But there are those that i don't really care for as they can be pretty pointless like Fernando and the Marmosets, or can get annoying like Pedro and Nico.
The villains are also a bit of a mixed bag as while Nigel is a pretty solid and funny villain who can get pretty intimidating, the smugglers, Marcel, Armando, and Tipa are pretty lame.
The voice acting is pretty solid and does result in some great performances like Jesse Eisenberg as Blu, Anne Hathaway as Jewel, George Lopez as Rafael, Tracy Morgan as Luiz, Jemaine Clement as Nigel, Leslie Mann as Linda, Rodrigo Santoro as Tulio, and more.
The music and songs are pretty solid as the score by John Powell is very well composed and does capture the movie's lighthearted and adventurous tone, and there are some pretty solid and well written songs that can be very lively like "Real in Rio", "Let Me Take You to Rio", "Pretty Bird", the movie's version of "Mas que Nada", and "Telling the World".

Overall, while it's not a great movie, this is still a pretty fun and comedic adventure that is worth checking out, especially if you're really interested in birds.

Cast:
Jesse Eisenberg as Blu
Anne Hathaway as Jewel
will.i.am as Pedro
Jamie Foxx as Nico
George Lopez as Rafael
Tracy Morgan as Luiz
Jemaine Clement as Nigel
Leslie Mann as Linda Gunderson
Sofia Scarpa Saldanha as Young Linda
Rodrigo Santoro as Dr. Túlio Monteiro
Jake T. Austin as Fernando
Carlos Ponce as Marcel
Davi Vieira as Armando
Jeffrey Garcia as Tipa
Jane Lynch as Alice
Wanda Sykes as Chloe
Bebel Gilberto as Eva
Bernardo de Paula as Kipo
Francisco Ramos as the Lead Marmoset

Crew:
Directed by Carlos Saldanha
Screenplay by Don Rhymer, Joshua Sternin, Jennifer Ventimilia, and Sam Harper
Story by Carlos Saldanha, Earl Richey Jones, and Todd Jones
Produced by Bruce Anderson and John C. Donkin
Music and Songs by John Powell, Sérgio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown, Mikael Mutti, Siedah Garrett, Ester Dean, Jorge Ben Jor, will.i.am, Jemaine Clement, Mike Reiss, Taio Cruz, Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Antonio Pecci, and Filho Chico Buarque

Misc.
Production companies: Blue Sky Studios, 20th Century Fox Animation
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date: April 15, 2011
Running time: 1 hour, 36 minutes