|
 As
the song goes, “I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky.”
Well, Blu doesn’t. The blue macaw is a resident of Minnesota, USA,
happily domesticated by his adoring human, Linda, and without a thought
or need to take wing. The pair is so well-matched; their self-imposed
social isolation doesn’t seem like a bad thing. The safe contentment of
their daily routine together goes through a major upheaval when a weird
bird-brain enters the picture. Ornithologist Tulio has been looking for
the macaw, explaining that Blu is the last male of his kind and a mate
has been found for him. With a trip to the Rio homeland he was stolen
from as a baby, Blu might be able to save his own species. Though
worried and dubious, Linda thinks of the bigger picture and the pair
step way out of their comfort and climate zones for the sunny shores of
Brazil. Blu’s meeting with his intended, Jewel, the beautiful macaw
captured in the wild for the sake of rebreeding, doesn’t exactly go
smoothly. Feisty Jewel does not appreciate being kept prisoner and is
bemused by Blu’s meekness and refusal to escape with her. One prison
gives way to another after a poacher manages to steal both rare birds
from the conservatory and this time escape is imperative, but there’s
that whole I-don’t-fly problem of Blu’s. Blu’s inability to do what
most birds are born to do grounds Jewel as well, and the pair must run
chained at the leg through the city streets, hoping to find a way out of
their bond and back to their respective homes.
From
the opening sequence, where a bird’s-eye perspective overlooking Rio de
Janeiro flies into a raucous jungle samba exploding with the blinding
colours of the birds of the Amazon, Rio has us in its charming grip.
The visuals of Rio are dazzling and the music is outstanding. The
film’s details; whether on Copacabana beach, hang-gliding down Corcovado
mountain past the towering Christ the Redeemer statue, in the crowded
favelas with their corrugated rooftops, or in the eye-exploding midst of
colour and light that is Carnaval, make Rio is a gorgeous thing to see.
Our story of the two birds that need to get to their homes is a sweet
one that works on many levels as one of those birds doesn’t really know
where his home is. Along the way Blu and Jewel must escape their
enemies, including a vain, monstrous cockatoo that has no compunction
about selling out his fellow bird, and the pair makes many new friends
who help Blu find not only what makes living in Rio so wonderful, but
what makes life itself worth living.
Rio de
Janeiro-born director Carlos Saldanha brings Brazilian music legend,
Sergio Mendes in to create much of the music which is such an integral
part of the film. When Blu is an infant, it is the beat of the samba
that first rouses his interest in the world and then later at a
wonderful Carnaval party scene it is what also begins to lift his heart
to remember that he is a wild, free creature. It also helps him to
overcome his differences with the disdainful Jewel, who cannot relate to
this creature so like her but from outer space … or Minnesota.
Jesse
Eisenberg voices the neurotic Blu perfectly, which I guess means you
can’t get away from typecasting even in a cartoon. The eternally perky
Anne Hathway is a wonderful fit as the courageous Jewel. It was a
welcome surprise to hear her underused singing pipes harmonising in a
few scenes over the infectious samba. Jemaine Clement is the gross,
venal cockatoo, Nigel, who gives us a clever tune about his fall from
beloved bird star to ugly, old poacher. George Lopez, will i. am and
Jamie Foxx provide the funny as feathered friends who try to help Blu to
escape, then get his groove back. Leslie Mann is sweet as Blu’s bird
mommy, Linda, and Brazilian sex symbol Rodrigo Santoro plays it
extremely silly as the wacky ornithologist. The variation of accents
was a bit distracting; with the exception of Rio-born Santoro, none of
the other Brazilian characters have any sort of Portuguese accent.
Messrs. am and Foxx, Mlle. Hathaway and Tracy Morgan as a helpful
bulldog with a salivary gland problem sound distinctly American, though
I’m sure this bothers the target demo for the film not at all. While
we’re on the subject of the doggie drool, wow, is there a lot of it. In
a lowering of the script’s bar to the more gross-out humour that
Hollywood seems to think is catnip to little kids, the
nearly-unwatchable abundance of spit dripping, looming and flying from
the bulldog’s jowls actually become part of the story. Before then,
some slapstick and burly characters turned out in gold lamé for Carnaval
is about as silly as it gets and the majority of the film’s humour is
clever enough to entertain children and adults.
In the
end, it’s the combination of the film’s fun script, excellent soundtrack
and the beauty of its stunning visuals that make Rio a standout.
Exuberant and full of life, music and colour as the city for which it’s
named, director Carlos Saldanha’s animated love letter to Rio will
delight the entire family.
~ The
Lady Miz Diva
April
15th, 2011
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