Rio 2 (2014): Dir: Carlos Saldanha / Voices: Jessie Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Jemaine Clement, Kristin Chenoweth, Bruno Mars: As with the wretched Crocodile Dundee 2, this animated sequel reverses the events of the first film. This time it is discovered that Blu and Jewel are not the only blue macaws in the world as more have been discovered in the Amazon. Blu and Jewel live in a bird sanctuary under protection but Jewel desires to return to her roots. Blu is reluctant but at the urge of his three ambitious hatchlings and other feathered friends he relents. Once there Jewel is reunited with her family and this is where familiar formula elements rain in. Her uptight father will, of course, not accept Blu, leaving him to have to prove himself. And let us not forget that male suitor who is so much better than Blu at pretty much everything. They are also being pursued by cockatoo Nigel out for revenge on Blu after the events of the first film. He is joined by an affectionate poison dart frog named Gabi and an anteater with a tongue for many talents. Despite dim plotting and formula story telling the climax works with the Amazon clashing with human greed. Jessie Eisenberg voices Blu who is adjusting to non-city life. Anne Hathaway voices Jewel who seeks home. Jemaine Clement and Kristin Chenoweth provide much hilarity voicing Nigel and Gabi. Bruno Mars voices the potential suitor to Jewel whom is slicker than Blu and seems to be better at everything. Unfortunately the gorgeous Amazon presented cannot make up for a drab screenplay that ultimately goes to the birds. Score: 5 ½ / 10

Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) and Jewel (Anne Hathaway) have three kids now Carla, Bia, and Tiago. Jewel is dismayed that Blu is passing his domesticated ways onto the kids. Linda and Tulio are traveling deep in the Amazon and discover a blue feather. Blu and Jewel are amazed that they may not be the only Spix's macaw left and the family goes off to find their flock. Rafael, Nico and Pedro follows along on the expedition. The group is spotted by Nigel who has been rendered flightless since the first movie. There is also logger Big Boss who wants to protect his illegal operation from being discovered by Linda and Tulio.

This is bright. This is loud. This is colorful. This is great for the kids. Sadly there is nothing for the adults. The story isn't very imaginative. There are no jokes for anybody with an adult sense of humor. This is mostly a kids' movie. The soccer is lots of fun and the final battle is actually exciting. Other than that, the story is quite bland.

Brazilian-born director Carlos Saldanha (after working on the Ice Age movies earlier in his career) is back too for the follow-up just like (voice) actors Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway three years after the original movie. This review comes from the perspective of somebody who has not seen the original yet. I assume the party guests early on and those who babysit and join the birds had major roles in the first film. So it was a nice inclusion for everybody who liked the original, even if these characters did not really have much screen time here. Other than that there is not much point or development to the characters.

This sequel deals mostly about Blu and Jewel finding more of their kind. The one thing I liked most about ti, however, was the part which deals with humans destroying the rain forest. And said rain forest is truly beautifully animated in this movie, possibly its highlight. The story never really dragged too much and was pretty decent too. The only major flaw was the whole casting show plot. It was never funny and just felt totally out of place fishing for cheap laughs. There were few really big highlight and flaws in these 100 minutes, but this was certainly one of them. The film also suffered a bit from having simply too many antagonists: the builders, Eduardo, Roberto, the red parrots, the cockatoo with his frog lady. Admittedly, they made the most of that near the end when they managed to unite everybody to fight against the humans destroying their rain forest which was quite a nice turn. The story of animals sticking together to save their living environment is always a nice one and "saved" (although it wasn't so bad that it needed saving) the movie here.

Rio 2 won't make a place under my favorite animated movies by any means, but it's certainly worth a watch thanks to the beautiful animation and also will make you laugh on several occasions. Recommended.