Rio
2
(2014/20th
Century Fox Blu-ray w/DVD)
Picture:
A/B Sound: A/B Extras: B+ Film: C+
Rio
2 is
not the worst animated film I have seen but certainly not the best.
Blue Sky Animation has
come a long way from the first Ice
Age
film and has achieved a much more polished look to their characters
and detail that rivals Pixar.
The story here feels like a mish mash of several other films. There
are sprinkles of Meet
The Parents,
Avatar,
The
Jungle Book,
and others. The musical numbers are probably the worst part of the
experience, at least they were for me, as many of the songs play off
of existing ones in popular culture and the original ones not too
memorable. The messages behind the film will probably go over most
kids' heads but will hit the adults - touching upon racism,
environmentalism, and the power of friendship. The stunning voice
cast consists of Jesse Eisenburg, Anne Hathaway, Will.i.am, Jamie
Foxx, George Lopez, Leslie Mann, Tracey Morgan, and the last film for
writer Don Rhymer (who wrote the first Rio
and episodes of The
Hogan Family
and Coach).
Welcome
to the Jungle of fun! Blu and Jewel enjoy life in Rio with their 3
kids, the oldest and music-loving Carla, book smart Bia, and the
youngest and mischievous Tiago. Meanwhile, Blu's former owner, Linda
Gunderson and her ornithologist husband, Tulio are on an expedition
in the Amazon and eventually discover a quick-flying spix's macaw
that loses one of its feathers. When word gets out about this
through television, Jewel believes that they should go to the Amazon
to help find the blue macaws. While the kids are ecstatic, Blu is
uncertain, but is pressured into going along. Rafael, Nico and Pedro
decide to come along. Luiz attempts to follow, but fails. Blu
brings a fanny pack full of supplies, one of which he uses mostly is
a GPS, much to Jewel's displeasure.
Meanwhile,
the leader of a group that is in a line of illegal logging named Big
Boss, discovers Linda and Tulio's expedition to find the macaws and
orders his henchmen to hunt them down to avoid disruptions to their
work. Also, Blu and Jewel's old enemy, Nigel the cockatoo, has
survived the plane crash from the first film, but is now unable to
fly and is working as a fortune teller/con artist. When he sees Blu
and his family flying overhead of him, he wastes no time deciding to
go after them in revenge. He enlists two minions to help him in his
plans; a silent anteater named Charlie and a poison dart frog named
Gabi, the latter of which is in love with Nigel. Blu and his family
use a boat to get toward the jungle (with Nigel's first plan of
revenge being inadvertently foiled by Charlie), and when they arrive,
they discover a flock of blue macaws that are hiding in a secret
paradise land. From here the action unfolds and Jewel is reunited
with her Father, the villainous loggers and the birds have a face
off, and Jewel and Blu must choose whether they should return to the
home land or start a new live in the Amazon.
The
1080p high definition transfer on the disc is a huge highlight -
capturing incredible textures and colors without a single flaw. The
original widescreen aspect ratio is 2.40:1 on the disc and looks
great on your HDTV. The powerful English DTS-HD MA 7.1 track is
equally as impressive. Also on the disc is English Descriptive Audio
5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, and
Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1. The standard definition looks fine for
the format but is no match for the Blu-ray featuring a lossy English
Dolby Digital 5.1 track and the various language tracks available on
the Blu-ray. The Ultraviolet copy looks great on a small portable
device or tablet as well but again doesn't match the Blu-ray
transfer.
Fox
really packed on the extras on this disc that leave little to be
desired. Of course, they are geared towards the younger crowd.
Special Features are a Rio
Refresher, Deleted Scene, Boom, Shake, Snap: The Local Sounds of
Brazil, Birds and Beats: The Singing Talents of Rio 2, Nigel the
Shakespearean Cockatoo and Friends…Music, Dance, Sing-Along
Machine, You Be The Judge Auditions,
What
is Love Lyric Video by Janelle Monoe,
Still
Gallery,
and the teaser
short for upcoming film Almost Home
that played before Rio
2 in
theaters.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.vimeo.com/jamielockhart
