Actors: Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jesse Eisenberg, Jamie Foxx, Rodrigo Santoro, Leslie Mann, Jake T. Austin
Director: Carlos Saldanha
Directors: Carlos Saldanha
Rated: G (General Audience)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: July 15, 2014
Run Time: 101 minutes
Film: 3 out of 5 stars
Blu-ray: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Extras: 4 out of 5 stars
When I saw that “Rio 2” was being released, I wasn’t really super excited for it. It is one of those kid flicks that was good but nothing special at all. What “Rio 2” does have is a fantastic A-list cast including Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro, Bruno Mars, Miguel Ferrer, Jamie Foxx, Rita Moreno, Jemaine Clement and Kristen Chenoweth. The sequel is a bit of a mess in terms of story but it is quite pretty to look at and my two year old daughter enjoyed it quite a bit as well.
Official Premise: Blu (Eisenberg), Jewel (Hathaway) and their three kids are living the perfect domesticated life in the magical city that is Rio de Janeiro. But when Jewel decides the kids need to learn to live like real birds, she insists the family venture into the Amazon. As Blu tries to fit in with his new neighbors, he worries he may lose Jewel and the kids to the call of the wild.
20th Century Fox is giving this film the Deluxe Edition treatment including a Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD + UltraViolet Digital Copy. One thing this film does use well is the added third dimension. The flying scenes are great and very well executed. There are a few other gags were the added format works well additionally. I watched this in 2D also and it was just as enjoyable, so to me that is a win win, especially since my daughter doesn’t do the glasses well.
The 1080p transfer overall is just extremely solid. The colors in the film are outstanding and the animation just so crisp and sharp. The DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 was a delight as well since the film is packed with very fun music. I actually think that that was my favorite part of the film was the music, in that sense it reminded me of “Happy Feet 2”, terrible movie but fun music.
Besides amazing audio/video, Fox jam-packed this Deluxe Edition with some fun special features for the parents and the kids. “Boom, Shake, Snap: The Local Sounds of Brazil -The Bodybeats of the Barbatuques” is a three part featurette including “How to Play the Barbatuques!”; “Rhythmic Rio” and “The Upbeat Uakti Jam”. “Birds and Beats: The Singing Talents of Rio 2” looks into the voice talent that bring these characters to life. “Nigel the Shakespearean Cockatoo and Friends” is a fun feature on the character that Jemaine Clement voices.
If you didn’t get jist of this movie having to do with music and dancing, it is drilled home with “Music, Dance, Sing-Along Machine”, which is a three part collection of music that will get you up and shaking that butt. With “Music Machine” we get 10 songs including “What Is Love”, “Beautiful Creatures” and “I Will Survive”. In the “Dance-Along” there are 4 songs including “Ô Vida” and “It’s a Jungle Out Here”. In the “Sing-Along”, there are 6 songs including “Welcome Back” and “Don’t Go Away”. “You Be the Judge” is a collection of funny auditions from Tapir, Monkey and Turtle.
There are music videos for “What is Love?” Music Video by Janelle Monáe and a multi-language sequence for “I Will Survive”. Lastly, there is is a deleted scene, still hallery, theatrical trailers and a “Rio Refresher” included to catch you up from the first film. So there is not much in terms of the production itself but these are fun and very entertaining features for the whole family to enjoy.
