Rio (2011)

Rio is a 2011 Brazilian-American 3D computer-animated musical adventure comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios and directed by Carlos Saldanha. The title refers to the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, where the film is set. The film features the voices of Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro, Jemaine Clement, George Lopez, Tracy Morgan and Jamie Foxx.

Plot
Captured by smugglers as a hatchling, a macaw named Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) never learned to fly and lives a happily domesticated life in Minnesota with his human friend, Linda. Blu is thought to be the last of his kind, but when word comes that Jewel (Anne Hathaway), a lone female, lives in Rio de Janeiro, Blu and Linda go to meet her. Animal smugglers kidnap Blu and Jewel, but the pair soon escape and begin a perilous adventure back to freedom -- and Linda.

Why It's Worth A Trip To Rio

 * 1) The animation is spectacular, truly bringing the energetic and lively city of Rio to life. The animation especially shines during the musical numbers, which allows the visuals to become more vibrant and colorful.
 * 2) Nigel is a legitimately fantastic villain, as even though he can have some silly moments, he can come off as a threatening presence to the protagonists.
 * 3) The relationship between Blu and Jewel is really interesting, and the pair have fun chemistry. It also helps that the two are individually likeable with their own personality, with Blu being goofy and funny and Jewel being strong and badass yet also hilarious, making them a very unique couple.
 * 4) The voice acting is pretty good, but Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway and Jemaine Clement beautifully stands out from the rest by perfectly nailing the roles of Blu, Jewel and Nigel, respectively.
 * 5) Nico, Pedro and Rafael supply some great jokes, such as when Rafael tries to show Blu a human enjoying hang-gliding, only for the human to be in complete fear.
 * 6) On the topic of the comedy, the humor is all-around okay. There isn't too many laugh-out-loud jokes, but there are plenty of gags that do lead to a few solid chuckles.
 * 7) The film did have a hand in raising awareness about the Spix's macaw, which was nearing extinction by the time the film was released.
 * 8) The musical numbers are particularly catchy, which is helped by the batucada theme of the music.
 * 9) The action scenes are pretty well-choreographed, especially the chase in the Carnival parade.
 * 10) The film wound up being such a success both critically and financially, that it's the only Blue Sky film (since the six others didn't in time because of the closure of the studio) to spawn a sequel other than Ice Age, even if Rio 2 was subsequentually weaker. We will have to wait and see what Disney will do with the upcoming project.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Despite the movie's comedy being all-around decent, the jokes can often rely on teenage gags, which can be inappropriate for a young audience.
 * 2) * Speaking of which, the scene where Nigel gets chopped by a fan is very disturbing and out of place since it's a G rated film (although not as disturbing as it was initially meant to be as Nigel was supposed to die after getting chopped, but this was scrapped).
 * 3) Blu's plot about not being able to fly could be considered not very interesting and can come off as predictable to some.
 * 4) The relationship with Blu and Jewel, while well-developed, can feel a bit cliche, as it reuses a bunch of tropes found in any other rom-com.
 * 5) Minor false advertising: In the poster and other renders, Jewel has a pink flower in her head, but she never has it on in the actual movie.

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Trivia

 * Jesse Eisenberg, Blu's voice actor, has previous experience with Anne Hathaway, who voiced Jewel. They previously stared in a short lived 1999 sitcom called "Get Real".
 * Blu was originally going to be voiced by Neil Patrick Harris (Harris voiced the character in a teaser), but he left the project, therefore giving Jesse Eisenberg the role. Eisenberg was Carlos Saldanha's first choice as Blu's replacement in case Harris left.