Flying off once again needlessly to Brazil, “Rio 2” arrives to tell the tale of two Spix macaws that have some more wacky adventures in the rainforest.
Blu (Jesse Eisenberg, “ The Social Network”), a sheltered bird raised in Minnesota, was tasked with ensuring the survival of his species by mating with another of his kind named Jewel (Anne Hathaway, “Les Miserables”). When “Rio 2” begins, the couple have begat the world three younglings, but with those new kids comes a whole host of conventional parenting problems.
Eventually, the discovery of a hidden grove filled with Spix macaws temps the itinerant couple to travel deep into the Amazon hoping to find a way to rekindle relations with their feathered friends. Meanwhile, Linda (Leslie Mann, “This is 40”) and her husband and ornithologist companion Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro, “300: Rise of an Empire”) get caught up in a scheme by a wealthy lumber magnate to take down the very same section rainforest where all these birds live.
To cut to it, “Rio 2” is meaningless. It has enough catchy tunes and bright colors to keep one’s attention, but the film has virtually no purpose. “Rio 2” is bogged by an endless series of side stories. One involves the villain from “Rio,” Nigel (Jemaine Clement, “Men in Black III”), who is now flightless and still holds a grudge against Blu for taking his ability to fly since the time he was hurdled into an airplane propellor. “Rio 2” also explores Blu’s inability to leave behind his neurotic ways of wearing a fanny packs and using GPS systems to find his way home.
Along for the proceedings is Gabi (Kristin Chenoweth, “Glee”), a poisonous frog who’s fallen madly in love with Nigel, and an anteater with an appreciation for vaudeville. There’s family reunions with Jewel finding her father voiced by Andy Garcia (“Rob the Mob”) and Bruno Mars showboating his vocal range. Everyone reads their lines and goes home with a paycheck.
While the first “Rio” was wildly successful leading to a heap of cash flowing into the coffers of Blue Sky Studios, it really shouldn’t have been a sign that there must have been an immense clamor for more “Rio.”
“Rio 2” is not vapid entertainment, but with a plot that’s too flimsy to fly, it’s also not entirely fascinating either.
