The fun-filled and super-energized Rio  is back, and although much of the action doesn’t take place in Rio de Janeiro (like the first part, hence the name), the gang once again joins hands to give you an adventure you will never forget! They travel to a new place, find new friends (and foes) and despite the mix of many storylines, manage to evoke laughters from kids as well as the parents who accompany them.

Rio 2 – Rumble in the jungle!

‘Hi, I am Blu’ is how the nerdy protagonist describes himself to his fellow Spix’s Macaws, who reply with ‘Aren’t we all’? This is the joyous nature of Rio 2 where Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) and Jewel (Anne Hathaway) visit the Amazons with their three kids – and have a hell of an adventure! Not only does Jewel get to meet her long-lost father Eduardo (Andy Garcia) and sister Mimi, she also hangs out with her childhood friend Roberto (Bruno Mars), much to Blu’s displeasure.

Where there is good, there is evil and this time, the villains are after the rain forest that houses the Macaws – Blue and Red – and in order to save the forest, the Macaws will have to do something they haven’t done before – fight for their right!

What I was expecting?

For someone who loved Rio, the sequel isn’t as good, although it isn’t all bad. The central characters – Blu (Jesse Eisenberg), Jewel (Anne Hathaway), Nico (Jamie Foxx), Pedro (will.i.am), Rafael (George Lopez) and Luiz (Tracy Morgan) are back and so are many new characters. But instead of the usual ‘the more the merrier’, ‘the more the messier’ it gets. There are some elements taken from The West Side Story, some from American Idol, a few from Rio and some seemed to out from the script of Meet The Parents franchise where a hard-to-please father-in-law makes life miserable for the protagonist.

What I wasn’t expecting? 

The main problem with Rio 2 is that there are too many things happening at the same time. The Spix’s Macaws have to defend their territory from being invaded by the villainous human beings; they have to stand their ground against the Scarlet (Red) Macaws; they also need to save Blu’s human friends Linda and Tulio from meeting their fate; they have to take out the time to complete the auditions of a talent hunt competition and above all, do something about a cockatoo on the loose, with revenge on his mind! The cockatoo Nigel was the main antagonist in Rio and with the help of his new sidekicks – Charlie the mute anteater and Gabi the poisonous frog – he tries to avenge his loss of flight, by promptly going for a fight!

What I did experience…

The music is the essence of the film and although fans of the original The Lion King may not find it amusing, the kids would love the songs and the situations. The renditions – be it from actors Anne Hathaway, Jemaine Clement, Andy Garcia, Jesse Eisenberg or the singers – are near perfect and will make up for the extra baggage the storyline carries with itself. The American Idol-inspired competition is sure to bring laughs on the faces of those who don’t require logic to smile. The dialogues are quite amusing at times, especially when Blu tries hard to impress his new-found family, and fails miserably. The lines from Shakespeare that Nigel delivers are not likely to appeal to the kids, but the reaction they evoke from fellow characters is surely worth mention!

What I will never forget …

There are new characters in this installment but that doesn’t mean that the old ones don’t get a chance to shine – this is their film and they have a lot to offer! The kids – music-loving Carla (Rachel Crow), the know-it-all Bia (Amandla Stenberg), and the mischievous Tiago (Pierce Gagnon) – are a welcome addition to the franchise and same can be said of the other animals especially the turtles who take a lot of time to just high-five; the poison-dart frog Gabi (Kristin Chenoweth) who loves Nigel the cockatoo; the creepy monkey who loves to eat lollypops and the anteater who is the silliest of all animals in the movie.

With such colorful characters, failure is out of question!

Rio 2 may not have done justice to its predecessor by being too loaded but it gets full marks for being wonderfully animated and suitably-voiced. The 3D effect is to die-for since you feel like flying in the Amazon, such is the clarity of the technology. The vibrant colors, the amazing depiction of nature and top-notch animation makes it one of the better animated flicks of 2014. As for the multiple plots, some are winners and some aren’t. But on the whole, Rio 2 wins the day!

Omair Alavi works for Geo TV and can be contacted at omair78@gmail.com