Early preview of 'Rio' reveals charming avian adventure

By Sarah Sluis

A running plot point in talking animal movies seems to be captivity--either being thrust into it or escaping from its clutches. In Finding Nemo, for example, it was utterly bizarre to see Nemo in a dentist's aquarium after spending most of the movie at sea: the two worlds were so at odds with each other. I'm told that Madagascar tackles a similar theme, and in a way aren't the toys in Toy Story captive to their owners? Rio, the latest from Blue Sky Studios (which was behind the Ice Age films), also takes on the theme of captivity, pairing up one captive blue macaw with another raised in the wild.

Director Carlos Saldahna, who had directed or co-directed the three Ice Age films, as well as Robots, introduced short clips of the 3D animal adventure, which comes out on April 15, at a New York preview event. The movie centers on Blu (voiced by Jesse Eisenberg, showing off his knack for speedy dialogue), a rare bird who was captured before he learned how to fly, and grew up with a loving bookstore owner in Minnesota (Leslie Mann). When it's discovered he's one of the last blue macaws on earth, Blu is transported to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, to mate with a rare female, the recently captured Jewel (Anne Hathaway).

As expected in an adventure tale, there are plenty of twists and turns and encounters with characters both dastardly and kind. The action sequences had a nice dash of comedy in them that has a surprisingly universal appeal. I also predict a run on pet stores (bet on macaw futures!) due to an opening sequence that shows the symbiotic morning routine of bird and owner (think Doc's breakfast machine in Back to the Future).

Then there's the below-the-equator setting. Saldahna, a native of Brazil, talked up how the film makes use of Rio's landmarks, music, national pastime (football) and famous festival, Carnaval. For example, the film's opening dance number involving hundreds of birds is set to a samba beat and the lyrics were originally recorded in Portuguese. The birds' movements had the feel of Carnaval performers (a bit ironic given that these performers are often clad in feathers themselves).

CG Animation has flourished under Pixar and now DreamWorks Animation, which released the Oscar-nominated How to Train Your Dragon in 2010. What I saw of Rio doesn't have quite the visual twinkle, complicated lighting, and extra polish that I've seen in Disney, Pixar, or DreamWorks Animation--but it also doesn't have their kind of budgets or manpower, a fact pointed out to me by Saldahna, who also counts Dragon as one of his favorites last year. What Rio has, from what I saw, is an adventure tale with compelling characters, plot, and clear (not groundbreaking--again, that goes to those with the big budgets) visuals. And really, if you're a kid, you're going to notice the fact that a bird bounces off a woman's bikini bottom, not the texture of the fabric or the shadow reflected in the sand. With its Spring Break/pre-Easter time slot, Rio has the kind of time slot that demands blockbuster results. Food for thought: Each of the Ice Age films approached, but didn't top, $200 million domestically, but foreign grosses went up $200 million with each sequel ($206 milion, $460 million, $690 million).