Rio 2

The art of compromise, and compromise in art: who knew both would be found in an extension of the animated endeavours of blue birds of Brazil, or in a family film struggling to do more than copy a proven formula? In Rio 2, the sequel to the 2011 movie about the last two surviving Spix’s macaws falling in love in tandem with their respective carers, a strong message about cooperation and concession is communicated. The narrative tells of finding harmony between the old and the new; the busy presentation smacks of attempting to do too much with too little effort.

Blu (voiced by Jesse Eisenberg, The Double) and Jewel (Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables) have settled into a life of coupled bliss in the titular city, with three offspring the product of their happy domesticity. They are happy to stay home when their human companions, researchers Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro, 300: Rise of an Empire) and Linda (Leslie Mann, The Other Woman), head into the Amazon to rehome a rescued bird; however when word comes of maybe more of their species, the feathered friends follow for a tropical holiday. In close pursuit is their old enemy, Nigel (Jemaine Clement, What We Do in the Shadows), the proud and overly theatrical cockatoo looking for revenge and glory.

Clearly certain that he was on to a good thing in the first instance, all that is missing in writer/director Carlos Saldanha’s rehash of his prior success is a romantic angle and a smuggling subplot, here replaced with trying to gain family acceptance and tramping through ecological devastation. As always, the minutiae changes but the bigger picture stays the same, just filled with more antics and developments. The central twosome tries to find a way through the evident incompatibility of their opposing positions of tradition and technology, as a foe attempts to thwart them at every turn, colourful sidekicks revel in song and dance, and people flounder about. To tie it all together with some sense of depth, the feature again makes a statement relevant to the real-life plight of their genus.

Amplifying the basic elements of the original is the plight of most sequels, a feat which Rio 2 achieves with abundant distractions that fail to make a diverting whole. It should come as accepted that the bright and colourful imagery, monopolised by shades of cobalt and crimson, retains the same shine; preserving the same visual energy and movement, all while flirting with 3D protrusions, should similarly be expected. Of course, the film remains on track in these areas, the glossy wrapping on a package overstuffed with familiar content. Trying to make the characters and story just as engaging as their aesthetic rendering by simply adding more of each isn’t the right tactic for viewers of any age, nor does it elicit much in the way of humour despite the workings of five credited writers.

The protagonists, Blu and Jewel, almost get lost in a sea of supporting scenarios that eclipses their well-worn tussle, a situation hardly helped by the overt and constant reinforcement of the accompanying thematic missive. Instead, it is left to the silliest of the film’s sections – Nigel’s attempts to best his adversaries, as complicated by his ego and a new amphibian love interest (Kristin Chenoweth, Hit and Run) – to maintain interest, in short but keenly anticipated slices. Perhaps this is a product of the accompanying voice casting, a recurrent problem from the first film, that sees Clement’s villainous tomfoolery effortlessly trounce the to-type portrayals of his fellow actors to become the real star of the show. Perhaps it is just the feature’s compromise in action yet again, with Rio 2 sacrificing anything surprising for the obviously generic in the pursuit of another seemingly easy animated hit of the broad-appeal, feel-good variety.