Rio 2

Plot

Blue is macaws Blu and Jewel and their three children—Bia, Carla, and Tiago—are living happily in the city until Jewel realizes that her children are becoming more like humans. Meanwhile, Blu's former owner, Linda Gunderson and her ornithologist husband, Tulio are on an expedition in the Amazon and, after a fall down a waterfall, discover a quick-flying Spix's macaw that loses one of its feathers. When word gets out about this through television, Jewel believes that they should go to the Amazon to help find the blue macaws. While the kids are ecstatic, Blu is uncertain, but he is pressured into going along. Rafael, Nico and Pedro decide to come along. Luiz attempts to follow but fails. Blu brings a fanny pack full of supplies, one of which he uses mostly is a GPS, much to Jewel's displeasure.

Meanwhile, the leader of a group in a line of illegal logging named Big Boss, discovers Linda and Tulio's expedition to find the macaws and orders his henchmen to hunt them down to avoid disruptions to their work. Also, Blu and Jewel's old nemesis, Nigel the cockatoo, has survived the plane crash from the first film, but he is now unable to fly and is working as a fortune teller/con artist. When he sees Blu and his family flying overhead, he immediately decides to seek revenge on them. He enlists two minions to help him in his plans; a silent anteater named Charlie and a poison dart frog named Gabi, who is in love with Nigel. Blu and his family use a boat to get to the jungle (with Nigel's first plan of revenge being inadvertently foiled by Charlie); and, when they arrive, they find nothing. However, they are eventually taken to a flock of blue macaws that are hiding in a secret paradise land. There, they meet Jewel's stern long-lost father, Eduardo, his older sister Mimi, and Jewel's childhood friend, Roberto. Eduardo seems unimpressed with Blu's domesticated human behavior.

While searching for the macaws, Linda and Tulio are eventually trapped by the loggers. Meanwhile, Blu does his best to fit in with the flock, as his family and friends are doing, although the flock (especially Eduardo) are against humans and all things human. Meanwhile, a disguised Nigel plans to kill Blu at the new Carnival show after landing in an audition hosted by Rafael, Nico, Pedro, and Carla. When Blu tries to pick a Brazilian nut for Jewel, he accidentally tries to get it in the territory of the Spix macaw's enemies, the scarlet macaws, led by the hostile Felipe. Blu inadvertently causes war between the two tribes for food when he accidentally hits Felipe with a twig. The war turns out to be just like football (soccer), and Blu accidentally costs the flock the food when he sends the fruit ball into his own team's goal.

Blu visits Tulio and Linda's site, where he discovers that it has been majorly disturbed. After discovering the loggers are destroying the jungle, Blu sends Roberto (who followed Blu) to warn the flock as he saves Linda and Tulio. Blu persuades the macaws to defend their homes, and they easily outmatch the loggers with help from the scarlet macaws and the other animals. Big Boss tries to blow up the trees as a back-up plan, but Blu steals the lit dynamite. Nigel goes after Blu, and reveals himself as they are falling down when he tugs on the dynamite. After the dynamite goes off, Blu and Nigel engage in a battle while tangled in vines. Gabi and Charlie try to help Nigel by shooting Blu with a dart that has Gabi's poison on it, but it accidentally hits Nigel, who gives a Shakespearean death speech before seemingly dying. Gabi, in a Romeo and Juliet-style, tries to commit suicide by drinking her own poison and the pair are seemingly dead. However, Bia reveals that Gabi isn't poisonous at all (she was lied to by her parents that she was). Nigel tries to attack Blu one last time, but Gabi showers Nigel with affection against his will. Meanwhile, Big Boss is eaten alive by a boa constrictor, killing him.

With the flock now under Linda and Tulio's protection, Blu and Jewel decide to live in the Amazon with their kids and friends, though still agreeing to visit Rio in the summer. Meanwhile, Nigel and Gabi are captured by Tulio, and are both sent back to Rio. Luiz finally arrives in the Amazon after hitching a ride with Kipo, and Charlie joins the birds' party.

Cast

Production

On January 25, 2012, while speaking to the Associated Press, Sérgio Mendes who co-wrote a song for the first film spoke about the sequel, saying: "I think the plan is for the movie to come three or four months before the World Cup. Fox has been talking about (it) and it looks like it's going to happen. We're going to have a meeting I think next week and Carlos is coming to town to tell us the story, and it looks like it's a go." In April 2012, Deadline.com reported that Jesse Eisenberg had signed up to reprise his role as Blu, and Anne Hathaway had also signed on to reprise her role as Jewel. In October 2012, Variety stated that Carlos Saldanha had officially signed a five-year deal with 20th Century Fox that allows him to helm live-action and/or animated films, with the sequel being part of that contractual agreement.

Don Rhymer, screenplay writer of the first film, died on November 28, 2012 during the writing phase of the sequel, from head and neck cancer. In January 2013, Rodrigo Santoro confirmed his return to voice ornithologist Tulio Monteiro, as well as hinting that the sequel's setting will involve the Amazon. 20th Century Fox and Blue Sky unveiled the first teaser trailer at the annual Las Vegas, Nevada CinemaCon on April 18, 2013. On May 14, 2013, that same trailer was released online worldwide, and attached with Epic. Entertainer Bruno Mars joined the cast as Roberto after director Carlos Saldanha caught his performance on Saturday Night Live. During production, Mars offered his own personal touches that better shaped his character's physical appearance, personality, and voice.

Release

The film was released to international theaters on March 20, 2014. The film's premiere was held in Miami, Florida on March 20, 2014. The film was released in the United States on April 11, 2014.

Marketing

Under the supervision of 20th Century Fox—with director Carlos Saldanha and music composer John Powell—the film's natural hometown of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil used the film as a tie-in promotion for the 2014 New Year's Eve celebration at Copacabana Beach.

Three of four Angry Birds Rio episodes — all visually tied to Rio 2 — have been released. The first, "Rocket Rumble", was released in December 2013, the second, "High Dive", in February 2014, and the third, "Blossom River", in April 2014. In April 2014, Kohl's began selling Blu, Gabi, and Luiz plush toys as a part of their Kohl’s Cares merchandise program.

Home media

Rio 2 was released on Blu-ray (2D and 3D) and DVD on July 15, 2014. The Target exclusive comes with a Blu plush toy. A limited sing-along edition of the film was released on Blu-ray and DVD on November 4, 2014.

Critical response

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 48% based on reviews from 107 critics, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The site's consensus reads: "Like most sequels, Rio 2 takes its predecessor's basic template and tries to make it bigger—which means it's even busier, more colorful, and ultimately more exhausting for viewers outside the youthful target demographic." Another review aggregation website, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 49 out of 100 based on 34 reviews, which indicates mixed or average reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, the same grade earned by its predecessor.

Mark Adams of Screen Daily said, "As a delightfully bright and breezy bit of 3D animated entertainment Rio 2 hits the sweet spot, and will no doubt be a box office hit with its blend of good-natured jungle adventure, songs and gags. The only frustrating thing is that it feels very much like a by-the-numbers sequel, lacking the verve, ebullience and left-field humour that made 2011’s Rio such a surprise hit." Justin Lowe of The Hollywood Reporter said, "This rumble in the jungle adds a colorful cast of rain-forest creatures to the franchise's infectious sense of frivolity." Justin Chang of Variety said, "Domestic and ecological dramas abound in this bright, noisy, overstuffed sequel to Fox's 2011 surprise hit." Tom Huddleston of Time Out gave the film three out of five stars, saying "There are problems here ... but the characterisation is feisty and memorable, the song-and-dance sequences intricate and colourful, and it'll charm the socks off little people." Kyle Smith of the New York Post gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "Rio 2 is not what I would call Amazon prime, but it's got enough silly songs and daffy critters to keep the little ones happy." Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film two out of four stars, saying "Rio 2 teems with colorful animated splendor and elaborate musical numbers, but its rambling, hectic, if good-hearted, story is for the birds." Richard Corliss of Time gave the film a positive review, saying "Even when it's coarse and calculating, this is an eager entertainment machine that will keep the kids satisfied. Just don't tell them that the Rio movies are musical comedies about an avian genocide."

Elizabeth Weitzman of the New York Daily News gave the film three out of five stars, saying "We're grading on a sliding scale here. But if Rio 2 is hardly Pixar quality, it's certainly better than the average animated sequel." Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle gave the film two out of four stars, saying "It's like the last Hobbit movie - so much time passes between side plots that you have to jog the memory when a minor character appears again. Who's that toucan again? Is he a bad guy?" Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic gave the film three out of four stars, saying "An agreeable song-and-dance movie, a laugh here, a laugh there, pleasant but overly busy, for seemingly no real reason other than to throw a few more set pieces at the wall to see what sticks." Jessica Herndon of the Associated Press gave the film three out of four stars, saying "With so much going on, it's a wonder this kids' movie is only five minutes longer than the original. But for the music and brilliantly picturesque look, it's worth the 3-D ticket." Stephanie Merry of The Washington Post gave the film two out of four stars, saying "All in all, though, the movie feels at once too busy and too derivative. That's no easy feat, but it's also one sequel-makers probably shouldn't aspire to." Bruce Demara of the Toronto Star gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "Those who enjoyed the adventures of Blu and Jewel and company in the first Rio are going to find the sequel an equally pleasing diversion."

Tom Russo of The Boston Globe gave the film two out of four stars, saying "The story flows, but not always freely, thanks to its manufactured feel." Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times gave the film a negative review, saying "The cinematic equivalent of attack by kaleidoscope, Rio 2 sucks you in and whirls you around before spitting you out, exhausted." Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a negative review, saying "Wonderfully animated and well-voiced, Rio 2 is nevertheless too much. Too much plot, too many issues, too many characters." Bill Zwecker of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three out of four stars, saying "It's as good as the first one and sure to please both the kiddies and adults with its two-tiered humor." Tirdad Derakhshani of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the film two out of four stars, saying "It'll keep the kids content for a couple of hours, though it's likely to bore the grown-ups." Liam Lacey of The Globe and Mail gave the film three out of four stars, saying "Rio 2 (like Fox’s Ice Age series) relies on derivative plotting and slapstick visual gags, in contrast to Pixar’s more cerebral originality. Where the film excels though, in an even more pronounced way than the first film, is in the choreographed animation for the musical numbers." Alonso Duralde of The Wrap gave the film a negative review, saying "The musical moments, on the whole, stand out as the highlights of the film; Rio 2 becomes watchable when the flat characters shut up and sing."

Rafer Guzman of Newsday gave the film one and a half stars out of four, saying "The movie has one goal: to amuse the most children with the least amount of effort." Steve Persall of the Tampa Bay Times gave the film a B+, saying "Like its peppy predecessor, Rio 2 doesn't look or sound like other animated licenses to print money. That alone is reason enough to appreciate it." Kevin McFarland of The A.V. Club gave the film a C, saying "Like the first film, Rio 2 is almost oppressively bright, bombarding the screen with flashes of saturated rainforest colors and even a bird version of soccer (timed a bit too perfectly to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil)." Mike McCahill of The Guardian gave the film two out of five stars, saying "It's hard to ascribe much art or wit to a franchise that retains the services of will.i.am as comic relief – and a thoroughly inorganic talent-show subplot feels like another attempt to groom youngsters for life in the Cowell jungle." Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph gave the film two out of five stars, saying "This jumbled sequel, which was also directed by Carlos Saldanha, loses most of what made the first film such an infectious entertainment." Eric Henderson of Slant Magazine gave the film one out of five stars, saying "Though there isn't a fruit-flavored hue that isn't jammed into every single corner of screen space in Rio 2, the movie has less actual nutritional value than 10 bowls of crushed Froot Loops dust. 20th Century Fox's sequel to the already dubious 2011 film would seem far too endlessly hyperventilating and self-stimulating a way to keep kids from barreling toward a spaz attack on a Saturday afternoon."

Box office

Rio 2 grossed $131,538,435 in North America, and $368,188,435 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $500,188,435, surpassing its predecessor. In North America, the film earned $12 million on its opening day, and opened to number two in its first weekend, with $39,327,869, behind Captain America: The Winter Soldier. In its second weekend, the film dropped to number three, grossing an additional $22,159,742. In its third weekend, the film dropped to number three, grossing $13,881,457. In its fourth weekend, the film dropped to number five, grossing $7,711,952. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment donated $100,000 to WWF to support conservation efforts in the Amazon.

Soundtrack

A soundtrack for the film was released on March 25, 2014, by Atlantic Records. It was promoted by the single "What Is Love", performed by Janelle Monáe. The Barbatuques performed the song "Beautiful Creatures" as part of the closing ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Charts

An additional album featuring John Powell's original score was released on April 8, 2014 by Sony Classical.

Possible sequel

Director Carlos Saldanha has kept the possibility for a Rio 3 open. He has stated, "Of course, I have a lot of stories to tell, so we're [starting to] prepare for it."