Who doesn’t fly when his eyes come in contact with those of a beautiful girl? Apparently our rare species of parrot named “Blu” doesn’t. Even when he comes to know that “Jewel” is the only girl left for him on this planet! But then that’s not because he does not love her or because he sounds like the nerdy Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg has given the voice), it’s because he is a domesticated bird who never had a strong need to fly all his life. Until he met Jewel (Princess Diaries fame Anna Hathaway has given the voice and hence the name Jewel?) !

We have Blu, a Blue Macaw, whose character is inspired by “Alex” the Lion of “Madagascar” movie. They just love being in domesticated environment for the rest of their life. They love their cage and their master. However they are forced into a disturbance which ultimately lands them in a Jungle. And what you know “It’s a Jungle out there!” It’s not only Blu’s characterization that reminds of Madagascar movie, we have the group of tiny monkeys that co-ordinate in a fashion just like the notorious Penguins!

If RIO was a bird watching class, I would have learnt and remembered very well that Parrots are the most intelligent birds. They can mimic alarm clocks and ambulance sirens. They could also perform fancy tricks. All this but not a word on why Blu and Jewel are the last remaining birds of their species. Doesn’t that leave your bird education incomplete? Is it because of Global warming or Excessive bird hunting etc?

Animation captures human imagination in a spectacular way. The degree of perfection in capturing all the emotions of the animated characters and the lip sync is awesome in RIO. But there are few things which look better in their original form, and that would be the exuberance of an event like the Brazil’s Rio Carnival. You just don’t get that excitement watching it in a cartoonic form. Animals talking, Cars expressing their emotions, penguins plotting, cat and mouse fights look great but RIO CARNIVAL ? Just not happening. The carnival does not play an important role in the script too, so the animators could have very well skipped it. But I guess they love challenges, exciting for them, but not so exciting for the viewers. And besides, you need to justify the title too, right?

To quickly run you through the plot of this movie, Blu, a blue macaw is the last male species alive on earth and Jewel is the last female species. The scientist, who insists that the species should continue, succeeds in bringing BLU from Minnesota all the way down to Brazil. But then, the rare bird couple falls prey to bird smugglers. Even though BLU knows how to escape from cages, he cannot fly. So will they get back to their birds sanctuary? Will BLU ever learn to fly?

If I were a kid I would love this movie. If I were a bird lover, I would worship this movie. But if I was looking for some entertainment, I would just watch this movie on HBO.