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Initial Thought: I thought the first one was funny but average. I planned to check this out whenever I could get a hold of it for cheap or borrow it. So now that I have I'm going to see what it has to offer. It may even end up being more enjoyable than the first. You never know.
Characters/Acting: We of course have several of the actors who returned to reprise their roles as well as many new additions. The bottle cap bird is my favorite of the group. I also like Gabi the frog. Other than that the acting is pretty decent. The characters are cute as usual.
Story: It's a jungle out there for Blu, Jewel and their three kids after they're hurtled from Rio de Janeiro to the wilds of the Amazon. As Blu tries to fit in, he goes beak-to-beak with the vengeful Nigel, and meets his father-in-law. Honestly most cartoon sequels end up feeling awkward. This is one of those kinds of sequels. It does have good moments though like the audition montage. It just doesn't feel like an actual movie. Some of the humor here is actually pretty dark, but since kids are watching they make it look pretty comical. Near the end it started to feel like a film which was good.
Directing/Writing: Carlos Saldanha brought us the Ice Age series and started the Rio films as well. It's good to see a director who continues to work on what he started. He has only written the 2 Rio films. Everything else he only directs. I haven't seen any of Jenny Bicks' films, but I have heard of them. This is Carlos Kotkin's first film. Don Rhymer isn't known for making particularly good films. He was the writer of the first Rio though. So there's that. Yoni Brenner has done work in the Ice Age series besides this. I don't know why they need so many writers. Especially seeing as most of them aren't particularly known or very good.
Final Thought: It's not that bad actually. At first it felt more like something on television, but it improved. It was a bit cliche to be honest. I think for the kids it will be enjoyable. As for watching it by yourself probably not as much. At least it wasn't a complete waste of time.
