I'm having some issues with my computer, apparently my laptop likes to just erase half or all of what I just typed and then I made another mistake to get it back by refreshing back until unfortunately there wasn't anything left. It ended up automatically saving that nothing so then of course I had nothing left of what I just wrote. Soooooo, here I go again for a second time. I took my little guy to see the first big kid flick of the Spring. He's been a little more excited to see the upcoming Cars sequel and Winnie the Pooh but given that he is my kid and that he would pretty much watch anything that was on the screen I convinced him that it would be a good idea to check it out. Rio is a 3D flick but thankfully they also have some 2D screenings for those of us with little kids who can't handle wearing the glasses for 2 + hours. Which is a relief cause the last time I took Nathan to see a 3D or 4D film it really freaked him out. When we got to the theatre he was really excited to get the popcorn again and he wouldn't relinquish his grip on it until the movie was done.
The film follows a nearly extinct Macaw named Blu (Jessie Eisenberg) who finds himself a domesticated bird, who can't fly, living in Minnesota. His Human, Linda (Leslie Mann), helps him to live the good life without much of a care, until both of their lives are turned upside down when they are visited by a Brazilian ornithologist, Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro), who is interested in mating Blu with another Macaw in order to preserve the species. The only hitch is they have to travel to Rio de Janeiro in order to complete the task. Once they make it there Blu and, his soon to be mating bird, Jewel (Anne Hathaway) are kidnapped by a trio of Poachers (Carlos Ponce, Jeffrey Garcia & Davi Viera) and their evil bird, Nigel (Jemaine Clement). The Macaw's get a little help from their friends in the animal world, a couple of musical birds (Jamie Fox & Will.I.am) and a Toucan (George Lopez) who is intent on teaching Blu how to fly.
I was a little worried at first, Nathan seemed happy with his popcorn as he was munching away but after about twenty minutes he looks up at me and says, "I want to go home now, Daddy." I looked down at him and told him, "don't you want to see what happens to Blu? Maybe he'll learn how to fly and you'll be able to see that." He looks at me very cutely and said, "No, that's ok, I want to go home to see McQueen." Ugh, of course nothing holds a candle to Lightning McQueen. I leaned in and told him give it a few more minutes. Thankfully my gambit worked. Once he got to the amusing Bulldog (Tracy Morgan), he was back into it again. I found it to be a very cute film, but not quite on the level for little kiddies and it still didn't seem to be pulling the clever punches for the Adults either. But it was entertaining and Nathan in the end felt very confident about flying like his new pals Blu and Jewel. I was a little concerned with the dastardly-ness of Nigel, I could have sworn he killed a couple of the animals--but I don't think Nathan noticed, thankfully, and he didn't seem to be overly afraid of him, good news for me, cause if I had traumatized the kid Tamar would never let me take him to another movie again. All in all it should be a good time for the whole family. There isn't any language, a little action and of course that malicious bird but overall it felt pretty kid friendly. So if you are looking to take your little one to something this weekend you should definitely check this one out.
Grade: 3 Buckets
