(SPOILER WARNING!!! This article does contain spoilers, if you haven’t seen the movie, just see the first paragraph to be informed without spoilers!!!)

Rio 2 is not as good as the first one story wise because of all the different subplots, but the music and the graphics of this movie makes it still enjoyable and fun to watch with the kids. Rating 3 out of 5 Stars.

One of the things that really made me enjoy the first Rio movie was the music. I loved how they incorporated some Brazilian culture in their music, which I liked a lot. (For those of you that know me, I don’t just like the movie, because George Lopez is in it.) I also enjoyed the graphics showing the beauty of the city of Rio De Janeiro and their Carnival Parade. Story line was decent enough to make this a good movie. A second one was not needed but they will if the money is good, and on they went. So I will start with what I like, to the so-so, to what I didn’t like.

What I liked, I have to say I loved the music once again. That Brazilian Samba music does get me going. (Just need a Brazilian women to dance with.) Just the music alone was entertaining enough for the movie. I also loved the graphics in this movie, very colorful and showing the beauty of not just the city of Rio De Janeiro, but the beauty of the Amazon rainforest as well. A jungle that always interest me in different ways. The voice acting were pretty good for the most part. Most notably, Andy Garcia voiced Eduardo made his demanding presence felt in this movie as the leader of the birds, Bruno Mars voiced a good looking and athletic parrot and surprisingly plays well, and Blue, voiced by Jesse Eisenberg and Jewel’s, voiced by Anne Hathaway, kids playing as kids. All the other characters from the first movie, played their role well. One of my favorite scenes is when the blue birds and the red birds had a soccer game for their land. They just had to have a Brazilian movie with a soccer game. It was fun to watch nonetheless, and very entertaining. Also the Anteater that was a sidekick to the villain Nigel, voiced by Jemaine Clement, had some funny moments.

The so-so, the main story was subpar and cliched. They pretty much grabbed the script of Meet the Parents and turned them into birds, with Blue meeting Jewel’s side of the family. The comedy was come and go. However there were too many subplots in this movie. Like Nigel, planning revenge on Blue, where did you hear that before? Also the poison arrow tree frog, Gabi, voiced by Kristin Chenoweth, falling in love with Nigel, but not getting the love or respect back. That reminded me of, for some reason, of Harley Quinn and The Joker relationship story in Batman. Also the subplot with the two humans in the first Rio movie, voiced by Leslie Mann and Rodrigo Santoro, whom the wild birds originally don’t trust, but they are trying to save the jungle from people who are cutting their trees. Typical Eco-friendly message subplot.

What I didn’t like, that all these subplots made the story confusing, and once it all comes together it was just lame. One example when Blue and Jewel just decided to visit Rio only in the summer and the rest of the time in the Amazon, (excuse me as I yawn). Also I didn’t like the fact that they forced to many characters from the first movie to this movie. There was no need for that, they could just work with the new characters and it would’ve been good. When Luiz the Bulldog, voiced by Tracy Morgan, manage to find his way to the Amazon that just really made my eyes roll, like really now. Lastly, the last human villain reminded me of the same villain in the first movie, almost the same characteristics, like the writers just got lazy on that part, and then he dies by getting eaten by an Anaconda? That’s great to show the kids.

Overall, the graphics, music, and so-so comedy really saved this movie. With that said, I still believe the kids will get a joy out of it, while the adult can be somewhat entertained and not fall asleep. Just keep the Samba rolling, and will dance the negativity away!!! Final Rating 3 out of 5 Stars.