Rio movie review

I just had to make the time and spend the money to see the movie Rio today.  I saw it when it was first released back in April while I was in Brazil.   It was in Portuguese as we did not know it was showing in English, but I have to say it was wonderful in both languages. Since seeing the movie in Brazil,  I also spent nine days in Rio de Janiero where most of the movie is set. 

Brazilian director Carlos Saldanha truly captured the intrigue and sheer beauty of the city of Rio.  The movie begins with samba dancing birds full of life and color similar to the culture of Brazil.  As I watched the movie in English I realized what an excellent job Carlos did translating the culture and landscape of real life Rio de Janiero to animation.

The story of a blue macaw smuggled to Minnesota only to return to Brazil to find his wings, his love, and a new spirit.  The secondary stories of his keeper Linda finding love and a street kid named Jewel creating a family were great added sub plots to follow along.

English or Portuguese, I would recommend this movie to anyone looking for a good warm hearted animated movie and even though my collection of movies is quite small - this one may hit my shelf.

Read about my time in Rio