A few years after succumbing to romance, the world's two remaining blue macaws, Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) and Jewel (Anne Hathaway), are a happily hitched couple with three tweeting toddlers under their wings. They've slid into routine thanks to the swank animal rescue pad provided by their owners, Linda and Tulio. But like any freebird dialed back by familial demands, Jewel pines for vacation in the wild.
It's not the fanny pack-wearing, GPS-using, pancake-making Blu's idea of a good time, but as his toucan friend Rafael suggests, “Happy wife, happy life!” (because Rafael subscribes to archaic sitcom relationship logic). Feigning the banner of “Fun Dad,” Blu packs up his family and heads to the Amazon jungle.
A series of coincidences lead Blu and Jewel to a secret community of Blue Macaws, including Jewel's father, Eduardo (Andy Garcia). The opposing cultures — Blu's human sympathetic and the tribal Amazonians — slam together like dull flint, forcing director Carlos Saldanha and the four credited writers to brush the original film's character work under the rug and rebuild.
Eisenberg's Blue is once again a nebbish Gomer Pyle, Jewel an elegant people person attempting to understand what there is to love about this domesticated oaf. Eduardo's entire role is to drive home a question, “Polly want a cracker?” style: Why can't Jewel kick Blu to the curb and shack up with local heartthrob Roberto (Bruno Mars)? No child has ever confronted this issue. When an 11-minute episode of Adventure Time can weave hysteria and provocative life lessons together without missing a beat, a $90 million Hollywood cartoon should be capable of saying something.
The rest of the characters are around to kill time and complicate Blu's life with broad stroke demands. Flight of the Conchords star Jemaine Clement returns as Nigel, the theatrical sulphur-crested Cockatoo who vows revenge against Blue for crippling his ability to fly. Nigel, a poison dart frog Gabi (Kristen Chenoweth), and a silent anteater named Charlie (tipping the bowler hat to Chaplin) pursue Blue in parallel to the macaw's drama, adding much-needed laughs and throwaway musical numbers.A third plot line involving Linda and Tulio warding off a crew of illegal loggers exists solely for a grand finale battle somewhere between the Battle for Endor and Hitchcock's The Birds. Not as cool as it sounds.
Despite talent like Jamie Foxx, Leslie Mann, Tracey Morgan, and the legendary Rita Moreno lending their voices to Rio 2, Eisenberg is the only actor to breathe life into his 3D animated husk. Stutters, screeching, and a neurotic cadence give Blu deep-seeded problems, even when the script won't address them. The actor reacts, whether it's Jewel confronting his failures or the physical demands of a high-speed Pit of Doom game (the macaw name for football/soccer).
Like the choreographed song-and-dance numbers, Saldanha diverts from the straightforward storytelling to give Rio 2 an athletic action set-piece. Eisenberg exerts the same energy, even when draped in computer graphics.
