The Freak's Rating: B+ : Family films are always difficult to pull off. When an animated feature comes along that isn't Pixar, audiences always seem to think it is less of a film. In the case of many releases over the last few years, with the exception of Kung Fu Panda, they are correct. With Rio, there is consistency and appeal to many.
All the standard animation tricks are present, including small fish in big pond, life lesson to learn, caged animal wanting to be wild, etc... All cliches aside, this is a fairly entertaining film and easily a higher recommendation for this than Rango. With the latter, there was a tad too much darkness to meander into a solid recommendation. Here, Rio is just slightly outside of being an A.
Writing and editing is cute, though the film does lag a hair in the second act at times. A few more minutes trimmed off and this is an A. For kids who like birds this is a winner. For those who like colorful animals, it may be a hit as well. For parents, it will be a hair more tolerable than most family fare.
