Rio 2

Rio 2 75 Cast: With the voices of Kristin Chenoweth, Jemaine Clement, Jesse Eisenberg, Miguel Ferrer, Andy Garcia, Anne Hathaway, George Lopez, Leslie Mann, Bruno Mars, Rita Moreno, Tracy Morgan Director: Carlos Saldanha Rating: G Running time: 101 minutes

For an animated movie that’s loaded with color and frenetic activity, Rio 2 manages the feat of becoming numbingly dull. Dentists eager to save money on anesthetics should have this playing as patients enter. They’ll remember neither the oral surgery nor the images that preceded it.

In this installment, the rare blue Spix’s macaws are not quite as endangered as previously thought. Scientists Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro) and Linda (Leslie Mann) discover a feather in the middle of the Amazon jungle and immediately try to set up a sanctuary.

The only known family of thisspecies so far has been headed by the nervous, captivity-raised Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) and the bolder, born-in-the-wild Jewel (AnneHathaway). Knowing that their family should probably get a taste of living in the great outdoors, Jewel and the kids badger Blu into joining them on a journey into the heart of the Amazon rain forest.

Blu’s natural fearfulness is warranted. In addition to the usual dangers one might encounter there, large snakes and piranhas, there’s a greedy developer (Miguel Ferrer) and a vindictive bird, Nigel( Jemaine Clement), who blames Blu for making him flightless. There are also rival fowl who want the territory and the food.

Nonetheless, Blu has no choice but to adapt because all of Jewel’s family has settled in this corner of the rain forest, including her domineering father, Eduardo (Andy Garcia). There are lots of other new characters and a series of frenzied showdowns, but little registers in Rio 2. Director Carlos Saldanha may have helmed this movie’s charming predecessor, but this time he seems to fall so deeply in love with the set pieces that characters old and new fail to make much of an impression. There’s a slew of Oscar-nominated or winning performers, and few are given much to do.

Kristin Chenoweth is charming as a poison frog who longs to find someone to return her affection. The problem is that making any body contact is guaranteed to eliminate any suitor she might encounter. None of the other characters have dilemmas quite like this one, sothey disappear from memory once the credits scroll by.

With an overstuffed cast of shallow characters and a storyline that’s underdeveloped, the endearing qualities of the first Rio are, sadly, missing. The musical selections this time around aren’t as catchy, and the fantasy version of the rain forest isn’t as captivating as the title city. It was refreshing to see a cartoon set somewhere other than suburban America, but even a computer-generated Brazil needs engaging flesh-andblood occupants.