Rating: 4

RIO, an animated film about a snow-bound rare blue macaw and his human companion both finding love, is such a perfect little film that hearing a sequel was on the way filled one with trepidation. Fortunately RIO 2 bucks the usual law of diminishing sequel returns with a great story, even better new dangers, and a voice performance by Kristen Chenowith as Gabi,a lovesick poison dart frog that is destined to become a classic.

Not that returning stars Jessie Eisenberg as Blu and Anne Hathaway as his true love, Jewel, are slouches. They bring the same unfussy spontaneity, though their story, that of a happy couple happily repopulating the world with blue macaws could easily be a tired exercise in shopworn family jokes. Instead, the action moves swiftly to the miraculous discovery of a flock of blue macaws discovered deep in the Amazon rain forest, leading to a few familiar situations. Eduardo, a disapproving father-in-law (Andy Garcia) for Blu, and Roberto (Bruno Mars) and old and seemingly perfect ex-boyfriend for Jewel, as well as everyone coping with varying degrees of success with the bumbling ways of a city bird in the wild. Yet none of it falls flat even when the expected tropes make their appearance. Especially when Blue’s old nemesis, the Machiavellian, not to mention melodramatic, cockatoo, Nigel (Jermaine Clement as his most sonorously plummy) turns up alive, if flightless, and out for revenge.

There is more substance to the story than just rocky family reunions and the setting of old scores. The macaws are hiding out from humankind in a part of the rain forest targeted for clearing by an ecologically insensitive contractor (Miguel Ferrer). Eduardo, having barely lived through his old home being destroyed by humans, has banned any contact with them. He’s also dealing with having to share an increasingly limited food supply with a rival band of red macaws, and his mind is firmly shut on how to handle both situations. When he learns that Blu had a human companion, and still lives with her and her new husband in their bird sanctuary, the tension between father- and son-in-low becomes insurmountable. On the domestic front, Jewel begins to feel the tug of the rainforest, while Blu, longing for civilization can’t wait to leave both the forest and his father-in-law behind. And here the story becomes one of not just ecology, but honoring one’s roots by, for example, learning how to crack a Brazil nut for breakfast rather than chowing down on pancakes, albeit whole-wheat ones.

Though the credits list several writers, the script doesn’t suffer. The writing is smart, funny, and the action fast-paced, with pratfalls, silliness, and the cognitive dissonance of macaw packing breath mints in his fanny pack blending easily with the film’s more serious themes. The characters are, ahem, sharply drawn, with lively personalities that often approach an unexpected gravitas.

The animation is as bright and bold as the colors of both Rio, where the story begins with Blu and Jewel in domestic bliss with their three children, and the rainforest proper, where the bulk of the action takes place. A great deal of care has been taken to include as much verisimilitude as possible to the creatures of the rainforest, even the singing capybara’s obey the laws of movement their build dictates, and the same can be said of the roseate spoonbills in their synchronized chorus line, as well as the other creatures that periodically break out into dazzling Busby Berkeley inspired choreography. The music is catchy, with Chenowith’s torch song to Nigel in which she warbles passionately about their forbidden, and potentially lethal, love stealing the show with its intentive animation and quirky desperation.

RIO 2 doesn’t stint on showing the consequences of deforestation, from a mother bird shielding her eggs from oncoming loggers,, to a barren landscape full of heavy machinery. It’s a descant note to the adventure, but one that makes its important point without being strident, just honest. Fear not, though, it is superbly balanced with plenty of laughs, as well as close calls, and a whole lot of heart.