Review - Rio

Grade: B-

The Good: Colorful and lively, with some catchy musical numbers and a few honest chuckles. Shows some degree of social awareness amidst the candy coated fun.

The Bad: Not a particularly revelatory addition to the modern animated canon. Voice performances aren’t terrible, but lack an identity outside of the actors’ pre-established quirks.

It’s a given that studio films, especially animated features of the 3D variety, are generally unoriginal, yet I still find the concept of dueling movies—or at least the kind that have extremely similar elements—fascinating. Now, Fox and Blue Sky Studios Rio has very little in common with the upcoming fourth Fast and the Furious sequel, save for the setting of Rio de Janiero, Brazil. But, with these two movies being released mere weeks apart, it’s likely that most perceptive moviegoers will surmise that—hyperbolic and obvious as it may seem—Brazil is hot.

It’s too early to tell if Fast Five’s exotic setting is just a backdrop or a vital character in its own right, but Rio makes the home of Carnaval equally as important as any of its main characters with a colorful palette and a lively samba beat at the heart of a not-so original tale about learning to fly outside of one’s comfort zone.

Rio follows aptly named Blue Macaw Blu (Jesse Eisenberg), a rare avian species born in the rainforests of South America, as he and his lifelong, yet overprotective, human owner, Linda (Leslie Mann), venture to Rio at the behest of geeky ornithologist Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro). Tulio hopes Blu, the last male of his kind, will be able to mate with female Blue Macaw Jewel, the always-energetic Anne Hathaway, and repopulate the species. Unfortunately, Blu has spent his life in domesticity with Linda, and, unfortunately, doesn’t know the first thing about interacting with his own kind nor the defining quality of birds: flying. Once in Rio, Blu and Jewel are swiped by exotic pet smugglers after a botched escape attempt from Tulio’s sanctuary. As the two try to escape their captors and return to their respective homes, they learn about each other and the courage it’ll take to do the impossible.

The best word to describe Rio is colorful. From the stunning multicolor visuals to the wacky cast of characters to the lively Samba-tinged soundtrack, Rio is not lacking for liveliness. The artists at Blue Sky studio have composed a dynamic visual feat for its target audience to ogle while they bounce up and down in their seats. Rio’s crowded beaches, clamoring street life, dazzling Carnaval floats and performers, even the cluttered slums are rendered beautifully in some of the most vibrant CG animation this side of a Pixar project. Thankfully, the pricy 3D only enhances the experience so parents needn’t worry—too much—about dishing out the extra bucks for a muddy 3D conversion. While the kaleidoscopic animation might not track with most members of the audience, the movie’s main musical numbers are sure to catch their attention. Rio delivers at least three samba-infused pop performances that are sure to pull some butts—young and not-so-young alike—out of their seats. At least two of the numbers are clearly influenced by the Black Eyed Peas will.i.am, who contributes his voice to one of the film’s many feathered characters. Aside from the performances, there are a few chuckle-worthy scenes, particularly a mildly epic clash between bird and monkeys that evokes notions of the Pirates vs. Ninja meme, but nothing as riotous as last month’s Rango.

The all-star voice cast deliver performances that mimic their live-action performances so closely that it lead to one of the simplest games of ‘guess that voice’ I’ve ever played. Jesse Eisenberg voices Blu with that same amount of stammering braininess with a slight edge that makes him a much more digestible version of Michael Cera. Anne Hathaway delivers her own patented edgy, manic energy as Jewel, who could just as easily have been the pet of Hathaway’s character in Love and Other Drugs. A bit trickier to identify is Flight of the Conchords Jermaine Clement as the erudite and villainous Nigel. Clement hams it up, somehow managing to chew through animated scenery as a vain, yet past his prime, cockatoo who relentlessly pursues Blu and Jewel for the eeevil smugglers. George Lopez lends his voice to Rafael, a family man toucan playing a variation on the mystical minority guide, and Jamie Foxx and the aforementioned will.i.am play a musical Rosencrantz and Guildenstern who provide snarky and occasionally slapstick comic relief when they aren’t kicking off the musical numbers.

All in all, Rio isn’t terrible, and it’s not particularly revelatory. It’s middle of the road fun for families with a tepid lesson tacked on at the end. The humor is hardly the funniest, with mostly retreads of fish-out-of-water jokes that are stale by the second act. Commendably, Rio only slightly shies away from the realities of Rio beyond Carnaval with one human character, Fernando (Wizards of Waverly Place’s Jake T. Austin), representing orphaned, homeless Brazilian children who engage in a life of petty crime. Still, this awareness isn’t significant enough to elevate Rio into the ranks of recent animated gems like Up, Rango and How to Train Your Dragon. If you keep your expectations relatively low, you’ll enjoy yourself, even if you forget most of what happened once you drop your popcorn in overflowing trashcan. If set your expectations to high you’re cruising for disappointment. But, don’t worry parents, the kids will enjoy themselves either way.

Review - Hanna

Grade: A

The Good: A true example of girl power on film, replete with amazing, grounded action; stunning cinematography, a stylish, well-integrated score. All revealed through a filmmaker with enough confidence and patience to let the film unfold at its own pace.

The Bad: Plot is scant and hits many similar plot points from recent actioners like Kick Ass and the Bourne Trilogy; May be too slow and spare to accommodate viewers of modern action films

The Ugly: The way the poor souls who pursue Hanna are beaten.

Re: Girl Power
Dear Zack Snyder,

Please see Hanna. Immediately

P.S. Take notes. Copious notes.

Hanna is easily one of the most refreshing action films in recent memory. If the current glut of increasingly soulless cg-laden superhero and fantasy flicks has audiences glazed and longing for a film-going experience that deftly combines intense action, relatively realistic characters and something resembling heart, then Hanna is the rain after a long dry spell.

Like the little lost sister of Bourne Trilogy, Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) is the eponymous tale of a 16-year old girl raised by her father, Eastern European Counterintelligence agent Erik Heller (Eric Bana), to be, literally, the deadliest teen in the world. After years of living and training like a hunting, gathering warrior monk in the forests of the Arctic Circle, Hanna’s curiosity about the world beyond her training ground pushes her to flip the switch on a transponder, bringing the attention of the duplicitous and layered CIA handler Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett). Once that switch is flipped, Hanna goes full steam to complete the one mission her father has been training her for all her life. Upon completion of her mission, Hanna must reunite with her father, trekking her way from the deserts of Morocco to the gloomy cities of Germany, Along the way, Hanna is pursued by vicious skinheads lead a fey hired killer (Tom Hollander), meets a curiously dysfunctional British family on holiday and learns just how beautiful and terrible the world can be.

Director Joe Wright has crafted a sublime piece of filmmaking with Hanna. He keeps the plot scant so as to allow the film to truly breathe. And breathe it does. Alwin H. Kucher delivers some gorgeous cinematography highlights the frigid isolation of the Artic; the dusty expanse of the Moroccan desert and the grim, gray industrial pallor of Berlin. Those scenes are enhanced by a stillness and patience that lets the audience absorb these environments with the same sense of awe and wonder that Hanna does. The quiet beauty of the cinematography extends to numerous scenes of Hanna silently interacting with world, as if she’s always processing new information and looking for ways to follow her father’s golden rule: adapt or die. Adding to the Hanna’s spectacular mood and visuals is an amazing score by the Chemical Brothers that is absolutely integral to the experience. Like Tron and the Social Network before it, Hanna’s score moves beyond the traditional orchestral ebbs and flows, opting for an eclectic mix that combines dance, video game and techno music to create a sound that seamlessly evokes the emotion, pacing and tone of the film’s both the action scenes and the quieter moments.

Keeping Hanna from existing solely as a reflective, artsy European-style film are some of the best action scenes since the Bourne Ultimatum. Hanna is such a proficient human weapon that it’s hard to not feel concerned for anyone foolish enough to attack her. If not for the fact that she is a waifish 16-year old, there’d be very few stakes in the film. Hanna’s father/trainer is no slouch himself, delivering a chain of lethal beatdowns in a number sequences, including one that resembles, and improves upon, the Neo vs. Agent Smiths rumble from the Matrix Reloaded. What makes the action so effective in Hanna is the sheer practicality and grounded nature of the physical encounters. No wirework or CGI is evident, only hard-earned blows and bumps that would make an audience question whether Wright used any stunt personnel.

With or without stunt performers, Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett all do a phenomenal job of giving depth to characters that are normally little more than action figures. Academy Award nominated Ronan makes Hanna vulnerable without ever making the character appear physically or mentally weak. She plays Hanna with a sense of subdued curiosity that reveals just how deep her training has affected her, but that it hasn’t crushed her. For all she’s learned and become, Hanna always seems like a teen who is not as far from normal as circumstance has made her. Sure, she’s disconnected and lives primarily within her mind, but she’s not that different from the average 16-year-old. Hanna particularly comes alive when she crosses paths with the bawdy, vulgar Sophie (Jessica Barden) and her family, including her aloof mother (Olivia Williams) and eager-to-please father (Jason Flemying). Cate Blanchett chews scenery with style as Hanna’s desperate pursuer. Blanchett sports an slightly exaggerated southern accent as Wiegler that could land as more comical than true, but Blanchett’s ease with showing the layers of Weigler—from desperate and frazzled to cunning and treacherous, often within seconds—makes the character more than the run-of-the-mill CIA spook villain. Not to be outdone by the ladies, Eric Bana brings his trademark mix of earnest innocence and reluctant rage to the table as Hanna’s father/trainer. He gives the character a consistent calm that rarely belies the fury and violence that lies beneath. When he does unleash his skill with violent aplomb, audiences will not wonder why he was so feared by Blanchett’s Weigler.

As solid as the performances, the sound and the visuals of Hanna are, the film treads a lot of familiar ground, sharing a number of plot points with the aforementioned Bourne Trilogy. The scant plotting may not please viewers looking for twists and dense mythology in this age of winding, unnecessarily complicated mythologies. But, simplicity has and, never will, be a bad thing. Similarly, retreads of common plot machinations are only as weak as the creator’s imagination, or lack thereof. For the second year in a row, spring has brought a film with a functionally dysfunctional father-daughter/master-student dynamic at its core. Comparisons to Hit Girl and Big Daddy from last year’s Kick Ass are inevitable, but, for those folks who tired of Kick Ass’ teen comedy moments and wanted more of the Deadly Daddy Daughter Duo, this film delivers a near perfect example of what a film focused purely on Hit Girl and Big Daddy would look like.

Now, if only someone would get to work on the Hit-Girl/Hanna showdown we deserve…

Review - Soul Surfer

Grade: B+

The Good: Subtle and humanistic interpretation of pro surfer Bethany Hamilton’s inspiring true story, anchored by superb performances and some genuinely thrilling surfing sequences.

The Bad: Treads a lot of familiar ground found in the most memorable underdog sports stories of the past 30-40 years.

Let me get this out of the way.

Soul Surfer is not 127 Hours for families.

While not as visceral or stylish as the James Franco starrer, Soul Surfer is consistently moving and heartwarming without pandering or tear-baiting. However, unless you’re soulless, there’s no way you’ll leave the theater without trying to swallow a cry bump.

More the descendant of underdog sports fables like Rudy and Rocky than a conveniently timed spin on the inspirational amputee ‘genre’, Soul Surfer tells the true story of pro surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her left arm at 13 after a freak shark attack in 2003. A rising teen surf star, Bethany (AnnaSophia Robb) was poised to ascend to the top of competitive surfing before the attack. The film, based on Hamilton’s 2004 autobiography Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board, tracks her challenging recovery and subsequent journey back to competitive dominance. With the help of her tight-knit family—led ably by Helen Hunt as Bethany’s mother, Cheri, in one her strongest roles since As Good as it Gets and Dennis Quaid, reliably gruff as patriarch Tom, who is also battling a physical challenge that keeps him off the waves—and the community of Lihue, Hawaii—including Kevin Sorbo as Holt Blanchard, father of Bethany’s best friend and fellow pro surfer, Alana Blanchard (Lorraine Nicholson),and the man who helped save Bethany after the attack—Bethany retrains herself to not only live with her new condition, but to compete.

Key to Bethany’s journey is faith. Former American Idol winner Carrie Underwood plays an understated role as the Youth Group director at Bethany’s church, Sarah Hill, providing a spiritual counterpoint to Bethany’s emerging crisis of faith. It is Underwood’s character who plays a significant role in guiding Bethany to an event that renews her faith and her desire to surf, eventually culminating in a touching, rousing conclusion that only a film like this could earn.

Despite the power of its conclusion, Soul Surfer is more concerned with Bethany’s journey. A journey that is elevated by great performances all around. It’s hard to say an actor/actress stole the show when it’s their show, but AnnaSophia Robb does a phenomenal job as Bethany. Robb brings great composure and subtlety to her role, revealing the preternatural calm and resolve that defines Bethany, even before the attack. A true sign of not only great acting, but great material, is how well an actor/character earns their cathartic moments. When Bethany finally reveals how the weight of her injury has affected her, Robb plays it with just the right amount of reserve and release to avoid pandering melodrama. Hunt and Quaid provide more than ample support as Bethany’s parents with both showing the pain and pride of parents who must endure watching their child suffer and rejoice as that child shows a quality that exceeds their expectations. Hunt, in particular, shines, playing Bethany’s mother as a woman torn by personal grief and the need to provide strength for her family. Soul Surfer’s other main draw, Carrie Underwood, does an adequate job as Bethany’s ‘spiritual guide’. Her role is limited to essentially being a conduit for Bethany’s renewal of spirit makes allowances for occasions where the character is revealed as underdeveloped and Underwood comes across as wooden.

Not only did director Sean McNamara coax some great performances out of his actors, he managed to craft some stunning wave riding sequences that evoke the serenity, and thrill of surfing. The scenes of Bethany competing or just riding casually with family or friends may not be as fresh as the day Endless Summer was released—a poster of which adorns Bethany’s bedroom walls, as it should—but they are no less engaging or weighty. There are some neat insights into the art of surfing as shown through Bethany’s attempts to duck dive and ride the curl that are sure to catch the interest of those uninitiated in the ways of surf. McNamara balances these more active scenes with dramatic moments that are never showy, but are just quiet and bighearted enough to be genuinely affecting.

Being more of an underdog sports movie, Soul Surfer is, of course, victim to the clichés of the genre. Anyone who has seen a popular sports fable like Rudy, Rocky, or—more recently—The Fighter will know exactly where this film is going. To jaded filmgoers that, and some of the film’s leanings on faith and spirituality, could be a detriment. For those who are okay with a film that treads familiar ground, only with a solid helping of heart and subtlety, they will find a film that is as powerful as the best in the genre. And, yes, by the end, you will probably be crying and cheering.