"Rio" Flies with Little Turbulence

Although studios such as DreamWorks Animation and Blue Sky Studios have desperately struggled to match the phenomenal audience response and critical praise of Pixar films, Blue Sky has come out with a movie proving that these studios can successfully compete with the incredibly persistent leader in the field.  Rio tells the story of a highly domesticated Spix's Macaw named Blu, voiced by Jesse Eisenberg, who suffers from the fear and inability to fly.  After the opening song and dance number, the viewers learn about Blu's flight trouble before he is captured by poachers in the jungle.  Then we find Blu, along with the other captured birds, traveling in the back of a delivery truck, but he is soon freed when the truck skids at a stoplight in Minnesota, thus opening the latch and sending Blu's box out onto the street.  He is immediately rescued from a little redhead girl who will soon become his best friend.
The relationship between Blu and his new owner, Linda, is like that between a man and a dog, only a bit stranger.  Their morning routine involves Blu helping Linda get ready to seize the day, and we see pictures of them throughout the house and on Linda's computer, thereby showing that Linda only has her pet bird in her life.  This will change though when a man named Tulio visits Linda's bookstore to inform her that Blu is the only male left in his species and he wishes to keep the rare breed alive.
This quick visit leads to the adventure that takes place in Rio de Janeiro where we meet Blu's soulmate, voiced by Anne Hathaway, along with various other crazy characters played by will.i.am., Jamie Foxx, George Lopez, Jemaine Clement, and Tracy Morgan.  The second Blu meets Jewel, it's obvious that they will end up together, but no one expects anything out of the ordinary in a G-rated animated movie for kids.  The supporting characters, such as will.i.am and Foxx's birds, incorporate today's popular music, which risks it becoming an ephemeral hit as opposed to a timeless classic like Toy Story or Up.
However, Rio has a lot of heart, most likely trying to match the capacity of love stories in Pixar films such as Wall-E and the latest installment, Toy Story 3, which did not have a boy-girl romance, but certainly a degree of affection that truly captivated the audience.  With more than one newly developed relationship in Rio, it certainly makes an attempt to trigger the heartstrings, and it works, but not to the same extent.  Nevertheless, Rio serves as one of the stepping stones amid previous films like Shrek for the admiration equal to that of Pixar films if these other studios stay on course.