They say bright primary colors and rapidly moving shapes help underdeveloped brains thrive and mature. If that's the case, Rio is going to make a lot of underage audience members a heck of a lot sharper. Not because of anything done by the script or the story, but thanks in part to the cornucopia of hues and the director's desire to keep everything paced at ADD-friendly, sugary snack fueled levels. It's the new CG animation model: anthropomorphize something otherwise inhuman (in this case, a bunch of tropical birds), give them a problem or dilemma to face, toss in a villain, add a few songs, and mash everything through the flashy filter of 3D. As long as the cuteness factor outweighs the deadly dullness of the narrative, you can start counting your soaring weekend millions.
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