Eyup. 
Well, I’m glad you liked the photos I posted, EJE. I love spotting other artists’ works on Pontillas’ table such as the Chris Sanders’ statuette, the copy of Ronnie Del Carmen ‘Paper Biscuit’ and the Phillipe Hooghe ‘Glen-Keane inspired’ sketches of Tarzan. 
I’m very eager to hear your opinion of the movie once you watch it on your bday.
First of all, thanks for your detailed and balanced review, bryan. It’s great you have seen it and have expressed your opinion, as I was curious to hear about it since you mentioned you were gonna see it. For those who want to read his review, there’s no spoilers as far as I can tell…
If you’ll allow me to respond to your statements…
Personally, I actually felt their romantic development was more fleshed-out in comparison with other films like Ice Age 3’s Scrat and Scratte, HTTYD’s Hiccup and Astrid, and TS3’s Buzz and Jessie.
For IA3, I really hated how they killed the relationship at the end, as I mentioned in my review in the Ice Age 3 thread. The latter two suffered from ‘Strangled By the Red String’ in the sense that there was no indication of anything beyond a platonic relationship; in HTTYD’s case, Astrid hated Hiccup until ‘Romantic Flight’, for TS3, there were very few romantic expressions between Buzz and Jessie until ‘Spanish Buzz’.
To be fair, Rio also suffers from tropes such as Dance of Romance, Gaussian Girl, Love At First Punch, and The Power of Love. But I felt that their romantic development from reluctant blind dates who get off on the wrong foot to firm partners who work together to achieve their goal. It’s the most realistic love story in an animated film since Wall-E, Up (told through the opening scene and the ‘Married Life’ montage) and Finding Nemo (if we treat Marlin and Dory’s relationship as best friends).
I did like Pedro and Nico and didn’t find them really annoying, they did help Blu and Jewel a lot throughout their adventure and served a purpose. I have to agree with you though, that they could’ve left Luiz’ ‘medical condition’ out and the story wouldn’t have suffered from it. I felt that they put in his drooling habit just to excite the kids who would be easily grossed out. Also, I wish Luiz got more screentime and wasn’t introduced so late in the film.
I actually think Rio’s story is better. I may not know the full details of Newt, but here’s the official synopsis:
Now, from this synopsis, there’s an adventure, most likely a road-trip. I’m not entirely sure what’s the purpose of the adventure, because as far as I can tell, neither of the newts has an owner and thus have no reason to undertake this trip. Maybe there is a purpose, but it’s not explained in this synopsis. Also, they “can’t stand each other” either, and there seems to be no reason why Newt or Brooke can’t just leave the other and go off on their own.
Rio, on the other hand, also has a ‘road-trip’ adventure. Like Bolt, Blu wants to get back to his owner. And they are a couple who “can’t stand each other”. However, the difference is that they are chained together. This gives them a reason why one party can’t just leave the other. They are, pardon the pun, inseparable. This gives an additional motivation to Blu’s quest to return to Linda. He now has to find a way to break the chain (which is a very clever metaphor for their bond to each other) linking him and Jewel so that they can go on their own separate ways. Blu back to his “cage with the little bell” and Jewel back to her home in the jungle. This, coupled with the fact that Blu can’t fly, makes their journey even tougher and more perilous.
Also, in order to impress Jewel (or at least redeem his character in a way), Blu has to find the courage to do something which he has never done before in his life, yet something which every bird in Rio except him is capable of- to fly. In Newt, there appears to be no ‘disability’ to Newt, except maybe his social inadequacies and timidness, which is also Blu’s character. And, of course, it is a ‘fish-out-of-water’ story like Finding Nemo, Up, and Newt, and it is a ‘survival of the species’ story like Ice Age 2, Dinosaur, and Newt.
I’m not sure how you can’t be excited by it (it has samba, there’s so many interesting dance, flight and action sequences, etc.), but there were some quite CORNY scenes which I thought weren’t necessary, like the [spoil]slow-motion scream of Tulio on Linda’s dirtbike (which reminded me of Shrek/Kung Fu Panda slow-mo screams or Lightning McQueen’s tongue-lolling jump in Cars[/spoil], or the “pee in the birdbath” or “poop on seagulls” toilet humour.
I was in an afternoon matinee, and I had a similar crowd reaction. There was this woman who kept laughing behind me 
, and some of the kids were responsive to the film. I think it has a very universal appeal in that sense.
I’d kindly disagree. I think Blu and Jewel are the most well-developed characters outside Pixar since Hiccup and Toothless in HTTYD. Their bickering and gradual trusting of each other is one of the most interesting and heartwarming aspects of the film.
Again, I agree with all your points, except the last one. I think Blue Sky and Carlos really made an effort to flesh out the secondary characters here and focus on not having too many, unlike Toy Story 3 and apparently Cars 2. With the exception of Luis (who I felt had his drooling condition just for laughs and should have had more screentime), I think the characters were pretty strong and had distinct personalities. I also liked the fact that [spoil]Linda and Tulio’s relationship was a mirror of Blu and Jewel. It’s classic ‘B character-arc line’ of scriptwriting.[/spoil]
A note about the evil ones… there’s one ‘villain’ who actually redeems himself at the end, and I liked the fact that [spoil]he was the window into the world of the favelas for non-Brazilian viewers. That scene alone of him wandering through the slums was very courageous of Blue Sky to do, instead of ‘glamourising’ Rio.[/spoil]
Nigel, of course, is an excellent villain. Something like a combination of Hopper’s bullying antics and Hades’ wisecracking jokes.
All I can say is… the songs sound kinda samey if not viewed in the context of the film (I know because I listened to a few tracks before seeing the film). John Powell’s score is the one to pay attention to, because like HTTYD, he incorporates the main theme wonderfully into some of the cues. I think there’s two soundtracks - one of the ‘Music from the movie’ and another of John Powell’s score. I only like a few tracks from ‘Music from the movie’, but I would definitely buy Powell’s score album if I see it in stores or had an iTunes account.
And trust me, Rio will give you a heart attack with some of the beautiful sequences and infectious rhythms. At the very least keep you awake for most of the time.
I know that you are trying to criticise lacklustre animated movies, but I think you should give more credit the few that are actually good. There are people in other studios who treat it as more than a ‘9-5 job’, and care deeply about their work. Pixar does not have a monopoly on good films. There are movies like Tangled, HTTYD, LOTG, Rango, etc. that stand as good a chance as any Pixar movie in terms of quality.
Also, this is a very personal project for Carlos Saldanha, as he is a Rio carioca or native. I can tell that a lot of love and attention to detail has been poured into the film, because I did some research and actually recognised a few of the landmarks and local references throughout the movie. Yes, there are some lousy bits, like I mentioned, the cheesy jokes and Luiz’ underdeveloped character. But overall, I think it is an excellent film, and just as great as Rango (Rango appeals to my ‘adult’ brain, while Rio appeals to my ‘inner child’ brain).
Cars 2 and Kung Fu Panda 2 have their work cut out for them this year if they’re gonna impress me. 
Apologies for the super-long post, and I’m sorry if I come off as annoying to anyone. I’ll post a detailed review later, as I think I’ve already said too much in this post, but let me just say that I thoroughly enjoyed Rio and I got my money’s worth in 3D.
To use a strange analogy, if Rio was an ice-cream cone, I got the cone, the ice-cream and chocolate sprinkles on top.
Oh, and this 
Toooo many supporting characters, I agree. Wasn’t fond of Luiz’s gross gags, or the monkey-creatures. Were they necessary?