Rio is the heart-warming story of a flightless blue macaw who, after being smuggled is brought back to his country of origin to try and make him mate with a female – the last of their kind. (And by that I don’t mean a pally chat at the local pub.) There’s a lot more to the story than just that and inevitable dangers, but you can really tell who the story is aimed towards.

Unfortunately, from about fifteen minutes in I could already see every plot twist there was and whilst I admit that moaning about the story of an animation aimed at children around the age of four is not exactly the height of clever critique, I can’t help but think even the children watching this must realise it’s not the greatest film in the world.

The connection to the characters was about the same as my internet connection in rural Wales. (Read: none) But this probably wouldn’t be as big an issue for young children. The main issue I had with Rio wasn’t feeling for our feathery friend, but the fact that while watching it I can’t help but believe I’d seen it somewhere before. Several times. It has the same predictable plot that so many children’s films seem to built on, even with the additional six unnecessary musical numbers. An animation like Finding Nemo (which is easily my favourite animation bar perhaps The Nightmare Before Christmas) was incredible when it came out because of its original plot and I can’t help but think if it’s proven that you can use more than one particular plot on an animated film once then you can do it again. As a product, Finding Nemo was enjoyed by children and adults alike. Rio was just dull.

However, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying don’t take your son or daughter to see it, just be prepared to not walk away with as much excitement as you may enter with. A bit like stepping into a cold bath expecting to step into a sauna. It’ll still get the job done, but it’s less than enjoyable.

by Ben Morris