Review Roundup: Hathaway, Chenoweth, Moreno Star & Sing in RIO 2

Twentieth Century Fox's sequel RIO 2 flies into theaters on Friday. Returning for the animated musical are stars Anne Hathaway, Jesse Eisenberg, will.i.am, Tracy Morgan, George Lopez, Leslie Mann, and Jamie Foxx.

In RIO 2 we find Blu (Eisenberg), Jewel (Hathaway) and their three kids living the perfect domesticated life in that magical city. When Jewel decides the kids need to learn to live like real birds, she insists the family venture into the Amazon. As Blu tries to fit in with his new neighbors, he worries he may lose Jewel and the kids to The Call of the wild.

Joining the RIO 2 team are Emmy and Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth, EGOT winner Rita Moreno, Oscar nominee Andy Garcia, and Grammy winner Bruno Mars.

Let's see what the critics had to say:

Jeannette Catsoulis | New York Times

"The cinematic equivalent of attack by kaleidoscope, RIO 2 sucks you in and whirls you around before spitting you out, exhausted. A tropical tornado of cadmium and cobalt, magenta and marigold, Carlos Saldanha's frantic follow-up to his well-received 2011 animated feature, "Rio," ups the ante on sound and movement but pays scant attention to story." Read the full review here.

Betsy Sharkey | Los Angeles Times

"Wonderfully animated and well-voiced, "Rio 2" is nevertheless too much. Too much plot, too many issues, too many characters. But not too much music. Yes, the musical numbers reach saturation levels, but the Latin-influenced jamming and singing are absolutely fabulous." Read the full review here.

Justin Chang | Variety

"A rather misleading title is just one reason to be slightly suspicious of RIO 2 an eye-popping, ear-tickling animated sequel that labors to fold a cheeky family sitcom, an earnest environmental primer, an exotic jungle tour, a broad survey of popular music and an avian remake of "Meet the Parents" into one bright and noisy package." Read the full review here.

Claudia Puig | USA Today

"Rio 2 teems with colorful animated splendor and elaborate musical numbers, but its rambling, hectic, if good-hearted, story is for the birds. Blessedly, the story is devoid of potty humor, but the fish-out-of-water, or bird-out-of-cage, jokes are too predictable." Read the full review here.

Justin Lowe | Hollywood Reporter

"Rio's impressive voice cast returns for the second outing largely intact, augmented by some notable additions, including Andy Garcia as a patriarchal parrot and singer-songwriter Bruno Mars in a tunefully comedic role. Although the significance of some of the musical and visual references may not register with the youngest viewers, there's plenty here to attract both kids and adults alike..." Read the full review here.

Stephanie Merry | Washington Post

"RIO 2 introduces a hybrid approach, which might be called "hoarding." Not only does it incorporate the story lines and characters from the original, but it also adds new villains and complications, making it an overstuffed mess of too many personalities and plot points. I never thought I'd say this, but maybe the HANGOVER strategy isn't so bad after all." Read the full review here.

Peter Hartlaub | San Francisco Chronicle

""Rio 2" deftly quashes future inbreeding discussions - a secret second colony of blue macaws is discovered! - but the sequel has a new flock of problems. It's a bright and fun movie, but also repetitive and overloaded with plot. A nice enough diversion, but not a necessary one." Read the full review here.

Michael Phillips | Chicago Tribune

"In the commercial animation realm, there are movies that reach for something, or many things. Others are content merely to baby-sit. The 2011 hit RIO was a baby sitter. And so is RIO 2, a routine sequel following the perilous adventures of the rare blue macaws Blu (wow, clever character name), Jewel and their offspring as they leave urban Rio life for a chaotic trip to Amazon rain forest country." Read the full review here.

Did you join the Blue Macaw's opening weekend? Add your review to the roundup in the comments below.

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