Movie Review: Rio 2 3D - Churp Churp Premiere Screening

**SPOILER ALERT**

**If you want to know my general opinion, scroll straight to the second last & last paragraphs! :)**

Blu and I at the Churpremiere of Rio 2 in 3D!

Since the first movie in 2011, I was eagerly waiting for the sequel to be released after watching the trailer. We left off from the first movie with the villains defeated and Blu achieving a milestone by being able to fly at last. Tulio and Linda built and runs a Blu Bird Sanctuary in Rio de Janeiro what we can only assume in the end to see Blu and Jewel to start a life together.

Image taken from www.liveforfilms.com

In Rio 2, Blu and Jewel have their own family of three kids - 2 daughters: Bia which seems to be musically inclined and Carla, why of course there has to be the one that is always thirsty for knowledge right? Then there is their only son, Tiago which (stereotypically and expectedly) the mischievous one. If you think that this movie evolves around their kids and probably the plot is about their kids being captured and Blu is on a mission to save them, then you are wrong. The focal point of the plot still remains with Blu.

Left to right: Carla (Rachel Crow), Bia (Amandla Sternberg) & Tiago (Pierce Gagnon)

Image taken from www.allentto.com

Tulio and Linda who are in the amazon, reportedly sighted the supposedly extinct Blue Macaws hence, Blu and his family flies to the Amazon partly to help Tulio and Linda find the Blue Macaws as and also because he wants to fulfil Jewel's wishes to meet the rest of their kind. Being a bird isn't exactly Blu's first nature, so it really is a jungle out there for Blu. As they meet with a flock their kind, Blu has problem trying to fit in and along the journey he has to face his not-so-approving-of-him father-in-law, a charming Roberto and a vengeful Nigel.

Jewel (Anne Hathaway) & Roberto (Bruno Mars)

Image taken from th08.deviantart.net

Rio 2 has a much more serious plot as compared to Rio, the dialogue in the movie and the feelings that Blu has to go through has a mild sombre portrayal to it. The plot for Rio and Rio 2 is almost the same, as it is about belonging, acceptance and courage. The main plot is Blu and how his family learning to settle in with their new family and the sub-plot is about Tulio and Linda trying to put a stop to illegal loggers in the Amazon. In the end, Blu comes to good terms with the Blue Macaw family and they are the ones who stop the illegal loggers before they bring down the forest.

The plot is more serious and less of humour (not to say that there weren't any at all). The plot is quite bland but going into the first half an hour of the movie, it is clearly an old fashioned family film. The life-of-the-party Nico and Pedro plays a fairly minor role in the movie. I feel that their role in the movie was "for sake" purposes. The plot would've work just fine even without them. They go on screen on and off but I find that their roles in the first movie was way way better. If you were a fan of Luiz the drooling bulldog, you would be disappointed as he only appears at the beginning and at the end of the movie.

Nico (Jamie Foxx) and Pedro (Will.I.Am)

Image taken from moviesofhollywood.com

The music arrangement was quite a disappointment for me. I expected better but I think my expectations were too high. I still like the idea of mixing Brazilian music with modern music genres such as pop and R&B but I find that the music in Rio 2 is not as danceable as the first movie. In the first movie, it made me feel like moving when I first heard the songs, but the second one was just "okay". I really liked the dark-humour of Nigel the Cockatoo in this sequel, he had quite a number of dramatic scenes and singing, very enjoyable, funny but fantastically villainy at the same time.

The villains in the films were the same as the first in terms of one group of humans and the other are animals. The human villains, lack character and development. There were not much details about them except that the boss who runs the illegal logging wants Tulio and Linda to be out from sight. The human villains were quite pathetic so to say. Nigel the Cockatoo was an even better villain! This time, he even has sidekicks, and one which develops into a really one-sided unconventional relationship (it was funny but I am still a bit weird-out by it. Haha.).  

Nigel (Jemaine Clement) and Gabi (Kristin Chenoweth)

Image taken from rio.wiki

The cinematography however, was amazing as usual. I loved how they had a lot of wide angle landscape shots. The colours were vibrant and the Amazon was beautifully shot and illustrated in animation. It is so surreal but it made me feel like I wouldn't mind living there! I watched Rio 2 in 3D, but my advice to you is don't waste your money watching it in 3D. As amazing as the cinematography is, there weren't much of any 3D elements. I would have preferred watching it in just 2D.

One of the beautiful shots in Rio 2

Image taken from rio.wiki

If you're a fan of Rio and of animations, the answer is yes, do watch it in the cinemas. The cinematography is wasted if you're watching in on a tv/desktop, but skip the 3D. I believe kids would enjoy this movie. The younger kids might not fully understand the real meaning behind the story but I can mentally hearing kids going "waaaaaaaaaahhhhh..." at the sight of the beautiful sceneries that Rio 2 has to offer. This movie entertains but at the same time presents valuable lessons about family, home, the self and protecting the ones you love and others.

Be sure to catch your favourite blue bird(s) in the cinemas from 10th April 2014 onwards! :)

Image taken from rio.wiki

Movie Review: Last Vegas - Churp Churp Premiere Screening

I know all you people are excite about watching Thor: the Dark World. While everyone are trying to win premier passes for Thor, I instead, took a seat back to watch the premier of Last Vegas instead, tickets won from Churp Churp, Churpremier.

Photo taken from IMDb

Last Vegas is an American comedy movie which stars some of the biggest celebrities - Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Robert De Niro, and Kevin Kline. This movie features three sixty-something friends who head to Vegas to celebrate the bachelor party of one of their friend since high school. 

The first scene of a movie starts off with a series of photos taken in a photo booth introducing the 4 main character when they were younger and then it fast forwards to 58 years later. We then see these 4 characters as old men in their 60s. Each of them have their own characters (typical of Hollywood films) which you can read clearly who and what they are. It shows us how they are as old men now and what they have and had to go through until then.

Guest performer LMFAO - Red Foo

Photo taken from www.thevipconcierge.com

The movie's narrative goes through an emotional journey but peppered with humour but I find that it deals with the idea of the dear of human of becoming old. It is a meaningful show and it knocks some sense into you telling you that, "You know one day i'm gonna be like that" It makes you terrified at the same time yet it also tells you to appreciate your life and the people around you. It is also about sacrifices and letting go, because when you come to that age, you are bound to lose people you love, you loose all your youth and your kids are terrified of losing you that they just want to keep you in a safe house.

Photo taken from theguardian.com

It shows the contrast between the young and the old in the show. The movie uses alot of close-up shots on the main characters which really shows you that, you know, celebrities DO get old. They have wrinkles, they have a beer belly, they have saggy skin and body parts just like any other human being and one day they are gonna eventually die too. I would give this movie a rating of 8/10. I give props to the values that it has but some scenes I find exists just to drag time.

If you wanna see some girls in bikini, parties and these four in action, well, Last Vegas hits the cinema today (31st October 2013) actually!

Here's the official trailer for Last Vegas. 

Movie Review: We're the Millers - Churp Churp Premiere Screening

We're the Millers is an action-comedy movie. It focuses on David Clark (Jason Sudeikis) a small-time drug dealer with no family who takes on a bigger job from his boss, Brad Gurdlinger (Ed Helms) to clear his debt which he lost from a robbery. David must now become a big-time drug dealer smuggler by bringing in Brad's shipment from Mexico. In order to get pass the police and border guards without raising any suspicions, David devices a plan to have a holiday with his non-existing family. Hence, he recruits debt-swarmed neighbour and stripper Rose (Jennifer Aniston), wannabe customer neighbour Kenny (Will Poulter), runaway pierced-skin Casey (Emma Roberts) to pose as a family to get to and back from the Mexican border.

Photo taken from www.movieguide.org

All thanks to ChurpChurp, I went for the premiere of this movie with lower expectations as I had the mindset that movies that Jennifer Aniston acted in were usually... not so much of a hit. Also because it is a full-on comedy with parts of action here and there, I had the feeling that it may just be another comedy movie with the usual jokes and same plot. Well it proved me wrong actually! I expected the movie have the conventions of any other comedy movies, while that is partly true, one thing was that the jokes came out naturally unlike some comedies that I have watched which I find the jokes came off unnatural. Bear in mind that the jokes and some scenes can be implicit or explicitly X-Rated, well there are alot of X-Rated remarks in the movie. So, kids, stay away!

Image taken from www.youtube.com

This movie in a way serves as an ideological purpose when David decides to form a family, hence the typical American family is portrayed. It shows us the stereotypes of a typical American family or in general what should a family be like and how they should behave as a family. for instance, rose who is a stripper has to revamp herself to look more mother like: sensible shoes, modest dressing and pretending to have mother-like qualities. It deals with the troubled teen and shows the typical dilemmas that teens go through these days i.e. boy-girl relationships, rebelliousness, struggle with their sense of identity etc. which are quite stereotypical so to say but it is these themes that relates to the audience and would sell.

From Stripper...

Image taken from www.famemonstersa.com

To mommy dearest.

Image taken from www.femalefirst.co.uk

One thing which i find was totally off was the ending of the movie. The way that all four of them just decided to stick together as a family to continue to run the drug dealing business. I find that quite unrealistic. what happened to Casey's family? Won't they come looking for her? What about Kenny? Where is his mom? That was the only thing that I felt was left hanging. I thought that Casey would return to her family and Kenny would end up with Melissa (Molly Quinn) somewhere and Rose and David would end up getting married. so, the ending was a lil' off for me.

This 2-hours hilarious movie left viewers laughing throughout the whole movie even as they were leaving the cinema hall. Not all parts of the movie is funny as there were some sentimental scenes as along the way, they got to learn more about each other and start to care for each other as a family. The plot is as it is, predictable of a typical Hollywood movie, good rules over evil with a happy ending. Even though it is X-Rated, but it still maintains the conventional codes and moral values of a comedy family oriented movie. I would give this movie a 7/10 and would suggest for you to go watch it when it hits the cinema! Relax, release all those tension that you have been having for the past week and catch the movie as it hits the cinema on 29th August 2013.