Delayed Reaction: Rio 2

The Pitch: Rio is basically Ferngully anyway. Let's bridge the gap.

How I Came Into It: I mostly forgot about the first movie until I was made aware of the sequel. There's also the matter of being oddly attracted to a bird because it had Anne Hathaway's voice, but that's a whole other issue that I'd rather not dig deeper into.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) The question one should ask with any of these animated movies (or any sequel) is "Ok, what's next?". The first movie is about finding the other BB (short for Blue Bird, which will have to do, because I'm not looking the real name up of those birds) that's left. Obviously, the second will then be about finding even more BBs. The influx of new characters (the colony and Blu's kids) is one part overload, one part refreshing variety. Bruno Mars' bird is very Bruno Mars-y. I'm calling that a good thing since people really dig him. There's enough of the same wacky humor kids liked from the first movie.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: There is a complete character overload, including a lot of dead weight leftover from the first movie. There's almost no need for characters to return other than Blu, Jewel, Linda, and Roberto. I should give up on the notion that an animated sequel will ever do something unexpected. Movies like this are among the most formulaic out there. I guess that's why it's so rare that I seek them out when they are still in theaters.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend