Is 2011 the worst year for animated movies? It’s looking that way. Not only has there not been a SINGLE watchable one so far besides Rango (and many, many more duds like Gnomeo and Juliet or Hoodwinked 2), there hasn’t been an instant classic produced like last year’s How I Met Your Dragon. That was a non-Pixar movie, but it was also excellent. Then of course Pixar came along with probably the third best film I saw last year, Toy Story 3.
However, this year things look pretty grim. Pixar’s new movie is Cars 2, a sequel to the worst Pixar movie ever made and not looking any better. Then there’s Rio trying to take last year’s How I Met Your Dragon slot of non-Pixar excellence. It doesn’t.
What Works: Jesse Eisenberg is probably the right actor to play a nervous, fussy bird. And some of the bright colors will be okay for smaller kids to look at. Jermaine Clements is also a lot of fun as the villain.
What Doesn’t: It’s an animated movie for kids, that feels like it’s for kids. I guess adults have been so spoiled with the Pixar movies and the occasional non-Pixar jewel (like Kung Fu Panda) we expect all movies to work on a better level, this one doesn’t.
What I Would Have Done Differently: Probably casted Natalie Portman to play Anne Hathaway’s bird instead of her. Portman has the right dry sexiness in her voice to give adults a little kick, while Hathaway plays firmly to the kids. Plus, Portman’s in every other movie this year so why not this one?