Rio marks yet another entry in this year's already over-saturated animated movie market.  Between the brilliant Rango, the middling Gnomeo & Juliet, and the subpar Mars Needs Moms, where do our blue-feathered Spix’s Macaw friends rank?  Admirably (and pleasantly) high, actually.

Rio fills the screen with a sumptuous rendering of the titular city.  From the busy, bustling streets, to the lush natural jungles and tourist-worthy vistas, director Carlos Saldanha did a fantastic job bringing the sensibilities of his hometown to cinematic life.  There's even a 'Carnaval' night parade that makes for a particularly impressive set piece.  The characters themselves are a blast to look at -- birds of all shapes and sizes sport wildly exotic colors, contributing to the film's bright, warm feel.

The story is your typical 'fish out of water' hero's journey, but it carries itself well thanks to a bountiful supporting cast.  There's fourteen characters of significance by my count, far more than your typical animated feature - but they all have a purpose, and they never feel as though they were shoehorned into the narrative or used as a one-off joke.  The voice acting is generally good, and with such a wide net of villains and allies (humans and animals alike), there's no shortage of character dynamics.  The friendship between Leslie Mann's Linda and Jesse Eisenberg's Blu serves as the main emotional anchor, which is punctuated by a joyfully endearing opening montage.  The conflict comes when Blu 'needs' to get together with Anne Hathaway's Jewel to save their species, and the budding (though initially unlikely) romance turns into a moral choice that he must eventually make.  Running parallel is an underlying relationship that develops between Linda and Rodrigo Santoro's Túlio, which plays more lighthearted and goofy.  And then there are the villains, with Jemaine Clement headlining as the eccentrically vile cockatoo Nigel.  The trio of smugglers provide a string of hilarious comic relief, and George Lopez's Rafael is the voice of reason when things go sour between Blu and Jewel.  If there's a weak link in the cast, it has to be Will.i.am and Jamie Foxx as the perfunctory sidekicks.  They're very much a presence in the movie, but therein lies the problem; they teeter the line between reasonably tolerable and in-your-face obnoxious.  At least they each get good musical numbers.

Then there's the music, which is a tremendous asset to the movie.  Upbeat samba songs, funky Latin-pop pieces, and John Powell's fluent orchestral score all come together to create a party-like celebratory soundscape.  Powell is in terrific form here - compared to his decidedly lukewarm effort in Mars Needs Moms, his work in Rio is a contextual powerhouse.  Themes are catchy and likeable, with the main theme designated for the Linda/Blu relationship warranting special merit; its melodic range is surprisingly versatile, as you can hear from the suite above.  Powell also manages to integrate instrumental cues from select musical numbers, most notably the energetic intro/outro Real In Rio, which provides double duty as the identifying main theme for Rio de Janeiro and a theme to express Blu's character growth.

The rest of the samba and pop songs are no slouches either.  Ester Dean's Let Me Take You To Rio is the perfect accompaniment to showcase the arrival to the city, and there's also a nice update to Sérgio Mendes' classic Mas Que Nada.  "Sapo Cai" is a bombastically Portuguese rendition of Real In Rio; listen carefully toward the end for a superb transition into Powell's instrumental arrangements of the two main themes.  Even Taio Cruz's Telling the World serves as a pleasant end credits roll.  For once, it's actually worth picking up both the separate various artists "Music from the Motion Picture" release, as well as the "Original Soundtrack" - they're closely tied to one another, and together, you have a fairly complete representation of the movie's excellent score.

Rango still takes the top prize, but I can certainly recommend Rio over most other animated features released this year.  It's a modern cartoon at heart, though, so there's a fair bit of slapstick humor to contend with.  Some of the dialogue is also overwrought with contemporary clichés (yes, I'm looking at you, Will.i.am and Foxx), but those aside, there's no denying the film's magnetic charisma and vibrant presentation.