Kieran91

This is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most thrilling movies I've ever seen. Combined with the realistic idea of science (and its technological advances) and its subsequent effects, the audience is pulled into a marvel of the pros and cons of a near-realistic scenario (apes obtaining human intellect). Some parts of the film soared, but some parts lacked integrity (namely the dull role of James Franco), but it was completely balanced out by brilliant CGI, clever twists and turns and the pitch-perfect performance of the genius that is Andy Serkis.

Carlos Saldanha has absolutely blown my mind with a stunning and enjoyable adventure about a simple bird named Blu. It's good to see the Ice Age director whip up something brilliant after his mediocre (and desperate) effort at the Ice Age trilogy; Rio brings to life numerous emotions and reactions from the audience that can only be connected by a brilliant storyline and intriguing characters. I've never been much of a fan of celebrity voices in CGI movies, but this has made me contemplate that notion on a level I've never felt before. Rio is a roller-coaster of a film with more ups and downs than Blackpool's Big Dipper. The characters are kept at that balance where the main characters are focused upon, yet not so much that they make other characters fizzle into the background. Every character plays their role in what I deem to be one of the movies of the year. I have seen many people dislike the storyline but, in my honest opinion, the storyline Rio presents will take some beating by the chart-busting wizards at Pixar and Dreamworks. With more films like this, Saldanha's name will go up in lights.

I truly struggled between what score to give this film as a massive Simpsons fan, but I just couldn't fall in love with the movie as much as I have done with the series. The Simpsons is unquestionably the funniest rendition of an American family with fantastic humour brought to life by the most amazing array of characters. In spite of this, the movie just felt like one long episode and, to be so hyped up, let me down on that pointer alone. The storyline is typical of an episode which, let's be honest, isn't a bad thing... there's yet to be a Simpsons episode where I'm shaking my head at the end credits; I sat at the end of The Simpsons Movie with a grin on my face after loving some of the new characters and the typical Simpsons humour, however I was just expecting something a bit fresh for such a hyped up movie. The problem continues along those lines; there isn't really much else you can do for a Simpsons movie (or any cartoon movie for that matter) other than a feature-long episode, however The Simpsons have undoubtably set the bar to be the the funniest, most enthralling cartoon movie with a pretty decent storyline and the best set of characters ever created. If you want a pretty decent watch which is bound to provide laughs and all-round entertainment then The Simpsons Movie is designed for you; however, if you are expecting a block-buster to be packed into this film then you will be rather disappointed.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]