10 Highest Grossing Movies That STILL Surprise Us
3. Rio 2
Rio 2 is one of those sequels you'll squint at and ask yourself, "Did I watch that? Did I even know they made that?"
Though the original 2011 animated film was hardly great, it grossed $483.8 million worldwide and was just memorable enough thanks to the spirited vocal performances from Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg as the central Spix's macaws.
Rio 2 then (apparently) came out in 2014 to wildly mixed reviews and grossed ever-so-slightly more than its predecessor, settling at a $498.8 million final cume. That said, try and find someone in your immediate social circle who knows for sure that they've seen Rio 2. Better yet, can they actually recount even a faint scrap of its plot?
This is the textbook example of a Generic Animated Sequel that's made to function as a babysitting device rather than to actually inspire creativity or curiosity in younger viewers.
Rio 2 made half a billion dollars, but in terms of real-world pop-culture engagement? Zilch.