Ainbo

I sat down to watch the 2021 animated movie "AINBO: Spirit of the Amazon" together with my 11 year old son, as we had read that this animated movie was of the same type such as "Moana".

Well, "AINBO: Spirit of the Amazon" felt a bit like a poor man's watered-down variation of "Moana", perhaps. But it was by no means in the same league.

Sure, "AINBO: Spirit of the Amazon" was watchable, but the fact that this animated movie was more of a display of pretty and detailed CGI animation more than it was focusing on a solid and thoroughly thought through storyline, was just a shame, because it held back the movie. "AINBO: Spirit of the Amazon" had potential to be something akin to "Raya" or "Moana", for sure, but the lack of a well-written storyline or intricately detailed characters was holding it back.

The spirit animals were, of course, the glue that held the movie together, given their loveable nature and the things they did. But sidekicks can only do so much for a movie that is lacking in the story department.

It would have served the movie nicely if the characters in the storyline were more carved out and given more of personalities, drive and motivation, and such, but instead we are looking at nicely drawn animated characters that essentially were all one and the same.

Sadly then "AINBO: Spirit of the Amazon" just failed to be all that it could have been, and it made for a lukewarm viewing experience.

I am rating "AINBO: Spirit of the Amazon" a mediocre five out of ten stars.