Rio 2 (Cert U, 101 mins, Twentieth Century Fox)

NEUROTIC blue macaw Blu (voiced by Jesse Eisenberg) and Jewel (Anne Hathaway) have settled with owners Linda (Leslie Mann) and Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro) in Rio. Jewel fears her three children — Carla (Rachel Crow), Bia (Amandla Stenberg) and Tiago (Pierce Gagnon) — are too domesticated so when Tulio and Linda uncover evidence of thriving blue macaws in the Amazon, the mother insists the entire family answers the call of the wild. In the lush paradise, the city birds are reunited with Jewel’s long-lost father Eduardo (Andy Garcia) and her tuneful childhood pal, Roberto (Bruno Mars). Jewel is thrilled — “We found our family. This changes everything!” — but Blu struggles to acclimatise to his new surroundings. Meanwhile, deranged cockatoo Nigel (Jemaine Clement) and lovesick amphibian sidekick Gabi (Kristin Chenoweth) hatch a diabolical scheme to exact revenge on the unsuspecting macaws.

Rio 2 is an assured and undemanding computer-animated sequel that promotes a serious ecological message.

Labour Day (Cert 12, 111 mins)

“IT was just the two of us after my father left,”

explains 13-year-old Henry Wheeler (Gattlin Griffith). Once a month, the teenager ventures out for supplies with his depressed mother Adele (Kate Winslet) but, for the most part, she remains indoors, haunted by ghosts of her failed marriage. During a visit to the local Pricemart with his mother, Henry encounters a bloodied stranger called Frank Chambers (Josh Brolin). Under duress, Adele and her son take Frank into their home and tend to his wounds.

That night, a television news report reveals the intimidating man is an escaped prisoner serving 18 years for the murder of his girlfriend (Maika Monroe).“It didn’t happen that way,” growls Frank. The fugitive lays low at the Wheeler homestead and adopts the role of surrogate father, offering Adele a second chance at happiness. Adapted from the novel by Joyce Maynard, Labor Day woos us with stirring performances, Eric Steelberg’s sundappled cinematography and Rolfe Kent’s elegiac orchestral score.

Starred Up (Cert 18, 106 mins, Twentieth Century Fox)

NINETEEN-year-old repeat offender Eric (Jack O’Connell) swaggers into his first adult prison as if he owns the joint. An altercation with prison guards leads to a spell in solitary confinement and Eric is ushered before lifer Spencer (Peter Ferdinando), who rules the roost.“No more silliness. I want a nice quiet wing,”Spencer tells Eric with an air of menace. It transpires that Eric’s father Neville (Ben Mendelsohn) is at the same facility and operates as one of Spencer’s underlings. Their reunion after 14 miserable years of estrangement is far from happy. While Eric exorcises ghosts of the past, the lad also attends anger management sessions led by a volunteer called Oliver (Rupert Friend), whose personal involvement with inmates is a source of frustration for sadistic Governor Hayes (Sam Spruell). Based on screenwriter Jonathan Asser’s experiences as a prison therapist, Starred Up is reminiscent of Alan Clarke’s seminal 1979 film Scum, which chronicled one young man’s journey through the hell of a British borstal. David Mackenzie’s film is almost as suffocating, anchored by a no-holds-barred performance from O’Connell. The 23-year-old Derbyshire actor electrifies every frame, offering glimpses of fear behind Eric’s cocksure facade as he rages against an imperfect system.

Friend and Mendelsohn are compelling in support and Asser’s script steadfastly refuses to polish any rough edges with pat sentimentality.

Squeamish viewers are sentenced to their worst nightmare: a journey into an unforgiving world where disputes are settled with a slash from a makeshift shank fashioned from a toothbrush and razor blade.