Rio (film)

For other uses, see Rio (disambiguation).

Rio
Full name	Rio Raymond
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Starlight Enterprises
Occupation	College intern at Starlight Enterprises
Family	Michael Raymond (father) † Erica Raymond (mother)
Played by	Ryan Guzman
Appearances	Jem and the Holograms (film)

Rio Raymond is a character in the 2015 musical, fantasy, adventure film, Jem and the Holograms, directed by Jon M. Chu. He is the son of Erica Raymond and main love interest of Jerrica. He is loosely based on Rio Pacheco, a character from the original '80s animated series, Jem.

Appearance and personality

Rio is a very handsome, responsible and well-mannered guy. He is very secure of himself and has a dashing smile he has no inhibitions in showing at any given time. When he is first introduced to Jerrica and the girls, at first he appears to be very bossy, dictating a series of ground rules they must obey as long as they are under his care. This soon changes, however, and he shows his true friendly and positive personality. These traits don't distract him with his duties at Starlight, however, as he is very mature for his age. Since the moment he meets Jerrica, a spark ignites between both.

With all these attributes and a prominent future in the company, not everything is as perfect in his life as one would think. In fact, behind his very secure-looking exterior, he holds a bit of grudge against his mother because he doesn't want to become the type of man she expects him to be. Additionally, he has the impression that no matter how much effort he puts in outdoing himself, it would never be enough to satisfy her demands.

He has yet another trick under his sleeve, though; one that not the girls, nor his mother, nor anyone would have imagined, and that is that he is a very talented singer, surprising everyone when he suddenly stops the girls while they are singing a song, only to join them in doing so.

He becomes best friends with the girls and agrees to help them in everything they need, even if it means going against his own mother. By the end of the story and after many adventures, he and Jerrica end up getting together.

Plot

Rio first appears as soon as the girls arrive to the Starlight Enterprises facilities in Los Angeles. Erica introduces him only as a college intern who will take care of anything they need. As soon as they meet, both him and Jerrica can't take the eyes off of each other, although they start their relationship with a bit of teasing from both sides. He is left in charge of their security and of driving them through the streets of L.A.

That night, the girls break curfew and make an escapade to Santa Monica Pier in search of one of Synergy's missing pieces. For this effect, they take Rio's car keys without him noticing and borrow his Jeep. Once there, they are discovered by what appears to be a guard and they give themselves up. The supposed guard ends up being Rio playing a joke on them; however, two real guards start approaching and with nowhere else to go, he suggests them all to jump into the ocean.

Once back on land and taking shelter under the pier, he is introduced to Synergy. Rio opens to them, revealing that Erica is actually his mother and that she wants to teach him the family business so he ends up being exactly like her, which he is not too happy about. The girls then start singing a song and, surprising everyone, he joins them in doing so.

Rio finds his father's will.

Throughout the course of the story, Rio keeps helping the girls with their scavenger hunt and supports them in everything they do. He even aids them in breaking into her mother's office at Starlight to retrieve Jerrica's earrings, which are in fact the last of Synergy's missing pieces. Unexpectedly, he also finds his father's will inside the same safe where the earrings were stored.

By the end, when Erica arrives to stop the girls' concert, Rio confronts her and reveals that his father's will says he can take over Starlight whenever he feels he is ready. He has his mother taken out of the building and the show goes on, ending with him and Jerrica kissing at the end. During the concert, Lindsey Pierce, head editor of Rolling Stone, makes her way to him. She remarks how he's got something special going on with the band he's now managing. She offers to have them on the next cover, to which he gladly accepts. When she asks him how would they like to call the band, Rio looks at Synergy playfully projecting some holograms in the air and responds: "How about Jem and The Holograms?". Lindsey agrees to the name.

Rio and Jerrica finally get together.

In a mid-credits scene, Erica looks for the help of an old girls band that used to work for her a long time ago. When she mentions that Rio and Jem are together, the leader of the band, Pizzazz, comes out of the shadows and agrees to help her, this probably hinting to a love affair both her and Rio may have had in the past.

Gallery

Rio helps the girls to break into Starlight.

Rio confronts his mother.

The night of the concert.

Lindsey: "What would they like to call the band?"
Rio: "How about Jem and The Holograms?"

Trivia

• Unlike his animated series counterpart, this version of Rio does not seem to be as temperamental or have issues with liars and deception.