Review of Planes (2013) by Tyler R — 07 Mar 2014

I'm not a fan of Cars. It's one of those Pixar films that I never really got into. That being said, it's one of Disney/Pixar's largest sources of income thanks to countless toy tie ins out there.

What better way to capitalize that than with a spin-off? But wait, Planes wasn't handled by Pixar. That right there makes a world of difference in quality on all fronts. Planes tells the age old story of an underdog proving everyone wrong.

It's such a shame this wasn't a film called Trains instead, because at least there could be some jokes about The Little Engine That Could. And speaking of jokes, it's pretty hilarious that this originated as a straight-to-DVD film before Disney smelled money, completely replaced the lead with Dane Cook (of all people), and slapped a 3D premium price on it.

All of that means, despite the lack of quality, it made millions. For starters, replacing Jon Cryer with Dane Cook was a horrifically stupid idea. Dane Cook sounds like he's being forced at gun point to read his lines, bringing nothing to the little character that was written.

Everyone else involved seemed to understand that this was a home media intended release, so no one put any really effort in. And speaking of no effort, there's the animation. There's nothing impressive about any of the animation, and sone of it looks pretty cheap.

However, no matter how critical anyone gets about this (and the 26% and 50% ratings for critics and users indicates some serious beat downs) this is a kid's film, and as long as there are poop jokes and bright animation, tickets will be sold.