Review of Planes: Fire & Rescue (2014) by Aaron S — 20 Aug 2014

"You came here to become a fire-fighter.".

The planes franchise (its pretty much one now) is an odd one. It's a spin off by Disney of Pixar's least well reviewed films 'Cars' and it screams 'straight to DVD'. Yet it got a cinema release this seemed a little odd to me but with 'Planes 2' releasing in cinemas and as a wider release. Clearly it was a film that made quite a lot of money.

Having not seen the first one (due to it not showing in my home town) I expected to see a severely sub standard animated film. But as it turns out it was totally that, but it's a 'for the kids' affair. 'Dusty' (Dane Cook) a racing plane (boringly the same as Cars) I suddenly hit with the news that his gear box is cracked and he won't be racing again. Distraught, he contemplates his next move when the air strip he lives on is hit by a fire and 'Mayday' (Hal Holbrook) has difficulty putting it out they are given a notice of closure unless they get another fire truck. So 'Dusty' decides to go in for certification. It's a film that waddles along rather than fly's along (excuse the pun). It has a fair few moments of interest and inject some much needed enthusiasm along the way. But its often a meandering experience. The jokes are mostly typically easy with some exceptions particularly when 'Lil Dipper' ( Julie Bowen) appears - a voice of enthusiasm and eagerness.

There's nothing that could be considering surprising in fact the word well trodden and the same as cars could be used. There's a 'Doc Hudson' type in 'Blade Ranger' (Ed Harris) an older 'I don't want to talk about my past' character. As well as 'Dusty' essentially being 'Lightning McQueen' with his slow slightly confused answers to odd questions. On its own without the creation of 'Cars' this might seem original or at least more original but it borrows too much from its plot. And the less we mention about the bad 'The Smokejumpers' and 'Windlifter' the better.

There's certainly enough here for kids to enjoy but parents may be wary. It's not bad it's more just competent watchable thanks to mixing some solid elements with overdone story and some bad characters. It's a film that manages to hold your attention has opposed to not needing to try. And considering this is basically 'Disney' B team it's a good effort. Still, I can't give it a pass based on that. I'll slap 'for the kids' on this and be done.