Planes

OK so it's no Cars. Or actually, it's very much like Cars, but the Planes part of that world. That's the whole idea. The Brent Mustangburger character ties it together if there was any doubt. Some of the jokes are similar. Some of the sight gags are similar. But the story itself is actually superior. Rather than a story about a spoiled sociopathic jerk who discovers that he actually does have a heart, this is a story of an individual who is all heart and proves to the world that you can be more than what everyone else tells you that you have to be. The Skipper character is very much reminiscent of the Doc character but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Overall, it's a very inspiring story. Perhaps a little contrived, but it's a cartoon for kids. Lighten up! The jokes are good. The animation is good. My 4 year old daughter liked it and so did I (a 40yo man). As an inspiring story for kids to dream, work hard hard, and succeed, it is far superior to Cars in every way.

There is a bimodal distribution (2 peaks) in the user review scoring of Planes: 1-star, this is a horrible rip- off, nothing new here, Pixar's image is tarnished - and 10-star, what a wonderful kid's film, details are excellent, funny, good message.

First, this is not a Pixar film. You read that right. It's Disney, not Pixar. But it does have common cast of writers/producers. You may even note the tag line, "From above the world of Cars," overtly acknowledging the connection. If you can get past the notion of a rip-off, then, you'll find a lovely, joyful movie with enough to keep parents entertained while children are having a blast.

Yes the characters resemble those in Cars. Yes some of the plot lines are familiar. Yes the animation is similar to Cars (although the flight scenes are spectacular in spots). You know what I remember? Cars was a great movie! I'm pretty sure I remember that since I've seen it 147 times with my son (not really).

This is not an academy award winning movie. But it is a lot of fun. Before giving this children's cartoon 1-star, be clear what you're watching.

Feelings before seeing Planes was more the "not sure how it was going to turn out" sort of feeling. On one hand, there was the hope that Disney(or Disney Toon Studios to be exact) would continue the return to form trend started with 2009's The Princess and the Frog, which later saw even better films with Tangled(their best film since The Hunchback of Notre Dame) and Wreck it Ralph, Winnie the Pooh was also very sweet. There was also the feeling of trepidation as well because reading the plot line gives the sense that it would be predictable and unoriginal. Regardless of any initial feelings, the only way to judge Planes was to see it. Sadly, Planes was very disappointing for this viewer and possibly their weakest since Chicken Little. And this is coming from somebody who hopefully knows how to judge family films, yes guys this is a family film not a kids' film.

Planes does have things that it did do well. The animation is the best aspect by some considerable distance, it is great, not the best animation there's ever been but it looks beautiful all the same. It manages to be colourful and well-textured with detailed backgrounds and well-designed characters. The camera angles as well are a source of wonder, they're very well-incorporated and really give the sense that you're journeying in the air with the character. The music is catchy, with very well-chosen songs, and serves the film very well, the mariachi version of Love Machine is very sweet and fun. The aviation at least shows that the writers have done their research. The voice acting too is commendable all round, with Dane Cook in particular voicing with enthusiasm. John Cleese, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss and Val Kilmer are pleasing too, though they have been better.

Unfortunately Planes is also one of those films where it starts slowly and unpromising and never really takes off, sorry couldn't resist. The story just doesn't have any spark, the storytelling is predictable and lazy and the pacing sedate. People have said that it is basically Cars in the air with touches of Top Gun, Jay Jay the Jet Plane and The Ugly Duckling story and that is true, it is a very derivative film that makes a bigger problem in that there is nothing of surprise or distinction. The script lacks freshness, charm and wit, instead it's full of tedious down-time talk, tired one-liners and jokes(crazy like a firefox for example) and has no emotional impact. The air-force/aviation jargon might go over children's heads as well. The romance between Dusty and Ishani comes across as a cliché that is poorly developed, almost like an afterthought. The characters are annoyingly shallow, Dusty is not so bad but the rest are not very interesting and their development is thin, Skipper's back-story especially felt shoe-horned in and forced. El Chupacabra has his moments but is a stereotypical character(something that people may take a dislike to) and too many of his jokes are lame. In fact there are a lot of cultural stereotypes, and much of them border on the insensitive. The villain Ripslinger is also stereotypically designed and is possibly one of Disney's blandest villains, with some of the most annoying and unnecessary goons of any animated film in recent memory. The action looks good in the animation but fails to generate any excitement, much of it suffers from too much predictability and that the pacing is too sedate throughout.

In conclusion, far from a truly terrible film or the plane wreck it's made out to be but a disappointingly lazy one where it's easy to see the things Planes has been criticised for. Then again this is personal opinion and be taken with a pinch of salt instead of being discarded for being an opinion being different to your own. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Just watched this computer animated feature in 3-D with my movie theatre-working friend. Part of me knew this was going to be a formula movie with the Disney trademarks of someone thought of as being average doing extraordinary things being the premise but it still works here. Also, there was some good funny lines sometimes and the story and characterizations were not bad if not great. I mean, John Cleese is good at being the stuffy Brit as one of the racing planes. There were also many exciting point-of-view shots of the leading plane flying through the skies so there was that. I also liked another one of the planes serenading a female racer with a slow version of "Love Machine". So on that note, Planes is worth a look if one is not too discriminating in choosing one of these late summer movies...

I've just bought a new food processor. If you put in every animated film ever made, and set it to the highest setting, you may come out with something like Planes.

You have the plucky young dreamer who seems destined to a life of drudgery, but aspires for higher things. He has a stoopid best friend, who is charming in his own special way. There is an elderly mentor, who initially turns down the whippersnapper when he asks for his help... but gosh darn it, he changes his mind once he sees how determined the kid is. The bad guy is an irredeemable moustache-twirler with two giggling goons who follow him around everywhere. A 'comedy relief' is a cheeseball Mexican who is obsessed by dance and romance (of course, and this guy outstays his welcome from his first syllable). As for the love interest, she starts off working for the evil dudes, but soon discovers her true feelings, and...

So on, and so forth. There isn't one original idea in the whole farrago... and that's without even getting into the recycled story or the below par animation. The fact is, this is film-making by committee: it ticks every box, caters for every demographic but missing that all important ingredient: soul. If you respect your kid's intelligence, take 'em to see something else this Summer. 5/10