Planes

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.

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

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...

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.

Not sure WHY this movie has received such a poor rating - i thought it was actually a pretty solid, pretty fun movie. Could it have been better?... sure - not many movies in the history of cinema that you can say 'no' to, but if you just want to go have some fun and enjoy a 3d animated film with the kids for the night?... you certainly won't go wrong with Planes.

The irony to me about most of the negative reviews was that this movie borrowed a lot of the material from 'Cars' but most of that was to be expected, no?... isn't that half the reason of going to see this movie in the first place? ... meanwhile, most of the architecture and outline from Cars was blatantly stolen from 'Doc Hollywood' but that didn't seem to bother too many people did it (haha - believe it!)

Anyway... i thought it was a fun movie - pretty predictable, yes, but how many animations aren't? I don't think we watch these movies for the twist endings do we?

I was pretty happy to see the return of Dane Cook, who has seemingly vanished since his (cringing) attempt at romantic comedies (thank god that's over)... but as with many of these animated movies today, it was the supporting cast and the eccentric characters that regularly steal the show. (El Chupacubra anybody?!)

All in all - i'm glad i didn't listen to everyone's negative reviews and went and saw this on the big screen... my daughter is too