With the financial success of the “Cars” series, it was only a matter of time before Disney tried to cash in on other venues of the same universe. That’s where “Planes” comes in.
Originally a direct-to-DVD release, “Planes” tells the story of Dusty, a cropduster plane, who dreams about air racing.
There’s just two problems: 1: he’s not built for speed and 2: he’s afraid of heights.
Nevertheless, by the mentoring of an elderly ex-navy plane, Skipper, voiced by Stacy Keach,
he follows his dreams and enters an international air race wherein he meets and befriends other planes from different countries all while doing his best to win the race. And…that’s pretty much the entire story!
And as you can probably figure out, this is not a good movie. There are many things that don’t work including too simplistic a story, not enough character development for a plethora of the characters in the movie, and even the conflicts in this film are easily solved. For example, I mentioned that one of Dusty’s problems was that he’s not built for speed, but guess what…it’s not really a problem. He very quickly after mentioning this fact somehow learns to be fast in like a 2-minute training montage and boom, that’s it…problem solved!
There’s also another conflict in which one or more characters “betray” Dusty and…boom, quickly after, that problem’s taken care of. There are also conflicts involving the mortal endangerment of others and even the deaths of other planes! The problem is that these scenes are brushed away quickly and quite annoyingly downplayed.
The only conflict that lasts throughout the movie and takes enough time to overcome is Dusty’s fear of heights. Dusty overcomes this in the end, but only after a series of tries and failures. So that’s a good thing.
So while we’re on the subject, is the film a total disaster or are there other good things? Actually, there are a few good things in this film. First of all, the voice acting (for the most part) isn’t bad. Stacy Keach does an excellent job as does Roger Craig Smith, John Cleese, Carlos Alazraqui, and surprisingly, Sinbad.
Secondly, the animation is spectacular especially that of the aerial maneuvers. If you’re someone into airplanes, you’ll be very impressed and amazed at the meticulousness (if that’s a word) put into animating the airplanes, their parts, the maneuvers, etc.
Summing up, I don’t think this is a good movie, but it’s quite enjoyable. I’d much rather watch this again over something like “Turbo”.
If you haven’t seen it, I say give it a shot…at least when there are kids watching with you; that’ll help keep you motivated to sit through the film. And who knows? You might be surprised by what you see.
The Animation Commendation 
From what you’ve said about it, I’m very interested in watching this, I’ve always wanted to see it anyway.
It’s definitely worth a watch…just don’t expect a masterpiece!
Another one that I skipped. Seems harmless enough, though. And better than Turbo, you say? Judging on the animation alone, Planes definitely LOOKS better but it does have Pixar’s name on it so I suppose that that’s a given.
There are many people (IMDB ratings, included) who say that “Turbo” is better than “Planes” and I’m quite shocked at that! “Planes” is definitely worth a watch…just don’t expect a masterpiece!
I think people just like to complain about the Cars franchise and any associated properties. Its essentially the only negative thing anyone can possibly say about Pixar.
True.
I heard this film is a mess… Not liking forward to seeing it. Great review.
If you don’t go in with too much expectations, the film is quite enjoyable. Then again, I’m into airplanes!
Great write up! This is a film I’ve decided to avoid! Cars was a good film, but I haven’t heard much good pointers about this film. Never know, might catch it when it comes on TV.
It’s not good, like I said, but I don’t think it’ll be unenjoyable to see.
I haven’t seen it yet but didn’t have high expectations for it despite the success of Cars
Yeah, if you go in with low expectations, you’ll find it quite enjoyable.
I saw this one. Yes, going in with extremely low expectations really helped. I went with a friend who has a young daughter. The daughter asked to see this. I actually enjoyed it.
Yeah, it surprised me too.
I haven’t watched it yet, but I’m going to try this weekend. 🙂
Lemme know what you thought of it!
Will do! I’ll probably post a review on my blog as well 🙂 Thanks again for visiting, you have a very impressive blog yourself!
I’ll start with the fact that I’ve never seen this movie. From what I’d heard and read I’d always viewed it as “Cars” in the air. My only interest in it was that my three-year-old nephew loves helicopters and planes. Sounds like I need to give it a chance. Thanks …
Yes give it a chance…but don’t expect much.
How many stars out of five would you give this film?
Eh….maybe 3. It’s definitely not an F movie, but 3/5 = 60% which seems about right.
I thought this was a cute movie. Then again if it was made by Disney the is a 98% chance I’ll live it. My daughter loves it.
Glad to meet fellow Disney lovers!