You would think Planes made by Disney Toons studios would have a Pixar-Esq feeling to it with a good story, heartfelt moments and some great characters. But instead, what we get is a film that is very childish jokes, a bunch of contrived and badly written characters and the most basic story ever told.
So there is this guy named Dusty who is a Cropduster plane and he wants to fly in the Wings Around The Globe (At first I thought this might be a reference to the Wings concert tour, but I was wrong) 5 people can get in the other five stay out. He gets into sixth place but in fact, a racer is disqualified for using illegal fuel and Dusty gets in the race. But he is afraid of heights. So his friends, Chug, Dottie and Skipper say he should fly low. He meets a bunch of Planes he saw on TV in the competition like Ishani, Bulldog and El Chu. Not to mention Ripslinger played by Roger Craig Smith who is the new voice of Sonic. Ripslinger ultimately is a ***hole and will do anything to win. Will Dusty win? So the story is super basic. The Underdog story. But it wasn't as good as Turbo which is was another movie that had a similar plot. The story and script is very shallow and doesn't go anywhere special.
The characters, oh boy. These characters are contrived. They are not nearly as well developed as some of the other minor Cars Characters like Ramone or Holly. Here is a reason why the characters are contrived: In one scene, Dusty finds out that Ishani has been using Ripslingers propellers. He is like "YOU LIED TO ME! I CANNOT BELIEVE I TRUSTED YOU!" Then minutes later when they meet again he is like "Although you haven't given me an apology yet and that you back-stabbed me earlier I still forgive you." Now see how easy it was to forgive her. She just pops up on screen and then all of a sudden he gets encouraged by her and the other planes and cars to get back in the competition. Its like he knew that earlier in one scene Ishani turns her back on Ripslinger.
The jokes are extremely childish and there are very few clever ones that made me laugh. I think kids will laugh at jokes involving corn and farting.
So, What did I like about the movie? Well, I did enjoy the music by Mark Mancina. Very powerful in my opinion. The animation is OK but is a total down grade from Pixar's capabilities. Some voice actors are good like Roger Craig Smith and John Cleese but Dane Cook (Who I haven't seen in a film for years now) who returns to the big screen as Dusty is... well, unimpressive. I think they could have casted that part better.
Is Planes all that bad? No. But it is disappointing for those Pixar fans who want to see a pixar like film. Planes has been planned as a trilogy. Im sure it will have more dramatic story telling in the future films including its Sequel Planes: Fire and Rescue.
60/100 C+
So there is this guy named Dusty who is a Cropduster plane and he wants to fly in the Wings Around The Globe (At first I thought this might be a reference to the Wings concert tour, but I was wrong) 5 people can get in the other five stay out. He gets into sixth place but in fact, a racer is disqualified for using illegal fuel and Dusty gets in the race. But he is afraid of heights. So his friends, Chug, Dottie and Skipper say he should fly low. He meets a bunch of Planes he saw on TV in the competition like Ishani, Bulldog and El Chu. Not to mention Ripslinger played by Roger Craig Smith who is the new voice of Sonic. Ripslinger ultimately is a ***hole and will do anything to win. Will Dusty win? So the story is super basic. The Underdog story. But it wasn't as good as Turbo which is was another movie that had a similar plot. The story and script is very shallow and doesn't go anywhere special.
The characters, oh boy. These characters are contrived. They are not nearly as well developed as some of the other minor Cars Characters like Ramone or Holly. Here is a reason why the characters are contrived: In one scene, Dusty finds out that Ishani has been using Ripslingers propellers. He is like "YOU LIED TO ME! I CANNOT BELIEVE I TRUSTED YOU!" Then minutes later when they meet again he is like "Although you haven't given me an apology yet and that you back-stabbed me earlier I still forgive you." Now see how easy it was to forgive her. She just pops up on screen and then all of a sudden he gets encouraged by her and the other planes and cars to get back in the competition. Its like he knew that earlier in one scene Ishani turns her back on Ripslinger.
The jokes are extremely childish and there are very few clever ones that made me laugh. I think kids will laugh at jokes involving corn and farting.
So, What did I like about the movie? Well, I did enjoy the music by Mark Mancina. Very powerful in my opinion. The animation is OK but is a total down grade from Pixar's capabilities. Some voice actors are good like Roger Craig Smith and John Cleese but Dane Cook (Who I haven't seen in a film for years now) who returns to the big screen as Dusty is... well, unimpressive. I think they could have casted that part better.
Is Planes all that bad? No. But it is disappointing for those Pixar fans who want to see a pixar like film. Planes has been planned as a trilogy. Im sure it will have more dramatic story telling in the future films including its Sequel Planes: Fire and Rescue.
60/100 C+