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A comedy-adventure about second chances, featuring a dynamic crew of elite firefighting aircraft devoted to protecting historic Piston Peak National Park from raging wildfire.
When world-famous air racer Dusty learns that his engine is damaged and that he may never race again, he must shift gears and launch into the world of aerial firefighting. Dusty joins forces with veteran fire and rescue helicopter Blade Ranger and Ranger’s courageous team, including spirited super scooper Dipper, heavy-lift helicopter Windlifter, ex-military transport Cabbie and a lively bunch of brave all-terrain vehicles known as The Smokejumpers. Together, the fearless team battles a massive wildfire, and Dusty learns what it takes to become a true hero.
What we thought:
Ever heard of the curse of the sequel? Few animated movies have managed to replicate their initial glory with a sequel. Shrek, How To Train Your Dragon, Despicable Me and… see? I’ve already run out of examples (notice that none are Disney films). Usually, it turns into a shameful cash-cow for production companies with the selling of second-rate DVDs to young children who don’t know any better, and oh does Planes: Fire & Rescue achieve this with flying (ahem) colours.
The worst part is, it will probably do well in South African cinema (seeing how well some hash remake of Dorothy Returns To Oz did a few months ago).
I can count on less than one hand the amount of jokes I laughed at, although I am pretty sure the scriptwriter was laughing all the way to the bank after cranking out this piece of blandness. I have seen some pointless unfunny children’s movies, but the second Planes is like grating your sense of wit against a sharp knife.
It couldn’t even entertain the actual target audience. The kids in the cinema were clearly as bored as the adults as they would rather run around in the cinema than be enthralled by the mediocrity that is the Fire & Rescue team of some Yellowstone-type park. Every cliché personality hack you can think of is squished into the team of rescuers, including a wise old American Indian helicopter, which borders on the politically incorrect, a star-struck plane with a crush on Dusty the star, and a tough leader with a secret past.
Also, they completely changed the direction of the plot from the first movie, where Dusty was a underdog racer, to him suddenly becoming a firefighter?? I would rather have watched some talking planes race than see a plane scoop water to throw on burning trees. As for character development, you’re better off watching an Arnold Schwarzenegger film.
Please, parents, I beg of you to let your kids watch children’s movies that actually help cultivate some good-humoured wit in them, which is much needed for their growing years, rather than dull their senses with this kind of averageness. Please Disney, say no to B-grade sequels and yes to wit and humour.
