Planes: Fire & Rescue

For kids up to a certain age (I'd say ages 6-10 would be just about perfect), Planes: Fire & Rescue should make for great entertainment.  I was less enthused while watching the film, but then, I have not been 6-10 for a long time.  The movie is harmless, colorful and kind of cute, just very slight.  I smiled a couple times, and there is one laugh out loud line.  But that line doesn't come until almost the end, and it's not worth sitting through the whole movie for.

If you are in the age range I mentioned above, or the parent of someone in that age range, then you probably saw last year's Planes movie.  This sequel continues the story of that film's hero, a spunky little plane named Dusty Crophopper (voice by Dane Cook), who as the film opens, has achieved his dream of being a championship racing plane.  But one day, while out flying with his friend Skipper (Stacy Keach), his engine malfunctions.  Turns out Dusty has a broken gearbox, and it's not going to be easy to fix.  Unless his friends can track another gearbox down, Dusty may never race again.  The little town of Propwash Junction that Dusty calls home is also facing its own problems.  The town's over the hill fire engine truck, Mayday (Hal Holbrook), is too old to perform his duties, and because of this, the entire town might be closed down right before the big corn festival hits.  Dusty decides to step in and train as a fire fighting plane, and goes to get certified at Piston Peak National Park.

Dusty is thrust right into his new job as a firefighter, under the watchful eye of the gruff chief plane, Blade Ranger (Ed Harris).  He is teamed up with a cute and goofy plane named Lil' Dipper (Julie Bowen), who holds a not-so secret crush over Dusty, and also gets the film's one laugh out loud line.  Much of the plot deals with Dusty's training to put out fires, Blade Ranger's secret past, and a greedy hotel manager who doesn't want to cancel his fancy grand opening party, even though there is a massive forest fire approaching the grounds.  Even for a movie targeted at very little kids, the plot is flimsy stuff, and it can barely hold up this movie, which only runs about 75 minutes, not counting the end credits.

The animation in Planes: Fire & Rescue is a little bit better than the last film, but you also have to remember that Planes was originally intended to be released straight to DVD, whereas this was a planned theatrical project from the beginning.  It's still not up to the level of Disney's animated A-material, but it gets the job done.  There are a couple pop culture references that are likely to fly over kids' heads, including a reference to Howard the Duck, but they're never quite used to their full effect.  Really, the movie exists simply to keep the kids quiet for a little over an hour.  If that's all you want from this movie, you'll be happy.  Just don't expect any more.

As far as kid's stuff goes, this one's not bad, but there are better options out there.  I'm sure that the toys this movie inspires will sell well, and we'll see Dusty and his friends on the big screen again.  Whether or not that's good news depends on how old you are.

See the movie times in your area or buy the DVD at Amazon.com!

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