DisneyToon Studios, the division of WaltDisney Animation Studios responsible for “Planes” and a bunch of straight-to-video sequels that you never knew existed, is back for more cash with “Planes: Fire & Rescue”, which opened in theaters nationwide on Friday.
“Planes: Fire & Rescue“
Release Date: Friday July 18th, 2014
Runtime: 83 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG for action and some peril
Cast: Dane Cook, Ed Harris, John Michael Higgins, Julie Bowen
Disney’s latest film set in the same universe as “Cars”, starts off where last year’s “Planes” left off. Although the film is more suited for younger audiences, “Planes: Fire & Rescue” is generally more successful than its predecessor in telling a compelling story that holds your attention throughout its relatively short screen time.
Meet (again): Dusty Crophopper (still Dane Cook), a successful racer and an international celebrity. He’s amazing, incredible, people love him (until he starts telling the same stories over and over and over and over again for several years in a row). That is all well and good until he breaks his gearbox and can no longer race. After a fire in his hometown Propwash Junction, non-compliance on fire-safety regulations threaten to shut down the local airport. To save the airport, Dusty decides to become an aerial firefighter. The rest of the movie follows Dusty’s adventure as he learns to fight fires and puts his new skills to the test.
While not as impressive as movies made by Disney’s Pixar, the movie is very visually appealing. The fire and smoke add an extra dynamic to the action and the extended action sequences are genuinely enthralling. I think what I appreciate most, though, is the reverence with which it treats its subject matter. This film is, in essence, a tribute to firefighters and recognizes them as the unsung heroes who rush into situations when everyone is running (or in this universe, driving and flying) away. The movie is surprisingly serious. It is long on action, short on gags, and the jokes that are there are not particularly clever or amusing; however, the story and the message that it conveys make this a worthy summer distraction for your little ones.
Overall, on the It’s An Ordinary Blog movie review scale from one to ten where one is the worst, five is the best, and ten is the worst again: I give “Planes: Fire & Rescue” a 2.893485 with an emoticon based sub ranking of “hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…aww.”
It's An Ordinary Blog 
My toddler would probably like this movie. He likes planes A LOT!!
That movie looks very cute.. my kids are asking to go and see it.
My kids couldn’t quite seem to hold their attention long enough on the first Planes movie, but this one they actually might with the Fire & Rescue.
It is such an adorable movie, one of my favourites for sure
I’m kinda glad my kids are older (the youngest is 12) so I’m not obligated to spend our hard earned money on all the movie copycats. It irritates me when one thing is successful (i.e. CARS, which I didn’t really like) and they crank out similar movies and they are popular too because they are ‘kids movies’. But I haven’t watched either PLANES, so what do I know. 🙂 Like your honest reviews though- and a 2.893485 is not high enough in a scale of 1-5 to motivate me.
We so want to see this movie. I go to see what celebrities are playing roles in the cartoons.
These planes are so cute, maybe even cuter than cars were.
Must see this movie.
No young kids in the house, but I’ve heard good reviews on this.
Everyone has told me that Planes and Cars, etc are such good animated flicks. But honestly, I sort of stopped watching animated movies, although I need to go back. My favorites hands down are all the Shrek movies, I just cannot get enough. I also love Monster’s Inc… 😀 😀 And Wreck It Ralph is another favorite for sure!
😦 it wasn’t showing at our theater yet the other day. Looking forward to watching it though, my daughter loves Dusty