Thursday, July 17, 2014

PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE (D+)


Bottom Line: Continuing it’s fleecing of mass audiences by shilling this franchise off as a product of Pixar, Disney’s PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE is actually an improvement from its 2013 predecessor.  …of course, I gave the original an ‘F’ and it made my worst ten of that year - but it’s an improvement none-the-less.  With things like story, structure and smarts all tossed aside, the filmmakers were able to focus on crisp animation and lightly touched themes of courage and teamwork.  Add that to one action-packed, well-executed aerial fire brigade sequence and you’ve got roughly 22 minutes that aren’t a complete snoozefest.  I may have firmly planted my flag of hate in to the first one, but my entire family loved it…  This time out, however, the roles have been entirely reversed: My wife was insulted at the lack of imagination and character development, my four-year old was scarred of the fire scenes, my seven-year old asked to play games on my phone half way through and nine-year old didn’t even want to go… I thought they did a marginally better job this time out, but ‘marginally better’ does not a recommendation make.  This thing fails to fully engage with its audience.  While it may soar for a few brief moments, the rest is left taxiing on the tarmac of boredom.
 
Starring the voices of: Dane Cook, Ed Harris, Julie Bowen, Fred Willard, Wes Studi, Teri Hatcher, Brad Garrett and Hal Holbrook
Directed by: Roberts Gannaway
Running time: 84 minutes
Studio description: Adventure flies higher than ever before in this sequel to Disney's Planes.
 

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