Planes: Fire & Rescue

From personal opinion the first Planes film was dull and lazy though not without its moments. Its sequel Planes: Fire and Rescue is not great as such but in more ways than one it's (far) superior to its predecessor. The story, while still improving on that of the original, is very slight and predictable with an unfinished ending and Dusty's character arc being laboured and with tedious exposition between him and Blade. Some of the music is mismatched, parts have genuine tension but others have a slow-paced country-bar music vibe and it just doesn't fit. The characters are mostly very likable, especially Dipper but others including Dusty lack spark. Dane Cook didn't really do it for me either as Dusty, some of his comic timing is good but he often has too much of a smug approach to a character that would have fared better being played straight. Planes: Fire and Rescue does have a lot of very good things, particularly the animation which is outstanding and even better than that of the original. The colours are richer, the backgrounds and landscapes more textured and the photorealistic animation in the fire fighting sequences is far better than any of the animation in the first. Children and adults will appreciate the witty lines and easy-going humour as well as that it is nowhere near as derivative as the story of the first film and that the messaging is surprisingly gentle for a message movie, though with the odd preachy moment. The pacing is crisp while also gentle, and the fire fighting sequences are tense and exceptionally well animated with a truly thrilling climax. In fact the aerial sequences all soar and the action blazes. The voice acting is very good, with Cook being the only reservation. Especially good were Julie Bowen, who brings lovable sass and hilarious comic timing to Dipper, Ed Harris who brings grit and bite to Blade and Curtis Armstrong who's a warm presence. Wes Studi has his moments as well but his character could have been better fleshed out and more sensitively written. Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara have a very heartfelt moment together too. To conclude, not a great sequel but one that improves vastly over the first Planes film. 6/10 Bethany Cox