“You came here to become a firefighter,” says Blade Ranger (voiced by Ed Harris) to world-famous air racer Dusty Crophopper (voiced by Dane Cook) in Disney’s animated adventure/comedy Planes: Fire and Rescue.
When Dusty learns that his engine is damaged and the part that needs to be replaced is out of stock in every plane garage on the globe, it seems he may never race again. Depressed and angry, Dusty tries to see if he can fly just as fast as he always has but almost crashes and ends up starting a fire. Fortunately, his old fire truck friend, MayDay (voiced by Hal Holbrook), winds up putting out the fire with a little help from everybody because his hoses and equipment are too old to work right.
The day after putting out the blaze, the fire inspector discovers Mayday’s condition and orders that he get overhauled and the town get a second firefighter vehicle. Feeling guilty and wanting to help the town – and help his friend in particular – Dusty volunteers to become the second firefighter. He flies off to Piston Peak National Park to join an elite crew of firefighters dedicated to protecting the park from raging wildfires so he can learn how to fight fires and become certified. Learning from the veteran fire and rescue helicopter Blade Ranger, Dusty must quickly learn the different techniques and learn the important lesson of being able to follow orders if he’s ever going to become a real firefighter.
Planes: Fire and Rescue is an improvement over its predecessor but still suffers from an unoriginal and predictable script. The voice cast is solid with the exception of Dane Cook who still sounds bored and unconvincing as Dusty, the likable plane with nothing but racing on his mind.
The firefighting scenes are visually well done but there is never any real sense of true danger to any of the main characters. This becomes painfully clear when Dusty and Blade are surrounded by flames and Blade wants to use a cave for cover and Dusty wants to try to outrun it. Both planes argue and it’s at this point Dusty decides to reveal to Blade his engine problem. So they can’t outrun the fire but they have plenty of time for a debate and a quick heart to heart…c’mon!
The 3D in the film is utterly wasted, with only two scenes of a falling tree on fire and emergency cars jumping out of a rescue aircraft to fight the fire having a visual effect on the audience. Not once will the audience feel like they are soaring with Dusty and Blade over the fires and forests. So DON’T see it in 3D. But the key question is should any moviegoer see it at all? If you’re looking for a light, uninspired rip-off of the original animated film, Cars, mixed with the film Always minus the romance and a ghost for kids under the age of 7, then you might consider a matinee.
There’s a much better animated film in the movie theaters right now with a plot that focuses on bravery, loyalty, family, love, friendship and has amazing flying scenes in 3D along cool, lovable dragons. This film critic highly suggests you see How to Train Your Dragon 2 instead, and if you’ve already seen it see it again. It’s even better the second time.
GRADE: C-
Planes: Fire and Rescue opens in theaters on July 18, 2014 and is rated PG for action and some peril.
– Reviewed by Kevin Finnerty
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