PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE (G)
★★★
General release
The original Planes - a Disney spin-off from the Pixar hit Cars - was not a very impressive animated movie, feeling more like a cash-in than a genuinely creative endeavour. This sequel comes as a pleasant surprise. While not nearly on the level of the best Disney or Pixar movies, it's superior to its predecessor in pretty much every way, even if the world of the anthropomorphised vehicles still doesn't bear too much thinking about if you're a stickler for matters like logic.
We met Dusty Crophopper (voiced by Dane Cook) in the previous film, a cropduster who wanted to be a racing plane and got his wish, winning a round-the-world race. Still basking in the glory of his victory, he discovers his gearbox is no longer manufactured and he simply can't fly as fast as he once could. He decides to train to become a fire and rescue plane in order to help his friends, but it's not an easy task: Rusty has to prove himself once again in a new milieu.
There are plenty of throwaway gags in the film to keep adults who are accompanying kids amused including a bar called Honkers and a character named Boat Reynolds. While it retains a disposable feeling, not coming close to being a classic, not exactly profound, this sequel doesn't seem quite as lazy in thought or execution as Planes and is thus somewhat more appealing
Among the new batch of characters are the hard-to-impress helicopter commander Blade Ranger (Ed Harris) who has a secret from his past he doesn't like to talk about, though all his colleagues surreptitiously do (when it's revealed to us, it's quite amusing).
Planes: Fire & Rescue might be an unnecessary sequel to an unnecessary movie but viewed as an undemanding time-filler, it's pleasant enough.
