Alicia I love this movie so much

Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Ehirerapp Waste of time

Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Eric Fraser -for this wonderful film which has completely enthralled my 4 year old son. The Dusty Crophopper character is easily the big favorite amongst pre-school boys in our area. This film is better than the first, employing beautiful panoramic views paired with high action. The writers clearly understand their target market and if 4-6 year olds could write reviews, I'd imagine that the ratings for this film would be through the roof. This film explores the some of the same universal, time honored struggles that have concerned humanity since mythological times. These sophisticated ideas are communicated in a way to appeal to the cognitive abilities of a typical 4-6 year old. This is not an easy thing to do. There is an abundant use of allegory and metaphor and some aspects of this presentation are actually quite sophisticated. I do feel a little sorry for the stunted adult who is unable to recognize this. For most preschoolers, the initial draw of the film are the spinning propellors and rotors which are all used to good effect. For parents of mechanically inclined children, this provides an entrée for lengthily discussions about the make up of plane and helicopter engines and an exploration into how things work. The moral aspects of the film become a point for discussion as well.The score to this film is brilliant. When Blade tells Dusty about Augerin Canyon, the score shifts into a piano portion that is haunting, foreshadowing, evocative, and a little melancholy. I think of myself as a bit of a music snob (don't we all) and I have to say that this particular excerpt is the among the most beautiful new music I have heard all year. This powerful score helps to lend credibility to the reading of this fun little kid's film as also conveying a message that is both meaningful and emotive.The only complaint I have is that there are few female voiced characters in the film. The four I could discern include, Lil Dipper, Dottie, one of the smoke jumpers and a squealing little car at studio 404, being rescued by Blade in his old TV show. All the true major players are male. I would have liked to have seen a little more equity and sensitivity in the way that female characters were developed. Female characters don't always have to be 'Miss Piggy' obnoxious (Lil Dipper), usurped by a superior male (Dottie), saucy (smoke jumper), or weak and vulnerable (studio 404 car). I expect a little progress in storytelling from a studio that aspires to be on the cutting edge.Also, I noticed in the credits that a lot of the animation grunt work was outsourced. I would like for an American production to have sought to employ more Americans as a matter of principle. Disney will make more money than they need to on the licensing agreements alone, so no need to cut corners by outsourcing. If this film is as popular as it is in my kid's pre-school, their profit margins on this film, the merchandise and toys will prove to be astounding.

Phil Hubbs Well here we are with the sequel to a poor movie that was a spin off of another half assed kids movie, yet bizarrely this movie is actually pretty good! The first adventure in the skies was basically a very dull very poor 'Cars' spin off that didn't do anything we hadn't already seen in the 'Cars' movie. It was quite awful with seriously lackluster characters truth be told. Yet despite this something has happened here which has turned the franchise upside down...almost. Yes its all the same dubiously clichéd and stereotypcial characters and yes the plot isn't exactly the greatest piece of original writing ever to touch down...but its actually fun! Put simply, Dusty the Air Tractor has ruined his internal bits n pieces with too much hardcore racing. Whilst being the arrogant cocky little sod that he is he crashes and causes a fire which in turn alerts some fire safety inspector truck dude to close the airport due to lack of a decent firefighting crew. In order to restore the airport to its former glory Dusty goes off to Piston Peak National Park (GREAT NAME! and presumably in the Wyoming/Colorado area of this universe) to learn to be a firefighter plane.From there on its the predictable overused age old scenario where at first Dusty finds it hard mixing in with the fire crew. He slowly gets to know the team, discovers one female plane fancies him but the chief Ranger chopper thinks he's no good for the team, he won't make the grade. After numerous training sequences, whinny sulky moments, some heart-to-hearts and one to ones...a major fire breaks out which means its time to get down to the business of saving the day hero style. Essentially its the underdog schtick all over again with a highly obvious outcome all round for every character...the little plane that could.I think the main difference from the first movie is the fact the visuals here look really really nice. Don't get me wrong its nothing that's gonna blow you away in a shower of epic CGI rainbows...it just looks very good and way way better than before. The first movie looked like an obvious made for TV flick and very basic. This time its been upgraded with a fresh coat of Turtlewax and its gleaming in every frame, background foreground and all the vehicle characters.There is a wide selection of characters in here also but surprisingly that doesn't compromise the story. Actually many of the new characters are highly likable and really add a much needed to boost that was lacking before. Ed Harris as the Fire Ranger chopper is as you would expect...stern serious and without a sense of humour, but he's still a likable fella because he fair and righteous (not in an all American way though), and he looks good as a fire engine red chopper. Wes Studi voices a character that seems to be of Native American descent...I'm guessing by the way he speaks as I don't think its mentioned. This might seem incredibly clichéd by now...which it is...but again he's a great character. His large green Skycrane design does eerily suit this Indian notion to a tee with its long curved blades that kinda look like long drapes of black hair and of course the helicopter wrap or colour scheme design seems to replicate typical Native American warpaint/face paint (around the eyes).Gotta give kudos to the cool little team of smokejumpers that are made up of small JCB construction/excavator vehicles. Not only do these guys look quite cute nippy and cool, they are also quite amusing and not in any way annoying! I half expected them to leap into action by combining together to form a large Transformer-esque Constructicon (nerd smirk). There is a large voice cast in this movie, many small and large characters but at no point does it ever feel swamped, its handled well.Despite the plodding exhausted plot premise at least they have tried to expand the story without retracing their steps. Yeah sure we've seen this kinda of thing before but the fact they make the old characters push forward into new territory creating a fresh angle for themselves (firefighting), and not going back to the old original plot premise of crop dusting/racing (which is hinted at but swept aside), is a big positive. I was sure at one point that Dusty would probably go back to his racing ways (predictably)...but no! he doesn't, he moves on and this in turn generates a nice new chapter for the franchise. In that I wouldn't mind seeing another entry here. The blend of various vehicles is fun to watch if totally ridiculous at times, why would they need certain buildings like restaurants ? why would they have drinks in glasses at a function? wouldn't every building be humongous to house certain vehicles like large planes etc...Try not to get too technical with this incredibly insane premise as it is after all completely a kids flick and in no way meant to be taken any other way. Miles better than the first movie, leagues ahead with quality and some nice little visual gags for us older folk...Boat Reynolds! 'CHoPs' instead of 'CHiPs' (old 70s/80s TV show, in this universe its based around choppers/helicopters) and 'Howard the Truck'.7/10

Neil Welch Prize race-winning plane Dusty Crophopper is told his racing days are over, so he joins a team of forest fire-fighting aircraft and appliances.The first Planes film, set (by Disney) in the same universe as Pixar's Cars, did little more than move the plot of Cars 2 off the road and into the air. This sequel is very much better. The rescue scenario lends itself to some wonderfully realised visuals and a genuine sense of jeopardy. The characters seem more likable this time round, too.A high profile voice cast does well by serving the film and not imposing themselves, but this film - for me - was mainly about the terrific visuals.

cinematic_aficionado The story revolves around Dusty a lovely plane who learns he cannot race anymore as his engine is about to burst. Not one to give up he tries to prove he can still be useful.Whilst it is admirable for one to not lose spirits in the face of adversity the way this has been displayed in this animating adventure has proved ineffective.Dusty comes across as a stubborn plane who in his refusal to accept he is damaged and stay put manages to constantly endanger himself as well as other planes. There is a failed attempt, a telling off, then another incident and another etc... Given he cannot race he opts for becoming a fire-fighter but the problems remain, his engine is not up to the task. More failed attempts and endangerment.Whereas the spectacle/cinematography is acceptable the moral of the story falls short and given how the cinema was filled with youngsters something tells me it did not convey a very poignant message.