Planes by Alex Stroup
Disney decides another direct-to-sequel video is good enough for the theater. Are they right?
Read it here!
Planes by Alex Stroup
Disney decides another direct-to-sequel video is good enough for the theater. Are they right?
Read it here!
Alex, I agree with your review 100%. This was a cute, simple story that works for younger kids, but not at all something that holds the interest of anyone over about 10. My 9 year old was the perfect age for Cars and even Cars 2 and enjoyed both movies, and loves model airplanes so we figured this was a guaranteed hit. He watched it, but wasn't thrilled with it.
Very surprised to see Pixar dilute it's brand identity like this...mediocre movie, no short, etc. This one would have been better left on DVD, as planned, where it would have been remembered as an average or above average direct to DVD release and they would have made some nice money on it. Instead, I'll remember it as the weakest Pixar film I've seen (although it's close in my mind to WALL-E, which I know others loved, but just wasn't my thing). My real worry is that this movie is doing fairly well at the box office, which may lead to more low quality movies from Pixar to rake in the extra money from a theatrical release.
Finally, regarding your Cars/Planes world meta-physics...I suggest not going there unless you want to really make your head spin!
Our family went Saturday and saw Planes. Good story line, BUT I hated the fact the movie was so focused on the spanish plane and trying to get a girlfriend. The movie totally could have done without it. Then all the kiss marks on his little plane face. We will not be purchasing the movie when it comes out on DVD or Blue Ray. 2 thumbs down for me.
Hate to break it to you, it still diluted Pixar's brand identity.
I vaguely noticed before I saw the movie that it was "Disney's Planes" and not "Pixar's Planes," and realized as the credits rolled that the only thing cartoony at the beginning was the trailer for Frozen. But they even managed to get John Ratzenberger to record dialogue, which is a very Pixar thing to do.
John Lasseter is given executive producer credits!
I know better than most movie-goers and it won't hurt Pixar's reputation in my book (other than the slight ding for John Lasseter not being able to convince them to do it straight to video).
I wish it was a Pixar film. I think that the general story line was cute and in the hands of the right people the movie could have been amazing.
He also has executive producer credits for other non-Pixar movies and shorts (pretty much everything since 2007, including Paperman, Wreck-It Ralph, Tangled, Prep & Landing, The Princess and the Frog, Meet the Robinsons). He is the Chief Creative Officer for both Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios (of which DisneyToon is a division) and so pretty much anything animated that Disney makes will have him listed as an executive producer. That said, they do say the story idea came from him.
Saw the movie and while I thought it was rather good, it was not as good as I think it could be. There were many times where I thought I was watching an aviation-based version of a blend of Cars and Cars 2, which made things rather predictable. I did enjoy it overall and chances are it will be added to my BD collection.
While I knew going in that this was not a Pixar film, they could have done a lot more integration between the two brands. Like how about a Radiator Springs fly-by during the last leg of the race. That would have been funny.
I thought the animation and soundtrack were very good. As good as many other Pixar/Disney films. Especially the backgrounds and scenery.
Did anyone else stay through the credits? I know there was nothing at the end, but it looked like the vast majority of the movie was produced outside of the United States. Granted, I know that many films, animated or otherwise, have components produced world-wide, but in comparison to other animated movies of the Summer, it was way more than its fair share going off of what I saw in the credits. (I dont think I am exaggerating too much if I estimate more than 2/3rds was globally resourced.)
Overall, I would give it a solid B. In comparison, I gave Despicable Me 2 an A as I thought the story line was much better and was funnier overall.
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