Film review: 'Planes: Fire & Rescue' sequel feels like a rushed job

Director: Roberts Gannaway

Cast: Dane Cook, Ed Harris, Julie Bowen, Curtis Armstrong, Hal Halbrook, Brad Garrett, Teri Hatcher

Rating: **1/2 (Two and a half stars)

What's it about:

Dusty Crophopper. From underdog to world champ to having the odds stacked heavily against him yet again, this puny airplane takes to the skies one more time in this sequel to Disney's Planes. Even as supposedly irreparable engine damage threatens to 'ground' his dreams of racing forever, he slows his pace a little to join an aerial wildfire fire attack squad.

What's hot: 

Some scenes stand out and are clap-worthy simply because of splendid detailing. Everyone from texturing and surfacing to lighting and compositing are the heroes of this piece.

What's not:

The voice cast doesn't impress. The writing is lacklustre, the principal characters are too weakly etched, there's a better (though somewhat predictable) story here but the plot is riddled with holes, the gags and one-liners are far too few and the references are a little too American to be enjoyed by international audiences. Also, you never seem to empathise with Dusty as strongly as you did with Lightning McQueen (from the Cars franchise). It's the minor characters who actually shine. This one isn't for-all-ages but rather for pre-teens. For what suspiciously feels like a rushed-job in-betweener, they should have gone direct-to-DVD , rather than opt for a big-screen 3D release.

What to do:  

Go fly a paper plane, instead. Oh wait, it's still raining!