Film Review: Pixar's 'Planes' fails to bring story to new heights

PLANES
Director: Klay Hall
Voiced by: Dane Cook, Stacy Keach (English version)
Category: I (English and Cantonese versions)

Pixar Animation set the template for anthropomorphic-style computer-animated films back in 1995 with Toy Story. The creators of that movie imbued non-human characters with the emotions, wishes and desires of human beings, and did it with such skill that their creations made a connection with the audience.

Since then, the style has become de rigueur for Hollywood producers, who now usually attempt to elevate their animated features from romps to light dramas.

Despite the presence of long-time Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios chief creative officer John Lasseter as its executive producer, Planes falls short of this aim. Modelled on Pixar's Cars series, but actually a co-production of its sister studio DisneyToon with Prana Animation Studios, this film has the slimmest of storylines, and mechanical characters who aren't fully rounded enough to engage viewers.

Essentially it's just one big race movie with the requisite narrative tropes about accepting people for who they are, and always doing your best, squeezed in between racing scenes.