Planes takes place in the world of Cars, being a spin-off of the Pixar film. Planes can at first seem like a blatant cash in, which is further reinforced with a familiar plot. Planes is about Dusty, a cropduster plane who dreams of flying in a global race. He gets a mentor, an aged retired war plane. The setting of being in the backwaters and an aged retired mentor training the main character to win the race is very reminiscent of Cars. Planes is also full of cliches which has been done time and time again. However, the writers managed to create a story that overcomes these flaws and make Planes enjoyable. The humor wasn't too simplified so that adults can enjoy it too. The race themselves was quite action packed and the ending, while predictable, was fun and gives you a sense of justice. It is a typical "live your dream" and "root for the underdog" type of story. The animation was good despite initially being a direct-to-DVD release. While Planes copped a lot of flak from reviewers, it was still a fun movie.
