Planes

In 2013, DisneyToon produced a spin-off of Pixar’s Cars franchise, titled Planes. Starring Dane Cook, Stacy Keach, Priyanka Chopra, Brad Garrett, Cedric the Entertainer, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Roger Craig Smith, John Cleese, Carlos Alazraqui, Val Kilmer, and Anthony Edwards, it grossed $219.8 million.

A cropduster working in a cornfield, Dusty Crophopper (Cook) practices aerobatic maneuvers in his spare time and dreams of becoming racer. Trained by a reclusive navy war plane named Skipper Riley (Keach) he trains to fly in the Wings Across the Globe race.

Planes is unique in that it’s in the same world as Cars, but is at the same time distinct and not a rehash of the film it spins off of. Dusty has to overcome his shortcomings of not being built to race in a very short time span. And not only does he do it, but eventually wins the respect of most of the racers he is flying with. It showcase’s Dusty’s character in how he goes about doing it: saving another racer and coming in last, having surprising determination and just being an all-around nice guy.

And the variedness of the race is also pretty interesting. Each leg is a different obstacle, such as high flying over the Himalayas, relying on GPS over the Pacific and maneuvering through the cold on the way to Iceland.

But while it’s a fun movie with a pretty good plot, it’s obvious that it was originally meant to be straight to video, but was given a few extra bucks to make it have a theatrical release. The writing is on par with many of the better direct to video sequels Disney put out and should have gone through a couple rewrites before it really went into production.

It’s underwhelming, but didn’t have to be.

#83 

If I Stay

The cinematic adaptation of Gayle Forman’s 2009 young adult novel has finally hit theaters. Directed by R. J. Cutler, If I Stay stars Chloë Grace Moretz, Mirelle Enos, Jamie Blackley, Joshua Leonard, Stacy Keach, and Aisha Hinds. It made 15.6 million in its opening weekend.

Mia Hall (Moretz) has led a pretty good life. The daughter of a former punk drummer (Leonard) and a former Riot grrrl (Enos), she is a musical prodigy with a chance  of being accepted into Julliard. But when a car accident kills the rest of her family and leaves her in a coma, her spirit leaves her body. Able to see everythng going on in the hospital, she learns that living or dying is completely up to her. 

If I Stay isn't excellent, nor is it great. It's an average, decent late summer teenage romance drama. Despite Morets receiving multiple nominations for her performances in films like Carrie, Let Me In, Hugo, and 500 Days of Summer," her acting in this film is fairly stiff. The same goes for Blackley's performance as Adam Wilde. This makes what could have been good dialogue straight from the book seem like clichéd lines seen in other romantic dramas. However, the film does have good editing and a pretty good, somewhat predictable story.  

The film suffers from stiff and wooden acting by Moretz and Blackley, which could possibly be attributed to their lack of chemistry together. Wilde is supposed to be this hip and cool punk rocker and Hall is the aloof, introverted cellist. However, in their frist meeting. Blackley doesnt give Wilde a cool vibe and Moretz is trying too hard to make Hall awkward. The result is a scene that's awkward from the wrong side and underplayed by the other. The lack of chemistry and stilted acting also makes their fight and arguments not seem quite as important. 

Unfortunately, this makes what were good quotes from the book feel like clichéd lines. There's a scene where Wilde explains to Hall that he loves her for who she is and it's the same person he was in love with yesterday and will be in love with tomorrow. It could have been a much better line if Blackley had better delivery as well as better chemistry with Moretz. 

On the othe rhand, the film is completely terrible. The editing between Moretz's flashbacks and her present day was actually pretty good. It cut in the right areas and gave the audience just enough in her present day to make them want to continue watching and be invested in what was happening. the ending to the film is also made well, with just a shot of Wilde and a slow fade to black, which lingers for a few seconds before the credits roll. It's a good way for audiences to fully take in everything they've seen. 

And while the story is somewhat predictable, even for those who haven't read the book it's still farily good. For most of her time dating Wilde, Hall makes plans to go to the same college as him and even get a place to live together. But after her grandfather (Keach) suggests she check out Julliard, which results in her getting an audition, she has to make the choice of wheither she stays local with Wilde or goes tot he school. At first, this seems like where the title of If I Stay comes from, with her having to make that choice. However, about three quarters of the way though, the real meaning of the film becomes apparent. Her choice is turned into should Hall stay, living without her family, or should she go, and pass on. Her flashbacks also continually build on this decision. This can be seen in two other scenes. In one, Wilde says he only writes songs about subjects that hurt him and in the other, Hall's mother says that sometimes a person makes choices and sometimes the choics make the rperson. Near the end, Hall in her out of body experience sees that Wilde is singing a song he wrote about her, which causes her to make the choice that has made her. 

If I Stay is by no means great, but it's not bad either. Despite wooden acting that makes good dialogue clichéd, it's well edited and has a good story. It comes in at #6, under Jersey Boys.