A sequel that never quite takes off

DISNEY'S Planes: Fire & Rescue initially gets off to a flying start with some fantastic aerial CGI shots but hits turbulence pretty fast despite its brief and tolerable running time of just over 80 minutes.

Maybe expectations are just too high - it's a spin-off from Pixar's successful Cars franchise and a sequel to the better-than-expected 2013 Planes that almost got a straight-to-video release.

But a dull storyline that mashes the technicalities of Ron Howard's fire-fighting rescue drama Backdraft (1991) with the well-loved children's book The Little Engine That Could results in a plot that is too grown-up for kids and too kiddy for grown-ups - simply because the young ones don't need to know how to put out a forest fire; while their parents shouldn't have to sit through another animated movie about an underdog triumphing.