On Monday night, Jai and I headed into Tigard for an advance screening of Disney’s Planes at Bridgeport Village. The theater is right next to a pizza place that I had a gift card for, so we enjoyed a nice dinner and then settled in for the movie.

Planes follows the adventures of Dusty Crophopper, a cropduster that has big dreams of becoming a daredevil flyer and competing in a major air race. With a little help from some other planes and automobiles, Dusty sets off for the experience of a lifetime!

I enjoyed some of the sly jokes in the film; for example, the planes sit at a bar sipping gas cans, and at one point of the film, they mention a plane who was disqualified from the race for using a banned blend of super-powered petrol that “Blurs your vision” – hahaha! At another point in the film, Dusty lands on a giant aircraft carrier called the “Flysenhower”. I also noticed that they paid attention to details in the plane universe. At one point when the planes are flying, you notice a flock of little gliders below them made to look like birds; and when they race through New York, you see the Statue of Liberty as a giant plane.

Although this movie has been aimed more towards little boys, I loved the inclusion of Dottie, a smart and skilled mechanic who also happens to be female. There are also two girl planes participating in the race, although they are mostly relegated to love interests, so nothing groundbreaking there.

This movie has a “Sporty” feel to it, with sports newscaster planes narrating the action as the planes race from one location to another. The 3-D really suits this movie, since it makes the loop-de-loops and aerial tricks more impressive as you feel like you’re flying along with them. At the heart of the action is a story about overcoming odds to achieve your dreams, facing your fears, and doing the right thing. I’ll admit that I even got choked up at points towards the end! The plot develops exactly as you would expect, so there are no shocking twists here – just a cute little flick that kids and parents can enjoy together.

Disney’s Planes hits theaters today, August 9th!