Creed II
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
Homecoming
Log in with Facebook
OR
By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies, and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango.
Please enter your email address and we will email you a new password.
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Tomatometer Not Available...
——
Critic Consensus: No consensus yet.
All Critics (24) | Top Critics (1) | Fresh (20) | Rotten (4)
Kudos to this bright and breezy half-term Aussie kids flick for realising that competitive paper plane flying can unleash young imaginations.
For all that, this Aussie drama has a likeable, wholesome, Children's Film Foundation vibe that takes it a long way, with the ever reliable Worthington and Oxenbould making a winning pairing as father and son.
As we progress from hastily organised competitions at school, through state and national championships, and then on to the world championships (who knew?) in Tokyo, it does deliver poignancy, charm and just a little magic.
Paper Planes is a simple reminder in this high-tech age that joy can be found in a plain piece of paper and that, if my paper plane-laden home is anything to go by, old fashioned films like this can still ignite the imagination.
Worthington and Oxenbould strike up a believable father/son dynamic, meaning that you can't help but smile at the inevitably schmaltzy ending.
The melodrama is hokey, the family details bogus (we're supposed to believe that this modern-day 12-year-old's sprightly grandfather flew spitfires in the Second World War), and the competition element as predictable as you'd expect.
Terry Norris steals the show as the irrepressible grandpa who has little intention of putting his rakish fighter-pilot past behind him.
Ed Oxenbould, the talented Aussie child actor also recently seen in The Visit, gives another appealing performance in this otherwise bland and flimsy kids' movie.
It's worth catching on some platform or other if you and the kids are in the mood for some pleasant Oz escapism.
The planes' flight is invariably CGI-assisted, and the resulting comedy is mild, but there is a relaxed, happy atmosphere.
A "nice" film, but no amount of earnest delivery will make the idea of paper planes being treated as an ancient sport not seem ridiculous.
There's a day-dreamy quality to Paper Planes that makes it a pleasure to watch.
Sam Worthington is upstaged here but shows his softer side in this well executed kid's movie. Sure, some of the paper plane sequences are CG but it does not detract from the warm plot and believable characters.
Super Reviewer
There are no approved quotes yet for this movie.
View All