[Blu-ray Review] Paper Planes (2015) by Christopher Innis

Starring: Ed Oxenbould, Sam Worthington, Nicholas Bakopoulos-Cooke, Deborah Mailman, Ena Imai, David Wenham
Directed By: Robert Connolly

The Film: Released amongst the fury of the January holiday flux of Hollywood animated films a small Australian children’s film about making paper aeroplanes managed to not only find a local audience, but also become a box office success. The film is Robert Connolly’s Paper Planes, which flies onto DVD and BluRay this month managed to find a massive local audience following a very successful marketing campaign that got parents wanting to take their children to see an Australian film.

The film tells the story of Dylan (Ed Oxenbould) and ordinary young boy from a rural town who finds his way to competing in the world paper plane championships, however he and his dad Jack (Sam Worthington) are still struggling to move on following the death of his mum five months prior.

The success behind Paper Planes was by taking something a simple as making a paper plane and turning it into something magical and the film has an almost fantasy feel to it. The script which was co-written by Connolly and Steve Worland is fantastic and contains a collection of great characters from Dylan’s school teacher, his classmates, his fellow competitors and even the father of his rival, who even offers Dylan some inspiring words.

The film is perfectly balanced and isn’t too dark or too kiddie, it has the right tone to captivate both children and adults, and its quite refreshing to see an Australian film that is fun. Connolly has do a great job, considering his previous films have dealt with more serious subject matter such as The Bank or Balibo, but he has managed to make a great Australian kids film that has been well received by Australians.

Film Rating

The Australian Blu-ray
The review copy was a screener so video and audio quality are unable to be reviewed.

Extras
* Featurette
* Paper Plane Tutorial

Only a short featurette discussing the various paper planes used in the film and how they relate to the plot. Also included is a collection of tutorials on how to make different paper planes from the films paper plane advisors.

Blu-ray Rating