Review of Cars 2 (2011) by Jacob B — 19 Jul 2017

With Cars 2, the saying "Pixar can do no wrong" is finally proved to be false. The first film barely managed to dodge that bullet. However, this one finally results in them losing a possible world record of most critically acclaimed films from a production studio in a row.

It's not Golden Raspberry worthy but I can understand why the Academy didn't nominate this film for any award. The animation is as visually striking as always, the action sequences are pretty cool and I don't mind the movie going at a fast pace.

But compared to Pixar's previous films, it's bad. As its own stand-alone title, it can be thrilling but still not the best choice for children. It has a convoluted plot - something about a bunch of evil cars wanting to make a type of gas look bad -, the G rating is inappropriate - come on, The Incredibles managed to get rated PG.

..how much did you pay 'em, Lasseter? - and I'm not too keen on Mater being the hero this time around. While I admit Larry the Cable Guy is charming as him and he is more tolerable than Jar Jar, his ignorance is more likely going to induce groaning from older audiences since he's mostly there for child appeal.

And he clearly isn't a spy yet those two British idiots take too long to realize it despite clear signs that he doesn't know anything about espionage. Cars 2 is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be but, despite some solid action sequences to back it up, the film ultimately runs low on fuel.

Could've been far, far, FAR worse than the end result turned out to be.