Review of Cars 2 (2011) by Ben H — 23 Sep 2012

Okay. So, just why is this the only rotten Pixar movie? Well, lets find out. Cars 2 is the story of Lightning McQueen....oh wait. No, actually Mater is the main character. Yes, the poster is misleading. Now, I'm not saying I hate Mater. I actually love him, and I think he's funny. But as a supporting character in the original Cars, I thought he worked a lot better. The thing is, many plot points throughout this movie are driven simply by Mater's buffoonish and dim-witted intelligence. (In fact, the start of the movie is Mater betting McQueen into the World Grand Prix against McQueen's will.) Sure, that is the charm of the character, but it just makes the whole plot feel flimsy and not as grounded. The feeling of "Well, he didn't need to do that, and if he hadn't, this wouldn't have happened" is largely present.

Plus, this film delves into an elaborate spy subplot. Now, what made the original Cars so special and heartfelt was the great nostalgic feeling of road travel. What was also clever was that the universe had cars that could simply do what a normal car would do (aside from them being personified). But the problem in Cars 2 is that the spy cars have all these crazy and wacky gadgets that are just so out of this world. It's hard to feel as sympathetic towards the characters when they don't appear vulnerable. Like in the original, McQueen's own attitude was the thing that was held against him, and that's what he had to gain the strength to overcome. In Cars 2, it's just spy cars trying to stop this organization of evil cars that are using dangerous fuel to kill certain cars entered in the Grand Prix. Mater is really the only one that seems vulnerable, but since his problems throughout the film are largely brought on because of his own doing, it just feels like he has it coming.

I might seem like I'm bashing the film, but I'm merely stating what went wrong. Is this an absolute trash-fest and unwatchable? Of course not. Some of the Pixar standards are still there: the humor, and obviously the gorgeous animation. But the story is what made this film feel subpar. Walking out of the theater, I enjoyed watching it, and didn't feel it was AS bad as the critical consensus led me to believe. But it certainly doesn't deserve to be among the pantheon of every other Pixar movie. To me, every Pixar movie is an absolute masterpiece, relevant for all ages...besides Cars 2. I say this movie was unnecessary to make. This could be supported by the fact that they only made it because of the high merchandise sales from the original. That's disheartening, really. But still, not a terrible movie, and certainly not as bad as many other companies' efforts. However, I draw the line at just okay. 3 out of 5.