"Cars 2" was co-directed by John Lasseter and Brad Lewis. It stars Michael Caine, Larry the Cable Guy, Owen Wilson, Emily Mortimer, Eddie Izzard, John Ratzenberger, etc.The plot involves Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson), who has now won four Piston Cups, so now the natural next step in the life of a race car is to schlep around the world for the Grand Prix. In case people want to know who the fastest car in the world is. McQueen's best pal Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) comes along for the ride and slightly embarrasses his friend. He makes up for this by being mistaken for a spy. These are of course British spies, headed up by Finn McMissile (Michael Caine). Something about oil and wanting to kill McQueen for some reason. After almost two hours I honestly am not completely confident I know why they are spies.
Who knew that I would one day see a movie where Larry the Cable Guy would get top billing over someone as talented and wonderful as Michael Caine? It seems a little weird. Luckily, Michael Caine gets by far the most lines in this movie (as opposed to coming into work for 20 minutes for his "Inception" role and then running out of the studio with a large paycheck). Anyway, he was my favorite part of this movie. I find his voice irresistible. And the British can get away with saying anything and making it sound intelligent, but that's just a rumor I've heard.
Besides Michael Caine, the next best thing this movie has to offer is stunningly beautiful animation. It's incredible. It is mostly vibrant and colorful like the last one, and most of Pixar's other movies. Some scenes, including the opening, were much darker, which I assume is because they randomly decided the sequel would have a completely different feel and would belong in a different genre, than the first. But, whatever, the animation was still up to par. The views of downtown London, Japan, and the Italian countryside are wonderfully designed. It amazes me and the big screen made it even better so you could soak in all the beauty.
The music in this is also wonderful. That may be because it was done by Michael Giacchino, who did the beautiful soundtrack in "Up." This time around in place of a emotional, sentimental sounding score we have one that adds to the thrilling, adventurous, spy-tastic movie that is "Cars 2."
Alright, some negative things. It was a little long. I don't understand why Pixar made their two weakest movies the longest. It's a little weird, but I didn't get bored, probably because I knew Michael Caine's voice was going to be blasting through the speakers soon.
Another negative thing. Some cheesy jokes, that I assume were meant for the people in the audience who have Cars onesies pajamas and other paraphernalia, but I will complain anyway. Larry the Cable Guy looked at the script and it included a joke about how wasabi sounds like "What's Up?" And he had the gall not to complain about it! At another point he is referred to as "the bomb" by McQueen. I know they are best friends, but come on Pixar scriptwriters! There are some more that I can't remember off the top of my head, but you get the idea. I guess after they decided to make this a spy movie, for literally no noticeable reason, they didn't really think deeply about specific lines.
Also, it didn't have the heart and emotional component like such Pixar modern classics like "Toy Story" (any of them), "Up", "Finding Nemo," etc. They closest they came in this movie was mentioning how Doc Hudson had died. It was extremely brief, but I appreciated the inclusion of this small scene, since Paul Newman passed away 3 years ago. I was glad the role wasn't recast.
Unfortunately, Pixar no longer has a perfect track record for movies. This is currently the only Pixar movie in 16 years to be called rotten on Rotten Tomatoes, with a low average of 34%. I was skeptical at first, when I saw that this movie was being made, but decided to trust Pixar...and I liked the trailer. All of this is not going to stop thousands of young people from flooding the theaters with their parents, grandparents, and legal guardians or babysitters.
Well this is getting long so I will try to sum up my feelings. Did people really expect "Cars 2" to be an instant classic like some others from the studio? Take at look at the title of this movie just once more. Pixar just needed to be a little greedy and that is precisely why this movie exists. Personally, I'm in favor of giving Michael Caine a paycheck. He is an American treasure...well technically a British treasure. This movie is definitely entertaining, but doesn't have the substance movie goers have grown used to. It's visually stunning and full of high octane fun, mainly for youngsters. It just makes very little sense and many things seemed random. So basically, this is not Pixar's finest hour. But, so what, they can make up for it with "Brave" and "Monster's University." It must be stressful cranking out amazing movies all the time. And "Cars 2" is better than "Alvin and the Chipmunks," "Yogi Bear," "The Smurfs," and more Spy Kids and Shrek movies, etc....so stop whining.
Note: There is a "Toy Story" short, entitled "Hawaiian Vacation," before "Cars 2." It is absolutely wonderful and may make people wish they were watching "Toy Story 3" again. I both laughed and smiled during the brief 6 minutes. Pixar promises no more "Toy Story" films, but I highly support these shorts, so we get to see more of these characters. I vote Disney puts a "Toy Story" short before every release of theirs.
Another Note: "Wall-e", "Up," and "Toy Story 3" was Pixar Animations Studios spoiling Americans for a few years.
2 1/2 stars out of 4
-Joseph Sbrilli
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