REVIEW: Cars 2 (C)

(dir. John Lasseter and Brad Lewis, 2011)

Regardless of what you hear, there is a lot to enjoy about Disney and Pixar's newest film, Cars 2.  But, in line with what you've heard, there's also a lot to not enjoy.  Much ado has been whispered and shouted in regards to the reason this film was made.  It's well documented (including in an hour-long documentary) that the original Cars was a passion project for director and Pixar creative master John Lasseter, and the film just happened to become a hit with children (if not the critical masses) and a merchandise Goliath.  So is the sequel to Pixar's least-favorably-reviewed film a project of passion or dollar signs?

Answer: It doesn't matter.

As with all Pixar films, we start with the adorable protagonists, erstwhile upstart and now reformed race-car Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) and stupid is as stupid does best pal Mater (Larry the Cable Guy).  In the original, McQueen was the star, and in a curious and ultimately successful move, Mater has become the chief hero of the sequel.  Long story short, in the throes of a worldwide World Grand Prix race sponsored by alternative fuel icon Sir Miles Axlerod (Eddie Izzard), Mater is mistaken as a high-class spy and hilarity ensues; well, it almost ensues.

There are some funny parts.  A rather clever scene wherein Mater eats pistachio ice cream, only to find out he had really eaten a scoop of wasabi (you know, the things adults get and kids don't).  There are fun parts even; the races are visually stunning and the battle sequences are awe-inspiring.  A particularly strong opening sequence (seemingly borrowed right from the storyboards of a James Bond flick) gave me hope for the rest of the picture.  But it's the overarching aspects where the film falters.  There's no real emotional core, you struggle to really care about anyone aside from Mater, and there's no cohesively strong theme to the piece.  In the end, it's just a "see, your stupid friend can do stuff, if only by accident" story.  All new and old characters are bland and mostly forgettable, from the barely-there McQueen to the new Mater love interest Holley Shiftwell (voiced, presumably while napping, by Emily Mortimer).  New driving rival Francesco Bernoulli (a Formula-1 car voiced by John Turturro) is a recycling of Turturro's character from The Big Lebowski and Sasha Baron Cohen's foreign racing rival from Talladega Nights.  It was just...fluff.  Devoid of the heart and soul we've come to expect not only from Pixar, but from all good animated films.

Cars 2 feels so empty, even if it is full of color.  For all the disdain most give the original, I respect it for what it was.  It had heart, and that heart belonged in the characters of Radiator Springs, and the town itself.  Cars 2 takes half the lovable characters out of the equation and transplants McQueen and Mater to Italy, Japan, and London.  There's no love or connection with these cities; visually, they're amazing, but the characters have zero connection to them. And in a wanderlust sequel to a film that was originally all about the importance of a small town, this feels like a misguided ripoff.

I saw this movie with five children, four of which literally worship the ground all things Cars walk drive on.  They laughed a lot, and when we left they said it was the "best movie ever," and that they "loved Lightning."  And, in the end, I guess that's the point isn't it?  For animated films at least, to entertain children and take them to another world that's fun and where cars can fly.  So what if their parents, siblings, or film critics thinks the movie is stupid, they get a kick out of it.  For so long now, animated films have surprised us by not being just animated films, but something greater.  So when they're not, we're disappointed, and we miss the point of them to begin with.  GRADE: C

CARS 2

Written by Ben Queen

Directed by John Lasseter

Voices by Larry the Cable Guy, Owen Wilson, Emily Mortimer

and Michael Caine

Luigi: No fight more important than firendship.

CARS 2 marks the first time where I could not care less about a Pixar release. I didn’t buy the world made up entirely of cars in the first instalment and thought the idea of a race-car learning to slow down in life to be pretty dull. Getting behind the wheel again was the last thing I wanted to do but I’m sure glad I did. CARS 2 is a ton more fun than its predecessor, as it follows the best thing about the first film, tow-truck, Mater (Larry the Cable Guy), through a mistaken identity spy caper. It never reaches the true greatness that most Pixar pictures achieve but by speeding up the action, Pixar revs up for some much-needed excitement for these former clunkers.

Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is once again racing to prove something in CARS 2, in this case to prove his virility and quiet the taunts of another racer, Francesco Bernoulli (John Turturro). In a bold move on Pixar’s part though, McQueen’s brilliantly animated race around the world is downgraded to a secondary plot for the sequel. This allows us to tag along with Mater as he joins forces with Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) and Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer) to take down a bunch of lemon cars determined to dissuade the world from using new forms of fuel. The lemons are in possession of an untapped oil reserve so alternative energy is their nemesis. All the while, Mater and McQueen’s friendship is tested when McQueen is embarrassed by Mater’s naïve antics. This in turn forces Mater to pop his own hood and look inside so that he can learn to love his own make and model. Good thing too because nobody likes an insecure car.

In many ways, director, John Lasseter (who directed the first CARS and the first two TOY STORY films) has dumbed down the CARS 2 to make it even more accessible. It is completely ludicrous when you piece the plot together but its simplicity allows for a more enjoyable time that I’m certain will get little boys everywhere clamouring for more car toys, especially now that the cars come with guns and missiles attached to them. That said, this is a movie populated with talking machinery so I’m not sure whether ridiculousness should even be a consideration here. As gimmicky and forced as the spy adventure spin is, it adds some serious traction to this budding franchise that should surely carry it safely over the finish line in first place.