3
It's hard for me to review this film. I hold Pixar to a much higher standard than any other studio, and expect there movies to play not only to the kid in me, but have some adult subtext. Cars was more of a kid's movie than most of their output, but the underlying story of loss of small town America resonated with me. Cars 2 has no desire to be anything but a kid's movie, and in that, for the first time, I'm mildly disappointed with a Pixar movie.
The main problem with this film is its focus: Mater. I really enjoyed the character of Mater in the first film, and I'm not a Larry The Cable Guy fan. He was dopey, but had heart, and had the other characters in the film to balance him out. Here, the character is supposed to carry the movie. You've got the story of Lightning McQueen trying to win a race, but that takes a backseat to Mater being mistaken as a spy. Director John Lasseter caters to five year olds by taking the heart out of Mater and just making him do dumb things.
I know this sounds negative, and again, that's because I hold this studio to higher standards. The film looks great, it's exciting at times and, if it was made by anyone else, would be an incredibly entertaining movie. But this is Pixar, and I was hoping for a little more from these guys.
It's hard for me to review this film. I hold Pixar to a much higher standard than any other studio, and expect there movies to play not only to the kid in me, but have some adult subtext. Cars was more of a kid's movie than most of their output, but the underlying story of loss of small town America resonated with me. Cars 2 has no desire to be anything but a kid's movie, and in that, for the first time, I'm mildly disappointed with a Pixar movie.