Cars 2 (2011)
Directed by John Lasseter
Star race car Lightning McQueen and his pal Mater head overseas to compete in the World Grand Prix race. But the road to the championship becomes rocky as Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage.
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What critics say influenced Cars 2
But it lacked the depth and the brilliance that defined the other Pixar greats, especially “Finding Nemo,” “WALL*E,” “Up” and the three “Toy Story’s.”
"Cars 2" is a loud, obnoxious, carnival ride of a movie whose only redeeming value is that its merchandise sales - the chief reason for its existence - might help the studio fund three or four more worthy projects down the road that will be on the level of "Up" or "Finding Nemo" or your pick of the "Toy Story" movies.
The beauty of movies like Toy Story and A Bug’s Life (1998) and Finding Nemo (2003) is that they reimagine elements of our own world in a way that makes the familiar fantastical and funny and whimsical; after seeing those films, you can never look at a child’s doll or an anthill or a coral reef the same way again.
What’s missing then is that certain spark, that moment when a movie like The Incredibles or Finding Nemo turns from stellar entertainment into a certain cinematic statement.
Pixar retained its first-class marquee value with such treasures as “Finding Nemo” (2003), “The Incredibles” (2004), “Ratatouille” (2007) and “Wall.E” (2008).
That would be unreasonable, of course, even if Pixar hadn't established itself as the Yankees of CGI animation, whacking home runs with "Toy Story" (1995), "A Bug's Life" (1998), "Toy Story 2" (1999), "Monsters, Inc." (2001), "Finding Nemo" (2003), "The Incredibles" (2004), "Cars" (2006), "Ratatouille" (2007), "WALL-E" (2008), "Up" (2009), and "Toy Story 3" (2010).
"Cars 2" is a loud, obnoxious, carnival ride of a movie whose only redeeming value is that its merchandise sales - the chief reason for its existence - might help the studio fund three or four more worthy projects down the road that will be on the level of "Up" or "Finding Nemo" or your pick of the "Toy Story" movies.
Of all the many and mostly wonderful Pixar films, the 2006 “ Cars ,” with the possible exception of “ Up ,” is my least favorite – although the second half of “ Wall-E ” lost me, and the image in “ Ratatouille ” of all those supposedly cute rats pouring through the kitchen of a high-end French restaurant ranks right up there for me with the shower scene in “Psycho.”
The studio is coming off one of its best stretches— Up and Toy Story 3 have both been instant classics—while the studio's signature director, John Lasseter, is back for the first time in several years, as well.
The truths it proffered to its audiences about hard work and friendship were pretty standard ones, lacking the complexity offered in knottier, more involving fare concerning family ties and growing up and growing old, such as the " Toy Story " films and " Up ."
Sure, the film is designed for kids, but with a growing number of Pixar films that feature mature subject matter (the opening scene in UP) as well as sophisticated characters (Wall-E), the slapstick humor, shallow relationships, and flat-out bizarre thematic take-aways in Cars 2 seem like a significant step backward for Pixar.
I would argue that it’s a bit stronger than that — its Route 66 mythology, coupled with the presence of Paul Newman in what would turn out to be his final role, lends it a nostalgic, bittersweet tinge — but when placed alongside the magnificence of, say, Up or the Toy Story trilogy, it clearly doesn’t possess the same emotional or artistic wallop.
Yet it's virtually joke-free, beyond the sort of easy cultural stereotypes that recall the live-action road-rally outings of my youth: "The Great Race" or, lower down the quality pole, "Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies."
This is no Toy Story 3 .
Picking up where last year’s Oscar-winning “Toy Story 3” left off, “Hawaiian Vacation” is probably the closest we’ll get to a “Toy Story 4” for quite some time, and we’ll take it.
"Hawaiian Vacation" picks up where "Toy Story 3" left off, with its box full of fabulous playthings living at little Bonnie's house.
Pixar owned the films, but Disney had sequel rights, and a Pixar-less version of Toy Story 3 was in the works at Disney until the Mouse bought Pixar, and John Lasseter, taking the reins at Disney animation, pulled the plug.
The truths it proffered to its audiences about hard work and friendship were pretty standard ones, lacking the complexity offered in knottier, more involving fare concerning family ties and growing up and growing old, such as the " Toy Story " films and " Up ."
As it recently reaffirmed with "Toy Story 3," Pixar never ventures into the bottom-line-driven sequel market without the essentials of a good story and a clear artistic purpose.
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Lip service to the virtues of friendship pads out what otherwise amounts to a rapid-fire string of uninspired anthropomorphised vehicle sight gags (although one moment, involving the black market sales of headlights, is enjoyable for a possibly inadvertent visual quotation from The Brave Little Toaster).
Lasseter, who co-directed with Ratatouille producer Brad Lewis, tries to shoehorn in a feel-good message about just being yourself, but it is mostly lost amid all the explosions, which would have happened even if the cars themselves had had more personality.
Of all the many and mostly wonderful Pixar films, the 2006 “ Cars ,” with the possible exception of “ Up ,” is my least favorite – although the second half of “ Wall-E ” lost me, and the image in “ Ratatouille ” of all those supposedly cute rats pouring through the kitchen of a high-end French restaurant ranks right up there for me with the shower scene in “Psycho.”
During a pass through Paris, the old Les Halles is wondrously reconstituted as a spare parts bazaar, Gusteau's from Ratatouille is part of the cityscape, the tops of the Eiffel Tower and the Arch de Triomphe are automotively reimagined and Mater, who went home after Tokyo, makes a too-soon return.
Cars 2, which takes Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) and Mater the tow truck (Larry the Cable Guy) abroad for the first World Grand Prix race, still has a lot of racing and makes a lot of cultural jokes, but there’s little sign of the filmmakers being inspired by anything beyond 007 / “Inspector Gadget” spy fantasy — something DreamWorks’ genre spoofs ( Kung Fu Panda , Monsters vs. Aliens , Megamind ) have done better.
“ Cars ” is the weakest movie in Pixar history, and this movie, when compared to the rest of Pixar’s titles, still ranks no higher than the second-weakest or third-weakest movie in Pixar history.
As all Pixar movies have since Toy Story in 1995, Cars 2 begins with the familiar Pixar Animation Studios logo, in which a bouncing desk lamp (a character that appeared in one of their earliest short films) bounces across the screen, turns, hops up and down on top of the I in Pixar, and then replaces it.
Making a sequel to 2006's Cars was always something of a head-scratcher.
So until recently, my least favorite Pixar movie had been “Cars.”
And I'm not even one of those "Cars" haters.
The first movie may have been a loose (and unintentional) remake of 1991’s “Doc Hollywood,” but at least it was charming and heartwarming.
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Nobody ever said all Pixar movies have to be straight-up comedies; "The Incredibles," for example, has several sequences that are more focused on action than laughs.
What’s missing then is that certain spark, that moment when a movie like The Incredibles or Finding Nemo turns from stellar entertainment into a certain cinematic statement.
That would be unreasonable, of course, even if Pixar hadn't established itself as the Yankees of CGI animation, whacking home runs with "Toy Story" (1995), "A Bug's Life" (1998), "Toy Story 2" (1999), "Monsters, Inc." (2001), "Finding Nemo" (2003), "The Incredibles" (2004), "Cars" (2006), "Ratatouille" (2007), "WALL-E" (2008), "Up" (2009), and "Toy Story 3" (2010).
But the heart of any Pixar film -- "Toy Story" (all three of them), "Wall-E," "Up," "The Incredibles" -- is storytelling with wit and emotion and characters that are instantly appealing.
Already they've produced " Toy Story 3 ," one of the best films of recent years -- with or without a numeral -- and now comes the breezily enjoyable "Cars 2." It's an example of what a sequel should, or at least can, be.
"Cars 2" is preceded by a zippy "Toy Story" cartoon, "Hawaiian Vacation," in which Woody and Buzz and friends treat Ken and Barbie to a faux-tropical getaway.
"Hawaiian Vacation," which played in front of the film in its theatrical run, features the "Toy Story" characters putting on a tropical getaway for Ken and Barbie and adds a nice chapter to the ongoing saga.
"Cars 2" is a loud, obnoxious, carnival ride of a movie whose only redeeming value is that its merchandise sales - the chief reason for its existence - might help the studio fund three or four more worthy projects down the road that will be on the level of "Up" or "Finding Nemo" or your pick of the "Toy Story" movies.
That will likely be the legacy of Cars 2. A final note: The "plus" in my grade is earned before Cars 2 begins, with a preview of the upcoming 3-D re-release of The Lion King, a teaser for 2012's Brave, and a Toy Story short subject titled Hawaiian Vacation.