All good things must come to an end and, in this case, it’s Pixar’s streak of amazing films. Of all of Pixar’s films, Carswas my least favorite, and that seems to be the consensus across the board. Why they decided to make a sequel is beyond me, but I wasn’t completely against the idea. It’s always fun to see what kind of magic the famed studio can bring to the screen, especially when it continues to raise the bar, making it much more difficult for their next film to top. But let’s be honest, how can you top Toy Story 3?
Cars 2has taken over as my least favorite Pixar film to date, but that doesn’t mean it is a horrible film when you compare it to the vast amount of other films hitting the theater this year. I’ll get into the details later but let me give you a quick rundown of the movie. Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) and his tow truck pal Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) are invited overseas to compete in the first ever World Grand Prix, where McQueen is to go up against the best racers in the world. The races take place in three cities, Tokyo, Porto Corsa, and London, but in the first city, Tokyo, Mater gets mistaken for a spy and becomes part of an international espionage adventure. Mater teams up with Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) and Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer) in order to take down a group of ‘lemons’ (bad cars) who want to bring oil to its former glory rather than have to world switch to alternative fuel. That’s pretty much the breakdown of it.
I’ll start with the negative and work my way to the positive. First off, I’m a big fan of Mater; I think he is one of three characters that really brought humor to the first film, in addition to the Italian mechanic brothers. The difference between this film and the first, is that this one is more about Mater than McQueen, I didn’t realize that going into it which became a huge problem for me. Why you ask? It’s because I am not a fan of Larry the Cable Guy and can 
only take him in very small doses. Hearing his voice for 65 minutes makes me want to slam my head against my desk. To top that, Mater wasn’t really that funny in this film, which would be fine with me except that there wasn’t really that much humor in the movie, which is almost unheard of in a Pixar film. I think I only giggled three or four times during this one, not even a full blown laugh which, for me, is upsetting. I understand what director John Lasseter (Toy Story) was going for, especially with his environmentally conscious story, but unfortunately, because he skimped on the humor, the movie runs relatively flat instead of the usual emotional rollercoaster ride we expect from his films. I should mention that if you are over the age of 15, you can figure out where the film is going and how it will end within the first 10 minutes.
Additionally, I didn’t fully realize how much of an action film this would be, but by the time I got to the end I’m pretty sure it had the same amount of explosions and stunts as Fast Five. This was legitimately an action movie and I want you to know that so you don’t go in with wrong expectations. There were some really impressive scenes that I would never have 
expected Pixar to come up with, especially the explosive opening one, but without the humor, action/adventures can be really dull.
As for the positive, (and this is where I disagree with my colleague Melissas), I thought Pixar did a phenomenal job with the details of each city. When Lighting and Mater first arrive in Tokyo, I couldn’t believe what was incorporated when they gave a tour of the city. They had everything from a Cars spoof of the TV show MXC (Most Extreme Elimination Challenge) to the Japanese capsule hotels, I couldn’t believe it. If you’ve ever been to Japan I think you’ll appreciate the latter more than most, but if you’ve ever watched Spike you’ll enjoy the MXC spoof a lot. While the pop culture references were eliminated in Italy and England, the details were still there and were a feast for the eyes.
As for the voice acting, it was pretty much the same as before except you had about 20 additional voices added to the mix because of the abundance of new talking vehicles in the film. I did enjoy the addition of Michael Caine and Emily Mortimer’s characters; maybe it’s because they have English accents and gave the film more of a James Bond feel.
The one reason to really see this film is because you get to see the Toy Story short, Hawaiian Vacation before the film starts. If you like the Toy Story characters, especially Ken, then you will absolutely love it. It’s cute, funny, and makes you wish you were about to watch a new Toy Story film (which I hope never happens).
Overall, Pixar’s latest film pales in comparison to all the others but it is nowhere near as bad as people are making it out to be. I would consider it a very average action adventure that runs 20 minutes longer than those films normally do. If you can appreciate the details, adult oriented story, and go in with the right expectations then this film won’t be as painful for you as it was for me and countless others. It is Pixar’s first official fail but you can expect it to still do solid numbers at the box office.
Rating: A mediocre film that lacks the spark we always associate with Pixar films (5.6/10)
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