They have some of the most original ideas in animation and their creativity is amongst the highest in the business. As the years tick by they’ve moved more and more into adding sequels to former movies. Toy Story has had three movies now dedicated to it and Monsters Inc will be getting a sequel in 2013. Both of the originals were great movies and therefore deserving of sequels. Strange then to see that this year’s Pixar animation was a sequel to their 2006 movie: Cars.
I don’t have too much of an issue with Cars really, it’s just that in comparison to all the other movies Pixar have released it really does stand out as the weakest link. That being said though it is an unusually high bar that Pixar have set themselves up with, so in retrospect comparing Cars to all other CGI animations that have been produced, it’s actually a decent film.
Maybe it’s because I don’t live in America, but I just don’t see why Cars is such a good idea. I like motorsport, but not Nascar. It’s the one branch of the sport I just do not get. There are loads of cars that look the same with big Burger King logos on their bonnets going round and around and around…and around. Boring.
I’d imagine Cars is a much bigger success in the States than anywhere else in the world, so maybe it isn’t such a big surprise to see a sequel being made out of it. And judging by the trailer they’ve upped their game a lot with this new edition.
No longer is this movie all about racing around and around. Well it sort of is, but the movie’s focus isn’t on that. Instead it’s based around the secret cars spying agency who of course are British and go about spying on baddies from across the land. The main new addition to this movie is secret agent Finn McMissile played by none other than Michael Caine!
Caine’s voice talent is a big boost to this film, he suit’s the role well, is a brilliant actor even with just his voice, his character is cool and he gets a decent amount of screen time. But it’s all let down by one small detail…
Pixar hire Michael Caine to do the voice of a character in a movie about cars and they DO NOT make a reference to those bloody doors from The Italian Job. I mean come on Pixar, I know that joke’s obvious but how in God’s name did you miss that trick? Maybe it’s because they didn’t want the word bloody pinged around theatres, but they could have just changed it to ‘ruddy’ instead. In fact that’d have been funnier!
The special effects have been boosted in this sequel. Some great explosions, fantastically animated chase scenes, lots more drama, funny lines and great looking designs for the cars involved. I do love the animation style the cars have; the big eyes on the windscreen, the way they move their wheels like arms, it’s all great. There are tonnes of puns thrown into this movie for good measure as well…which I loved. So far so good then? Well, sort of.
One thing you won’t pick up on from the trailer is the protagonist. If you’re like me you’d think it would be Lightning McQueen (played by Owen Wilson) who was main character in the first movie. Well it’s not him. So it’s Finn McMissile right? Right? No. It’s Mater. Sigh.
Seriously, was Mater this annoying in the first movie? Because I genuinely don’t remember him being so infuriating. It actually made me cringe while watching it to a point that was just ridiculously uncomfortable. Make it stop!
Mater is essentially a hick who is stereotyped to the hilt. He has the IQ of a cushion, talks like he’s fallen out of an episode of Dukes of Hazzard, and never EVER shuts up! He is in this movie far too much for it to be a success. It's not that he's a bad character, he's likable enough, has some very funny lines but he's only good in moderation. The whole film plays on Finn McMissile and his spy assistant Holley Shiftwell thinking that Mater is an American Spy. Obviously he isn’t, and they believe his idiotic manner is all an act.
The baddies that the British secret service are after are a bunch of ‘lemons’ (i.e. old defunct cars) who have a device that can blow out a car’s engine. During the Grand Prix races they target random cars to seemingly make it look like the new environmentally friendly fuel is dangerous, when it isn’t at all. The baddies are well designed and work well, especially Professor Z who is a German weapons designer. It doesn’t get much more evil than that does it!
The other characters are okay, Lightning McQueen’s main rival Francesco the formula 1 car is a nice pompous addition. Eddie Izzard is in a major role too as the developer of the environmental fuel. Oh and Lewis Hamilton is in this too playing himself. Meh.
Holley Shiftwell is alright, even though she becomes a poorly shoe-horned love interest for Mater. That’s something I just don’t get with the Cars movies: the romance. I mean, they’re cars, made out of steel and glass, engines and axels; why do they fall in love with one another? They’re cars! I get Woody and Bo’s romance from Toy Story, but when two cars start going out to dinner I don’t really feel it. It’s more of an issue in Cars where Lightning McQueen falls for Sally throughout the movie. Luckily romance is just a minor part in the sequel.
So Cars 2 should definitely have been an improvement on the first movie. There’s more of a story; there’s no weird car romance (well not much at least); as well as good characters and great animation. However it is all let down by Mater. He is a terrible main character. As a secondary character he’s fine, you can tolerate him in small doses, like I say I don’t remember him being annoying at all in the first one.
He’s centre stage in Cars 2, which in my humble opinion is such a massive mistake. I didn’t expect it, I thought Lightning McQueen was the main character. If you look at the film poster you’ll see Lightning McQueen right at the front, with Finn McMissile, Mater and Holley Shiftwell all in the background. That to me says Lightning McQueen is the main character, why wasn’t he?
Overall the movie suffers badly for it. It should be better than Cars, but instead it’s just on a par with it, perhaps worse. Considering there are many positives in this movie and few negatives, it really shows just how much of an effect that one negative can have on a film. Pixar’s next movie is an original one called Brave, set in Scotland. I’m already excited for it, by then Cars 2 will long be forgotten about.
Final Verdict: 3 Stars. Should be better than the first movie but Mater ruins all their hard work.
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