Disappointing, But By No Means Bad

Rating: 7/10 (25 June 2011)

So this is a hard review to write. On one hand, Cars 2 is better than 95% of what any other animation studio is putting out (that five percent is home to the odd DreamWorks movie that is actually great like How to Train Your Dragon, and one-off successes from great filmmakers like Henry Selick's "Coraline" and Gore Verbinski's "Rango"), but on the other hand it's a significant step down from the excellence bordering on perfection we've come to expect from Pixar. True, a step down from excellence is still good, but considering the pedigree it's somewhat disappointing; therein lies my quandary.
Cars 2 tells a broader story than the original Cars, taking place in many locales across four different countries. In Cars 2 Lightning McQueen has just come back from a Piston Cup race and is getting ready to settle down after the end of Racing Season, but all the while invitations are being sent for a World Grand Prix, a tournament across three different countries featuring the world's best racers and McQueen is invited. He takes Mater along for the ride and through a series of coincidences Mater eventually gets mistaken for an American Spy by British Intelligence Agent Finn McMissile (think James Bond voiced by Michael Caine). High speed races and spy movie action set pieces ensue, and there are many fun moments and good laughs along the way. The visuals are stunning, as are to be expected with Pixar, and the voice work is just as wonderful as it always is in a Pixar film (Michael Caine absolutely steals the show). However, there are elements that hold it back from greatness.
The whole affair feels very safe and almost unambitious, there's nothing in the film that really wowed me and while I enjoyed myself the movie never really gripped me like other Pixar films do. As a member of the audience, I felt like I was just watching a movie rather than being caught up in a story, the characters were fun, but I never connected with them in the same way I've connected with Woody, Marlin, Flik, Carl Fredricksen, or WALL-E; I didn't even connect with Lightning McQueen or Mater in the same way I did in the first film. They were entertaining characters, but they just didn't have that same spark of life that makes them feel real. It didn't have the same magic that I've come to expect from Pixar.
Again, this is my problem. Looking at what I've written, I keep comparing it to other Pixar films and not looking at it on its own merit. It doesn't necessarily seem right to hold Cars 2 accountable for Toy Story 2, Ratatouille, and WALLE; completely on its own merit Cars 2 is a fun, entertaining film with great visuals and good characters. I can think of much worse ways to spend a Friday night, and I would definitely be willing to see it again. However, that comparison is inevitable due to the fact that Pixar has established such a strong precedent of not just quality, but excellence over the past 25 years. As a follow up to 11 of the best films of the past decade and a half, it's a bit of a letdown. It is by no means a bad film, and the current Tomatometer rating it has is an absolute travesty. Pixar's reputation has not been tarnished and they're still, by far, the best studio in Hollywood.
Even though Cars 2 is a bit of a disappointment, I think it's probably healthy for the studio. I was discussing it with my dad and he brought up the point that working under the pressure of your audience expecting a masterpiece every single year must be a nightmare, and while Cars 2 is disappointing, the fact that Pixar released a film that's just good instead of great gives them some more room to breathe. The critics have had their chance to give Pixar hell (and I'm sure there were many who were eagerly awaiting such an opportunity) and Pixar was able to make a film that didn't need to be a masterpiece to be entertaining.
So now I've got to put an actual score on this thing. Ergh- I was dreading this moment... I'm going to cheat a little bit here and give this film two scores, one accounting for Pixar's history and the expectations that brings with it, and one that does not. So treating Cars 2 as the followup to Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up, and Toy Story 3, Cars 2 gets a:
C+
Now, judging Cars 2 completely by itself, without the legacy of Pixar as a factor it earns a:
B