Pixar's Edsel.

Rating: 4/10 (26 June 2011)

It had to happen. Nobody's perfect, and they had to fail sometime.
And it's not that it's a bad movie. Far from it. It's just that whenever I see Lasseter and Bird's names, the LAST thing I can think about is a mediocre movie. I'm one of the very few people (apparently enough) who LOVES Cars - so I really was waiting for its sequel.
I should have known after watching Tron: Legacy. John Lasseter is losing his magic touch. If he was really involved on that movie's plot, then something happened to his movie-making talent. This, the next movie he's involved in, suffers from the same problems.
I won't spoil the movie for you - you already know what it's all about, anyway. The story is far too complex for a kid (I was left scratching my head at the end about certain things). There are too many new characters to care about. The show is stolen by Mater, and not in a good way - he was funny in the first movie as a supporting character, but he's just not likable enough to carry the movie all by himself; I was expecting a Lightning McQueen movie, after all. When it all comes down to it, the plot is absolutely unremarkable - and that's quite a remarkable thing, considering this is Pixar we are talking about.
I *suppose* this has to do with the Mouse House. Back when Pixar was an independent studio they could do anything they could ever want. Now they are part of a bigger company, and they seem to be following their directions. Why? Well, have you seen Disney's California Adventure? That park was a disgrace, and part of the things they are doing to fix it is creating - yep, you guessed it - Radiator Springs, which will be opened in 2012. I can imagine the pressure was on Pixar to create a sequel to a sort of unloved movie, and as much as Lasseter and Bird tried to create something like The Incredibles, they ended up with, yep, you guessed again, their brand new Edsel.
Here's hope Pixar can do a comeback with their next film.