This should have been a Dreamworks picture, not Pixar!

Rating: 5/10 (27 November 2011)

Cars 2 is the latest offering by Pixar, the only studio I am aware of that up until now has had a perfect running of first rate films. Cars 2 is finally where the studio giant Pixar takes a big downturn in quality. Don't get me wrong. It is not a horrible film. It has several things working for it, such as creativity and absolutely dazzling animation, but it lacks a story with resonance. The original Cars was a slow grower for me, a movie that got better with each viewing. That is because it had a story with heart, characters you cared about, and a flat out brilliant ending. But everything here works only on the surface. I didn't like the excessiveness of Toy Story 3, Pixar's giant last year, but that still very good film gave screen time to all of the characters we loved and had many moments that were simply magic. There is none of that here, so you're pretty much stuck with an action packed spy movie (a violent one at that - no small kids should watch this one). Mater replaces McQueen as the lead (an unfortunate decision, as a little bit of Mater goes a looong way! That's why he is so much better suited for the short Mater's Tall Tales animated shorts.). McQueen makes a splash on the screen here and there, and that's it. Luigi, Guido, Doc, Flo, Ramone, Red, Sally, Model-T, and Mac get almost no face time and their dialogue is really useless. The plot has twists and turns and ends up being pretty ludicrous. The new characters have no depth to them whatsoever, the only slightly amusing one is Francesco, played by the great John Turturro. Even the stunning international setting of the movie is treated rather haphazardly. We are delighted for a few seconds by beautiful world cities only to have the awe and beauty pulled out from under our feet a few seconds later. Even the race is meaningless to the story. And so it is all spy movie, an average one at that. One can't help but think that Pixar for some weird reason was eager to make another Cars film just to rake in the toy merchandise sales later. They should stop having john Lasseter direct the films. Of all the films, his (with the exception of Toy Story and Toy Story 2) are the weakest. They've got Stanton, Docteur, and Bird who are all fantastic filmmakers and storytellers. And please, get a story that transcends the medium, not plays down to the audience!
So all in all, Cars 2 is a slick, competent, and somewhat boring picture. It reminded me of watching a Dreamworks cartoon. A few chuckles, a few okay moments, and then ho-hum... Average at best. Shouldn't carry the Pixar name...