As if aware of the constant feeling that the film is about to tip over the top into outright farce, certain scenes are staged with a pleasing excess which relieves the tension, including the finale, which involves a spectacular car chase with an entire convoy of beat-up automobiles streaming across the desert like something out of Smokey and the Bandit . The film on the whole is well paced, and though one despairs that the gentler humour of its immediate predecessor has been abandoned, it does work well enough on its own terms to indicate that larger and more interesting things are to come from this creative team. What is missing from the film is a real sense of humanity. The relationships between characters only work in conjunction with the more outrageous developments in the story, getting them all together produces comic hysteria which Zemeckis uses well to keep upping the stakes in the action. But one doesn't really care for these people, and we watch just to see how it will come out.
Used Cars is still a funny film though.
If you are of a mind to enjoy something in a fairly low brow and black comic mould without being completely asinine, then it fits the bill perfectly. There are nice touches scattered throughout, and watch for amusing appearances by Wendie Jo Sperber and Al Lewis, and though it is not a film that will appeal to everyone, it is bound to develop a loyal following among those to whom it does. PhD. copyright 2000.