Cars 2 Movie Review

Cars 2 just opened in theatres and you can probably guess what my four year old son wanted to do this morning.

Well to be honest he has wanted to do it ever since I was stupid enough to play the trailer for him. Never play a trailer for a small child they don’t get the concept of ‘its a trailer’ and you will regret it for the rest of the night. So after that fiasco I was finally able to take my son to see it and I and he can report back with our feedback.

I am including his comments in my review because to be fair who cares what a 30 year old male thinks when the demographic is clearly small children 8 years and under.

Lets start with the premise for those who may have not been following the sequel; Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson)and Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) take their friendship to new places when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world’s fastest car. But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage.

Torn between assisting Lightning McQueen in the high-profile race and towing the line in a top-secret spy mission, Mater’s action-packed journey leads him on an explosive chase through the streets of Japan and Europe, trailed by his friends and watched by the whole world. Adding to the fast-paced fun is a colorful new all-car cast that includes secret agents, menacing villains and international racing competitors.

I have to start by saying I never saw the original Cars movie because for whatever reason as much as I am a huge Pixar fan the premise fell flat with me. Talking cars? No thanks. That said my son loved the first film and has all the toys, the stickers, and even has his room wallpapered with Cars characters. So to say I was really excited to take him to see the sequel was an understatement despite the fact my interest level was just above zero at best. Unfortunately Cars 2 is exactly what I feared it would be and maybe a little bit worse.

Cars 2 offers some top notch animation, big name voice over’s and even include some interesting cameos like that of Sig Hansen Captain of the Northwestern from the show Deadliest Catch on Discovery Channel. It has a few laughs, it has some action but it also has a good 45-60minutes of drawn out character interactions that made my little guy drift off from why we were there and at about the half way mark of the movie he was ready to get up and make a ruckus.

Cars 2 comes off to me as an unneeded sequel and although it had its laughs and some high points and when I asked my son what he thought he said ‘it was good daddy’ and when I asked him ‘would you like to see another cars movie?’ he replied ‘lets watch something else’. He may have seen the first film easily 20 times but its safe to say that neither myself nor my 4 year old are interested in seeing it twice. Cars 2 was boring, drawn out and offered very little entertainment for me as an adult and very limited entertainment value for my 4 year old.

It cost us $40 when you include the popcorn and drinks and frankly I think I would have been further ahead to rent one of the Top 10 Pixar Movies on Luke’s new top list for $3.99 then go see Cars 2. My advice is skip it and watch it on DVD. My kid is a huge huge CARS fan and knows every character and he was extremely distracted and bored and made it clear after he had fun but is in no rush to see it or anymore cars movies again. I can honetly say the highlight was the 8 minute long Toy Story short film at the start of the movie which was both funny, charming and entertaining. Everything Cars 2 was not.

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The Guest

I think it hurts the credibility of this review when you say you never saw the first one, yet proclaim that this is an unneeded sequel….

The first one truely isn’t terrible – it’s a rather nostalgic view of the bygone era of roadtrips, local flavor, and Route 66. I think a sequel would have been terrific if they kept it as down-to-earth, nostalgic, and emotional as the first movie.

I agree though, I’m not a fan of this sequel.
- Michael
  
  I included the fact that I did not see the first film in an effort to be completely transparent. I dont want people reading my review and thinking I loved the first one but hated the second. I base the value of the second one completely on my sons extremely mute reaction to it and his boredom.
  
  I found Cars 2 a needless sequel because I feel even if you loved the first one you will find little to love in the sequel. Tks for your comments.
Anonymous

Whatever the reason these printable coupons or “Printapon” exist and it is valid to use them, although it can skew the marketing research for which they were intended.
Canadian Critic 73

Both Cars and Cars 2 are both excellent but different films. The Original Cars had a fun story line of a pompous and full of himself race care “McQueen” who lears the meaning of friendship and teamwork by ending up in Radiator Springs. It’s a cutesy movie that was great for small children and for adults. In Cars 2 the storyline is more in the lines of Austin Power’s International Man of mystery or Pink Panther. The film deals with spies and an organized crime group of “cars that we would consider lemons” who want to rule the world. The action and scenes are really good and the movie really as you interested t’il the end. That being said, my son was 7 when the original Cars was released and is now 12. So for him and kids his age, the movie is a nice sequel. My nephew, however is 4 and saw the original on DVD. I don’t think he would be able to grasp the storyline of CARS 2. My son and I rate the film 5 stars, but I do issue a caution to parents with small children….you may want to wait for the DVD because I feel younger children will be bored and you will probably end up wasting your money.
Canadian Critic 73

Both Cars and Cars 2 are both excellent but different films. The Original Cars had a fun story line of a pompous and full of himself race care “McQueen” who lears the meaning of friendship and teamwork by ending up in Radiator Springs. It’s a cutesy movie that was great for small children and for adults. In Cars 2 the storyline is more in the lines of Austin Power’s International Man of mystery or Pink Panther. The film deals with spies and an organized crime group of “cars that we would consider lemons” who want to rule the world. The action and scenes are really good and the movie really as you interested t’il the end. That being said, my son was 7 when the original Cars was released and is now 12. So for him and kids his age, the movie is a nice sequel. My nephew, however is 4 and saw the original on DVD. I don’t think he would be able to grasp the storyline of CARS 2. My son and I rate the film 5 stars, but I do issue a caution to parents with small children….you may want to wait for the DVD because I feel younger children will be bored and you will probably end up wasting your money.
Sandrapaul

Nothing like the fisrt one

Not for very young kids. Pursuit, Explosion and machine guns. Nothing to do with the cute story of the first one. If you like the fisrt one, you’ll hate the second one. Be ashamed of yourself if you bring a kid under 7 years old.

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Cars 2 Movie Review

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