When the bar for achievement has been set very high, what does it mean to miss? Can a movie be a good movie in general but a bad Pixar movie? Would the ratings on a mediocre Pixar movie go up if the exact same movie had the Nickelodeon logo up front?
Obviously, it is Cars 2 that is raising these questions. Where Cars seemed to find inspiration in Doc Hollywood, Cars 2 turns to The Man Who Knew Too Little or one of the countless other “mistaken for a spy” comedies.
The movie opens with the James Bond template, introducing master spy Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) as he sneaks aboard an oil platform in the middle of the ocean. While the opening is clever and action-packed, it also raises one of the issues many may have with the movie: it doesn't suffer examination well.
After giving a bad review I'm often told I should stop thinking and just enjoy; and I've often replied that I'm willing to do that but the movie has to meet me halfway and give reason to not think or to overlook. The logistics involved in a car “sneaking aboard an oil platform in the middle of the ocean” quickly pushes the visual into the ridiculous and makes it clear that physics isn't really an important consideration. Try not to even picture the martial arts fight between cars.
Lasseter and company also continuously raise the metaphysical implications of a car-based universe but never address them. At one point Mater asks, “What did happen to the dinosaurs?” That's a good question. Were they mechanical or biological? If biological, what happened to all the biological animals? At another point, the manufacture of cars was mentioned—who's manufacturing them? Some models of cars are described as poorly designed. Who designed them, and isn't this an analog of racism? What does it mean for a car to die? If a car is smashed to bits can you put it back together? Since all the cars we see are analogs of actual cars build in the last 100 years, what did ancient Egyptian cars look like? Why is a car a living thing but a computer isn't?
©DisneyPixar
Ultimately, none of these questions is all that important. And they were all questions raised by the first movie, as well. But where Cars distracted from these questions, Cars 2 provides ample time while watching to chew on them.
So Finn McMissile gets on the trail of a major global conspiracy involving a TV camera. Meanwhile, back home, Tow Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) corners Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) into participating in a three-race competition being put on by former oil baron Sir Miles Axelrod (Eddie Izzard) to promote allinol, his new green gasoline replacement.
Seeing as his normal crew is on vacation, McQueen decides to take along select friends from Radiator Springs, including, of course, Tow Mater. At the first race in Tokyo, Japan, Mater is mistaken for an American spy by McMissile and ends up embroiled in McMissile's (along with his attractive assistant Holly Shiftwell, voiced by Emily Mortimer) attempt to foil whatever dastardly plot is under way.
This is when it becomes clear that for Cars 2, McQueen and Mater have switched roles: Mater is the star and McQueen is just there to provide a little straight-man relief. A lot of your enjoyment will depend on your Larry the Cable Guy tolerance level. Personally, a little goes a long way for me.
While the plot and the races take us to Tokyo, Italy (including an appearance by the Popemobile; see again: metaphysical questions with no answers), Paris, and London, these mostly exist to provide ample opportunity for sight gags as various landmarks are given automotive facelifts.
Again, the conflict. There is much that is clever in Cars 2. It is the joke-a-minute type of movie that made a movie like Madagascar a moderately well-reviewed success, and the voice performances are all fine (there are certainly worse fates than listening to Michael Caine and Emily Mortimer for a couple hours).
©DisneyPixar
At the same time, more is expected from Pixar, John Lasseter, and his disciples. Depth of character, a reason to care, a tight story—these are all missing from Cars 2. It isn't fair for me to give Cars 2 demerits, not just for its own flaws but because the same group of people made Ratatouille, Toy Story 3 and Wall-E, but that is the downside to building a brand.
A lot of people will see Cars 2. A lot of people will enjoy Cars 2. A lot of people will put Cars 2 at the bottom of their lists ranking all the Pixar movies. Only the clarity offered by time will reveal for me whether I simply think this is a bad Pixar movie or just a mediocre movie.
Cars 2 is a Disney-Pixar release.
Wide theatrical release June 24.
Directed by John Lasseter and Brad Lewis.
Screenplay by Ben Queen
Starring: Larry the Cable Guy, Owen Wilson, Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Eddie Izzard
Running time: 113 minutes
Rated G
Alex's Rating: 6 out of 10
