There’s always that fear that a sequel isn’t going to live up to the expectations left behind if the first film was a gem… but did we ever really have to worry about Cars 2 – after all surely Pixar have shown they know how to the handle the troublesome follow-up with the brilliant work they did on Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3. Luckily, Cars 2 works really well, and any fan of the first will certainly be a fan of a second.
This time around it is Mater’s (voiced by Larry The Cable Guy (Witness Protection, Delta Farce) story. Mater’s defense of Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson – Midnight In Paris, Hall Pass) sees McQueen enter a world-wide tournament run by oil-tycoon-turned-environmentalist, Sir Miles Axelrod (Eddie Izzard – TV’S United States Of Tara & The Simpsons), which ultimately comes down to a showdown between McQueen and the witty, Francesco Bernoulli (John Turturro – The Nutcracker In 3D, Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen). But when these races turn deadly and Mater has a falling out with McQueen he soon finds himself mixed up in a world of espionage with spies, Finn McMissile (Michael Caine – Gnomeo & Juliet, Inception) and the beautiful, Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer – My Idiot Brother, Leonie).
The real key to Cars 2 working is the fact that this isn’t just another McQueen story… like the original. And while at first you wonder whether Mater is in fact an interesting enough character to hold his own film… you soon find out he is. The screenwriters have really developed his character and while you do find yourself laughing at some of his antics you do genuinely feel sorry for the guy… especially with the way he is perceived. And it is through this technique that the writers are able to push across a powerful message to the audience… watch out who you laugh out, especially if they are friend.
But in a lot of ways this is really just the secondary message because Pixar really do push themselves across here as an environmental company. Whether you want them to or not your kids will leave Cars 2 believing that Oil Companies are the devil and that environmentally-friendly fuel is the way to go… and while I am as environmentally minded as the next person I couldn’t help but feel the message was being jammed down my throat with force.
Still Cars 2 does work, because despite the fact that the message is clear it actually doesn’t get in the way of a great storyline that has a resolution that most writers of Thriller or Crime would be envious of. In fact the writers are the ones that deserve the cudos for this fine script… even the introduction of characters like McMissile and Shiftwell don’t feel out of place… something that the introduction of new characters can often do in sequels.
You will notice that I haven’t mentioned much about the quality of the animation… but it’s a Pixar movie so do I really have to highlight the fact that the animation looks unbelievable… even in 3D? Once again Pixar have outdone themselves with a film that will be loved by adults and kids alike… and for all you Aussie car-racing fans out there watch out for an appearance by Mark Winterbottom.
Year: 2011
Director: John Lasseter, Brad Lewis
Stars: Owen Wilson, Larry The Cable Guy, Eddie Izzard, John Turturro, Emily Mortimer, Michael Caine
Classification: PG
Runtime: 113 mins
Buzz Rating: 