Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Cars 2 - A Mixed Bag?

"You keep talking to yourself, people are going to think you're crazy!" -Lizzie

We are somewhat experts round here on all things Pixar Cars. After going to Cars 2 for the second time recently, I feel compelled to give my opinion on it.

It seems there has been mixed reactions out there.

Here's my own breakdown.

Things I Liked About Cars 2
-The visual scenery was amazing! So bright, so colorful. Complete eye candy. Breathtaking.



-All of the different world destinations (Tokyo, Paris, Italy, England) were represented with fascinating detail. It was fun to have an international theme. I love it when I get to feel like a whole lot more exists out there than my own country, and I like for my child to learn about that too.






-The racing scenes are always my favorite. I wanted more, more, more racing scenes!

-As with the first Cars, the music was fun. I love the song that comes on when the characters first arrive in Tokyo. "You might think I'm crazy. All I want is you!" By none other than the music group, Cars. Awesome.

-Watching my sons reactions. When Mater almost flies into a building and has a parachute on, my son put his hands to his cheeks like the Culkin kid in Home Alone. At the beginning of the movie, after the Cars 2 logo was created in metal, my son burst out in enthusiastic clapping. When Holly Shiftwell flies, he gave a loud, "Wow!"

-Francesco's ribbing and teasing with McQueen was much more lovable and fun than Chick Hicks. Chick Hicks was nasty.



-Woot Woot for the first female Cars racer! Carla - how adorable is she? (and not a dash of pink on her)



Things I Did Not Like About Cars 2
-Too much gun action. It was a little much. It starts right out the gate with guns, guns, guns. I was a little shocked



-It is too long. Really, people, when creating a movie geared for young children, you do not need to be pushing the 2 hour and beyond mark. Really.

-There is so much spy talk and story behind the spy stuff that I don't know if any child under the age of 12 even knows what the heck is going on for a lot of the movie. More racing, please!



-Finn McMissile is really cool and all; he's a suave guy. However, he just does not measure up to the moral substance and relationship that Doc provided in Cars. The life lessons and grandfatherly figure of Doc was sorely missed.

So there you have it. My run-down on Cars 2. Overall, I liked it. I had some complaints, but I think the good outweighed the bad. It was entertaining. Thank god. I know I'll be watching it many, many, many more times. Whether I like it or not.

Ka-Chow, people. Hope that was the best damn Cars 2 review you've read.

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Good review! I'm sure my grandkids will love this movie!

Liz Mays said...

I think your review was fair, as the storyline was certainly not geared to the young ones. Older ones would appreciate it so much more. I'm with you on the visual effects though. Stunning, and I loved seeing all the details of the cities where the races took place!

Helene said...

My hubby took the kids to see it...he said they did well but started getting restless towards the middle part. I had no idea it was such a long movie!

Kimberly said...

We just took our 2 kids last week to see this. Like you, I had mixed feelings about it. I agree with the international scenery. They sure did a phenomenal job with that! But the guns? And the spy talk? Way too much. There were parts *I* didn't get, let alone my 2 year old! And yes, it was a tad too long!

But... whether I like it or not, I'll be watching it a thousand more times!

Jessica said...

My kids will probably never watch this movie because they prefer to watch things like Home Alone and iCarly. I'm not sure which is worse.

Tina L. Hook said...

Confession: I love animated flicks. I'm not into cartoon guns, though. Thanks for the heads up.

JoL- Amazon freak-a-zoid said...

I've been trying to convince my 13 year old nephew that he needs to go see this so I can go with him......

Losing Brownies said...

I've been disapointed by the reviews so we are going to wait until it's released to watch it.

Deb said...

This is probably going to be our family entertainment for the weekend, so I'm delighted to see there's some good. It doesn't need to be all good, but a little good helps. Any why? For the reason you stated so very well:

It was entertaining. Thank god. I know I'll be watching it many, many, many more times. Whether I like it or not.

MommaKiss said...

We saw the movie, but I think a lot of it was over the boys' heads (6 and almost 4). They loved the action and Mater's fart jokes. Typical.

katepickle said...

Hmm.. my kids didn't really like the first one, so I think I'm glad I said no to going to see the second one... thanks for a nice balanced review!

Suniverse said...

I knew I should have taken my nieces to Cars 2 and not let them pick going to Zookeeper [so. horrible.]. I want a do over.