Film Review Throwback - "Cars 2"

Long ago there was a time when Pixar had a perfect track record and the only sequels they made were of Toy Story. Then someone decided a sequel to Cars might be a good idea...

So apparently the Film Gods heard our prayers and Cars 3 is actually pretty decent. I haven't seen it yet so let's look back at the first sequel to Cars. The first and so far only one of their films to have a Rotten Score on Rotten Tomatoes...

Cars 2
Directed by John Lasseter and Brad Lewis
Starring Owen Wilson, Larry The Cable Guy, and Michael Caine

First off, look at this poster:

You see how Lightning McQueen (Wilson), the main character from the first film is front and center, and his friend and supporting player Mater (..The Cable Guy? What even is his last name..) is in the background. What you're seeing here are lies. Filthy marketing lies. McQueen is not the star of this film. Mater is, and that was their first and biggest mistake.

Mater isn't Dory. He can't carry his own film. Mater is more annoying than lovable. That's just the truth and you know it. Anyway, McQueen is offered a chance to race in the World Grand Prix: Three races across Tokyo, Italy, and London. McQueen brings his Radiator Springs crew along, including Mater, now his crew chief, replacing Doc Hudson (Voiced by the late Paul Newman and written out of the film in respect).

Mater in all his Larry The Cable Guy-ness, embarrasses himself and McQueen in front of the competition. He goes off on his own and is mistaken for a secret agent by Miles Axelrod (Caine) and Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimier)...it gets pretty off the rails there but Mater and his spy friends soon uncover a dangerous plot at the heart of the World Grand Prix, it's eventually up to Mater to save the day and his friend McQueen, proving himself more than just a country bumpkin and who cares...

Someone clearly watched too many of those "Mater's Tall Tales" shorts and thought that could work as a feature film. The whole "numb skull character, mistaken identity, chaos ensues" plot has been done many times before, and this version doesn't do enough to justify its existence. Frankly Caine and Mortimer's characters are pretty dumb themselves, to believe Mater is a spy for like, two-thirds of the film.

Furthermore why is the sequel not about McQueen and his racing career? The whole heart of the film is lost when the spotlight is turned on Mater. Also why is this a spy film? If Pixar wanted to make a spy film why did it have to double as a sequel to Cars (Probably the same reason a college film doubled as a Monsters Inc. prequel)? Maybe that's okay though because McQueen kind of has some regression as a character here, and is just a dick to Mater in the film, probably as a way of plot to get him to go off a be a spy…

Also there's some environmental message sneaking through the cracks of this film and I-just, why? Why, when Wall-E already did it? Forget it I'm wrapping this up quick. The voice work is still good despite the lackluster writing. I haven't watched it in a while but if I'm remembering correctly the late George Carlin's replacement as Filmore wasn't too distracting (Why did Doc Hudson get written out but not Filmore?). Michael Caine…I don't know man. Frankly I don't think this is his proudest of paychecks, and it almost sounds it in his voice work. The animation is still Pixar at its finest, but it's wasted here.

So Cars 3 sounds pretty good, but not "Grade-A Pixar" more like "Grade-B Pixar", which is always what the Cars franchise has symbolized. The plot makes it sound like we don't even need to watch Cars 2 to get anything. We can just hop over it from the first film. Hell maybe Cars 2 was just in Mater's head like all those shorts.

Anyway Cars 2 is definitely the weak link in both the franchise and the Pixar catalog. For years to come, no matter what the anticipation or outcome of future Pixar films will be, people will still say "Can't be as bad as Cars 2." Stay tuned for my review of Cars 3 and….I hope to God there's minimal Mater…


Huh. Turns out Larry The Cable Guy's real name is Daniel Whitney...