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Cars 2 in 3D is a Bolder, Brighter but Not Better Refit

20.11.11

For the sequel Disney and Pixar have wisely attempted to avoid the first of those mistakes by making the story international and throwing in references to car races that are given far more value outside the US than those for which Lightning McQueen is supposedly world famous. They also took the ethos of the first film and essentially turned it on its head. In the result the message is more superficial (real friends are willing to become scrap metal to save each other), the story is even more boy-oriented than the first film’s and the innocence of backwater Radiator Springs is replaced with a global espionage adventure featuring guns, explosions, torture and Mater in a women’s toilet.

Speaking of Mater, this is really his film. Lightning McQueen is the reason why the old rust bucket gets to globetrot as part of the World Grand Prix but it’s Mater that gets mistaken for an international spy and thereby falls into most of the dangerous stuff. The result is entertaining, action-packed and energetic nonsense. Parents sensitive about violence might wish to reserve it for when their smallest children get older (I didn’t and mine seemed to enjoy it), but everyone else should get a kick out of it even if it isn’t up to the standards set by Woody and Buzz. At at least the writers can’t be accused of dredging from the same river twice.

Source: CINEMASPY.COM