Pixarathon #12: Cars 2

Hello, Spongey here

 

Welcome to the last entry of pixar-athon!

 

This film has a lot of crap about it being thrown around. In order to avoid getting ton of arguments in the comments (of any site I post this on), I will try to talk about the positive only. I  may give my stance on the negative reception, but for now, I’m putting my foot down.

With that said..

This, is Cars 2

 

(Way to take up most of the cover, Lightning)

Oil Baron-turned-electric-vehicle Sir Miles Axlerod has discovered Allinol, a new clean alternative fuel source. To promote it, he creates and sponsors the first ever World Grand Prix, where the best racers compete to see who’s the fastest car in the world. One of the finalists is Piston Cup winner Lightning McQueen, who brings along his friends from Radiator Springs as his pit crew, along with first-time team member Tow Mater.

Unfortunately, when an intelligence exchange goes awry, Mater gets mistaken for a master American spy. When he accidentally screws up Lightning McQueen’s competition against Formula One racecar Francesco Bernoulli, Mater ends up getting recruited by British espionage agents Finn McMissile and Holly Shiftwell to help them stop the machinations of international weapons developer Professor Zundapp. Now, while McQueen struggles against his guilt, Mater must balance his duty to save the world and his efforts to save McQueen, who is quickly being targeted…

 

 

Now, do you really want to know what I think of this movie getting bad reviews? Fine..

 

I don’t give a fuck

 

I hate to be so blunt, but there you go

 

If people dislike or like a movie, I don’t care. It’s great to hear opinions , especially conflating ones. But the thing is, unless I look it up, I don’t care. No matter what the move it is, it doesn’t matter who likes it and who doesn’t

So pixar has a badly reviewed movie. So what?

 

Pixar has made 12 movies, and only ONE has bad reviews. That’s pretty good! Disney has 50 movies, and about 5 or 6 bad ones, and that’s not even going into the mixed ones like Treasure planet.

Pixar has a better track record than any studio I can think of. They makes tons of money every day. One movies will not hurt them

In fact, I like that they made a bad one. It finally showed to people that they makes mistakes. Everyone still loves Disney and optimistically looks forward to their next film . they had a few flops, crtically and finaclly. Did it ever hurt them? No. did people loose faith? No. that’s what the Disney channel is for.

The point is, pixar making a bad movie only means they can make mistakes. If Disney can make mistakes and be loved, why not pixar?

 

I don’t care if people dislike this movie. What matters is what I think of it. And I think it’s good. If you hate it, good for you. You hate that movie! Just don’t bitch at me

 

Okay, let’s talk about the movie.

 

The movies theme also sums up what is good and bad about. Mater  represents the bad stuff. It’s odd, it’s weird, and doesn’t add up. People look down on him cuz he’s dumb and makes mistakes.

Finn represents the good stuff. it’s well made, clever, smart and bad ass. People like him because he’s cool.

 

And that’s what this movie is like. The mater parts, in isolation, are cute, but are fairly weak at points. It’s very subjective, as John lasseter put in what he loved and unlike the pixar films, forgot to put in what every one wanted.

I listened to DVD commentary, and It is very insightful. He put so much passion into this, and I see why he chooses certain story parts. I completely get why movie is the way it is. He loved this stuff, and filled it with stuff he liked. I admire that

I do see that he should have done what the other pixar films did and mix it up. Put what they wanted, and what people expect. But for me, the passion put into this film made the experience better.

The negative side is mostly subjective. There are only a few obectivly weak points. Some of the clichés, like mater hiding the spy thing, were dumb. I could have done without it.

Most of it is subjective. Some people don’t like mater’s humor, or things like that.  I can see why. But all the bad parts of this movie, I make fun of. Any good movie that has flaws, I just try to have fun mocking. Iron man 2 is a good example. But that’s another story..

So yea, I do dislike some elements. But I let it slide.

Man, I’m talking way too much about stuff that isn’t part of the movie..

 

So the story, to me, is well done, but needed improvements. I like the concept of mater’s story arc, and finding out what people think of him ,.i think it was cool, but they should have gone all the way. They should have gone more adult, and had mater work on fixing his mistakes. But overall, it was alright. They needed to go all out

Same goes for the villains. I liked that they had motivations, and there was a hint of them turning good…but they backed away from going all out. That is an issue, but like I said, I ignore it. I think they should have had the main goons realizing their mistakes, and turning good. Than the bad guy says “screw you all” and shit goes down!

…fanfic writers, do your duty!

 

Anyway, back to the good stuff.

 

The animation is fantastic. Even better than the first. Everything just pops. The spy stuff looks cool, sleek and badass. The other countries really feel like other countries. You really get into it and it’s well done

And the action? AWESOME. It’s so well done. I saw this in theaters, and it blew me away. The sound design really adds to it, and I cheered at every action scene. I really loved the climax with mater flying and stuff. oh, I also loved the opening spy scene! So much to look at it in this!

So yea, action and animation are top notch. I love the little things in the background, and all the spy gadgets. It’s really cool.

I love the concepts, bits of story, and animation. It sound like I dilike it more than I do, but I don’t. I really like the theme of the regular world meeting the spy film.

The basic moral is cliché, and it is shoved in  your face. But I like the subtle messages, such as how two different world can work together, and your first impression is not your last I like that.

Small things like thing overtake the bad stuff. the action pumps me up and no cliché can take me down. You can take me down, but I’ll keep coming back up!

So yea, I like all that.’

 

Now for the new characters:

 

Finn Mcmissile is just plain cool. He’s badass, he’s voiced brilliantly by Micheal cane, and he’s just cool. Holly shiftwell is really cool too. I love the contrast between them.

Finn is old fashioned, but works well, and Holly is new and fancy, but nice. Sort of like how mater is with finn…

 

OH MY GOD FRIDGE BRILLIANCE

 

Old finn and new holly working together forshadows the lesson about old mater still being smart and trustworthy!

 

Well played pixar…

 

So yeah, Finn is just plain badass. He’s the coolest non human spy ever!

…2^nd coolest

 

 

There’s also Francesso canneverspellhislastname. He’s the cocky jerkass racer. He’s a lot of fun, though there isn’t much too him. I like him  but I think chick hicks was funnier. I do like that he is a good guy in the end, though it is a little forced…

 

I like how they use the first movie’s characters. Yes, only a few show up, but the plot does have a reason for it. I do love how Sarge, of all people saves the day. That was epic as hell.

They replaced George carlin with some other guy, and the hippie dude is as funny as usual. He’s still good.

Oh, and I do like that they didn’t replace paul newman. They payed respects to him, and it was sweet as hell.

 

one of the many minor character is a spy named Rod, voiced AWESOMELY by Bruce Campbell. he’s hailrious…until he’s killed off.

 

yes, there are 3 on screen/implied deaths in this movie. as well as explosions, action, and violence

 

THIS THING IS RATED G?!

Guido and lugi are still cool, and I like seeing their home town in Italy this time around. It’s neat-o

 

Oh, and as for mack, John Ratzenburger’s character?

 

He only has ONE line.

 

One.

 

That’s less than in the incredibles!

 

Wait…

 

Pixar says John is their good luck charm..

 

The movie where he’s in the least…is heir weakest film

 

Coincidence? I THINK NOT!

…

 

Yea.

 

And yes, I don’t mind mater being the focus in this one. Lightning got all his development in the first one, so it makes sense they pass the torch to the other character. He’s okay in this, and I think he’s fairly funny at points,.

 

I think that’s iti for the characters…I guess the story is more interesting to talk about than the characters. Another point lost for Cars 2 I guess…

 

Oh yeah, the villains!

 

Axelrod (Eddie Izzard) being the bad guy did surprise me a bit…though in hindsight I should have noticed the “nice guy is evil” cliche after its use in…every pixar movie ever.

I guess even they use clichés, even in good movies!

 

The Zundapp guy was a lot of fun. A good classy bond type villain. I liked his motivation, and the actor (Thomas canneverspellhislastname) did a great job. Like I said, they could have done better with the henchman, but they were cool too.

Axelrod’s plot was alright, and I think it was a good use of the “oil” cliché. Again, the villains plot was the part that could have been improved the most but man was it fun.

 

So yea, I think I summed everything about the movie,.

 

Wait, I got another thing!~

 

I finally figured out how Cars fits into the pixar world…

 

Cars and Cars 2 are fictional movies in the pixar universe.

 

 

Think about it…

 

 

…Easter egg/useless fact time!

 

A113 appears three times.  As in Cars, A113 is present on Mater’s license plate.  A113 also appears on Siddeley’s tail.  When Finn, Holley, and Mater are examining the photo of the mystery engine, the digits “A113” are pictured in a sort-of VIN number Digiting.

In the beginning of the movie while McQueen and Mater are in Radiator Springs, the drive-in they pass by is playing a movie titled “The Incredimobiles”,

In the paris scene, there’s a place called “Gastow’s” haw,

 

During one of the races, a guy in Jeff Gorvette’s pit crew, is named, by word of god…John Lassetire.  …haw.

 

Cars 2 is Pixar’s third longest film, with a running time of 1 hour and 46 minutes.

, Professor Z’s lines in the interrogation scene with Bruce Campbell (he has a name, but to me he’s  bruce) originally mentioned radiation. ….then there was some kind of necular disaster in japan.

you can see why they changed it.

And what is the sneak up for the next film? Take a look

 

Brave characters as cars? Nice.

Overall, Cars 2 may be their weakest film, but it’s still pretty good, to me

 

Grade: B+

So that’s it. I have looked at every pixar film to date! It’s been a great ride looking at their films.

Tune in soon for the big finale post!

See ya