Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Movie Review: Super Slick Spy Flick

Cars 2 movie poster, image property of Disney and Pixar.
Cars 2 ADMIRABLE

It’s that time of year, my friends.  That time every summer where Pixar offers up their yearly masterpiece!  This year’s movie is director John Lasseter’s Cars 2, a sequel to the 2006 Cars, and although it’s not their best movie I still had a lot of fun racing around the world in this super slick spy flick.

Larry the Cable Guy returns as the voice of Mater, the dim-witted hillbilly of a tow truck.  Although only a supporting character in the first film, this time the show really is all about Mater.  While his best friend—racecar Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson)—is racing in the World Grand Prix, Mater is caught up in some international espionage.  British spies Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) and Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer) mistake Mater for their American informant and the three embark on a secret mission that closely ties into the race McQueen is racing in.

The animated film takes us from Tokyo to France to Italy to London and back to Radiator Springs again and the locations are all fully-realized and create a fun backdrop to the action.  Although it’s hard to believe that McMissile and Shiftwell don’t realize Mater isn’t really a spy—and that Mater is clueless that they think he is—the action more than makes up for its implausibility.  The action sequences are well-executed, exhilarating, and often humorous.  Seriously, there is a lot of high-adrenaline awesomeness in this movie!

That being said, the majority of movie critics seem to hate this movie.  They’re calling it the fall of Pixar.  While I’ll admit that it’s probably their worst movie, I don’t think it’s by any means awful.  It’s still a really entertaining movie.  One problem many are citing is the choice to make Mater the star of the show instead of McQueen.  I didn’t mind at all because I happen to like Mater.  All I wish is that we could have seen more depth from Mater.  We’ve all become accustomed to Pixar movies being full of insight and heart, and Cars 2 just feels a bit superficial.

But as far as spy movies go, it’s more enjoyable then some live-action Bond flicks!

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1 comment:

Unknown said...

Great review! I feel the exact same way about Cars 2. It wasn't their best movie, but it was entertaining, and definitely funny.

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