Whoever thought it was a good idea to stab the Cars universe through the heart with the wooden stake of a spy storyline is either a genius or running amok from the local sanatorium.
Here’s a film that tackles two scenarios; what would happen if you bought your hillbilly best friend along with you to an international business meeting, and what a James Bond movie would look like if the self-driving cars were the stars of the film. I don’t know about you but this is exactly what I wanted to watch tonight.
Cars 2 (2011), sits quite uncomfortably between two really good Cars films, and is easily my least favourite of the trilogy. That’s not to say it’s a bad film, far from it, the same sense of fun and animated-gasoline burning exhilaration is still there, I just feel the spy plotline feels rather out of place and it seems like the actual racing parts of the story, the bits where the cars do what they’re supposed to be doing, were moulded around the need for an elaborate 106-minute homage to Bonds DB5. So, here’s how the plot goes, Lightning McQueen is invited to a world grand prix, reluctantly taking Mater, his tow-truck companion with him because he’d be an obvious embarrassment. Little does he know that Maters presence there saves the day as he gets embroiled into a thick sinister oily plot to usurp alternative fuel. Mater gets caught into an existential nightmare regarding his lack of brain activity and personality which he overcomes in time, teaching us all to be just the way we are.
Animation wise, its pretty good, computer animation is something that I’ve learned to accept and like. It’s nowhere as personal and intimate as something like stop-motion but it would be unfair to judge this film by those standards. What computer animation makes up with is scope. A whole team of animators have pulled of, and keep continuing to pull off by upping the ante with each subsequent film, a very grandiose feat of animation with such meticulous and often humorous detail making the Cars universe shine like polished metal.
The spy storyline is something I don’t hate but it overshadows the rest of the movie. The homages to Bonds Aston Martin are fitting, Finn McMissile equipped with many of the same gadgets and weaponry and he comes without any female objectification which is a nice subtraction. The outcome is pretty predictable once the pieces are all laid on the board within the first 15 minutes, but if you came to this film hoping it would play mind-games with you then you’ve got your wires mixed up.
You know what, that’s all I have to say about this film. I’m not going to sit here and force words out of me about a film that I don’t have much to say about. It’s a harmless film that I think you should watch if you have nothing else to do and please don’t introduce yourself to the Cars trilogy with this film.
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