Disney Pixar CARS 2: Movie Review & Your Reviews …
The embargo is over!
As is the 4 year, 264 day wait on CARS 2.
CARS 2 is DAZZLING.
It is just an amazing showcase of sheer artistry. It is more real than most movies shot in the street with on-screen actors, “real” cinematography & “real” art direction. That is the only problem – it’s so damn gorgeous, you really just want to look at each frame as it unfolds so if you only see it once – you miss a lot of the subtle acting and story because it can be visual overload … but when you see it again, you actually appreciate not just the freakin’ unbelievable beauty and poetry in each scene but also the acting and storyline. John Turturro is he-larious as Francesco. Emily Mortimer is subtle and perfect and Larry the Cable Guy, who to be perfectly honest is not a very actor in “real life,”, is masterful and h-double-ee larious … He is Mater. My only other quibble is I wish there was more scenes with the townies.
CARS 2 is almost a movie you want to watch like some 1900’s “movie,” where there’s music in the background and you just flip through pages …so you can really appreciate the visuals …
DAZZLING is my one word review.
And it’s even better if you see it again for a second go-around. that should make Disney’s CFO very happy also. 🙂
Now bring on the diecasts.
So, what’s your review – take as many words as you need. 🙂
I will select randomly select a review and you will win a special Vinylmation from the Disney Store.
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24 June 2011
146 Comments
It was good, not great , fast not slow.
Vibrant not dull. Had story, not any storytelling.
More mater, less McQueen.
Like the mattel line this time around, easier to say no to.
I really liked it. I knew going in it was a movie about action and not like cars 1. In all fairness I think Pixar is their own worst enemy. They have set such a high standard for themselves that people cannot accept it when they make a movie meant to be fun and nothing more. I think they made exactly the movie they intended. Visually it was stunning. IF DREAMWORKS had made it everyone would be calling it a hit. It is no where near a flop!
not too thrilled with the Cars 2 . glad i purchased 2 free ticket codes off ebay for $3 each
It was good,bad, funny, dumb, somewhat like the original,nothing like the original. owen wilson didnt seem to try very hard, and larry the cable guy didnt seem to make many good jokes. it was very kiddish and more adultish. i didnt understand how they saved the world,it was confusing and i didnt know who it was about. francesso wasnt much of a threat,and no one knows who won the big race! ya know the first piston cup race in cars 1 was a tie, the second one chick wrecked the king, and now they never finish the race so who won? and in the first movie i always wondered why do the other racers even bother if the main 3 win every time. how is jeff gorvette from america if he wasnt in the piston cup? where did ramone in cars 2 get the official race decals? mack just chilled through this one. sally got rejected the whole movie. said she liked mqueen at the end, then behind his back said she liked fancessco and so did flo and shes married. the train track part was funny but seemed to fit in a short. good movie. just didnt live up to what we all hoped it would.
Cars 2 easily makes my list of sequel turkeys:
– Blues Brothers 2000
– Caddyshack II
– Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps (at least they threw in Charlie Sheen for a cameo — where was Chick Hicks in Cars 2?)
– Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull (and to some degree the original two sequels to Raiders of the Lost Ark)
– Star Wars 1, 2 and 3 (and while I’m at it, the 1997 digitizing of Star Wars 4, 5, and 6)
We loved Cars 2, and are planning to see it again with our free Rayovac ticket. My son’s new fav is Finn McMissle because he’s blue. And while I was nervous about the weapons and fighting, it turned out to be not as intense as I was fearing, aside from a couple of the early scenes.
I thought the Movie was great. I know lots of people are upset the lighning is not in there a lot but mater is just as good. I cant wait to c it again. I love all the action in it. I give it an A+++
B- Cars blow’s Cars 2 out of the water. Even though I’ll see the movie multiple times and buy the dvd, the first movie captured the true essence of the characters and their surroundings. Although the international flavor was fun, it didn’t totally zero in on the characters, as did the first movie. To me, this should have been a “Cars Toons” mini-series. The animation didn’t seem as robust in Cars 2. I love Mater, but he was given way too much attention. Face it, Spies know a fake spy all day long. It sort of took on the flavor of James Bond meet’s the Good O’l Boys. It just weren’t believable. Pixar needs to understand that there are as many adults into this as there are kids. They might have thrown a little Johnny Quest in there to rev it up some. To me, Cars 2 was a major disappointment, especially for the time taken to create it. Lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place here as it struck three times with “Toy Story”. This kills me to admit this. I’m a bigger fan of Cars than Toy Story. John, you and the team slipped on this. If this is the direction you’re headed, please leave the Planes, Boats, Train’s, spin off alone. More attention to the Cars (cars) franchise is needed.
BTW, I did capture a glance at “Pizza Planet Truck” twice. Major Kudos for keeping the truck in the scheme!!!
It was a fun movie to watch… It has been a long time since I have been able to go the the movie theater without having to leave a movie.
The groups of girls that went with me were half-half on what they thought about the movie. The two oldest 12 & 11 thought the action sequence was COOL and exciting…
The younger ones who were 8 thought the movie was “OK”. They thought “Holley” was a awesome and wanted to get her.
I can see where the kids would like it, fast paced, lots of Mater. If you asked any kid what the story was about, they would just say Mater was a spy and saved McQueen. They could have picked a better story line, what, I’m not sure, but not one involving alternative fuel. The first Cars was just such a great story and had great music and it just worked, for me this one did not work as well. If they decide to make a 3rd, they need to figure out a way to back to the roots of Cars.
I loved it. The scenery is great. My nephew was also happy with it. Going to go see it again maybe in 3D this time.
I have to say that Pixar never makes A kid movie nor adult movie!
They used to make movies based upon their first principle that if you have A good story it becomes A universal film with no age on it.
As predicted by A lot of people Disney calls the shots now and this is making money rather than quality (used to be A lot different when Walt was still around).
Once characters are imbedded in the Disney collective minds they only become cashcollectors.
Could anyone tell me when they last have seen something new or extraordinary from other classic characters such as Mickey,Donald,Simba,Aladdin to reinspire them?
They all started out as great characters in great stories ending up in what?silly afternoon shows with Timon and Pumba or Genie and lets not forget the awefull Buzz lightyear of star command episodes!!
Besides Toy Story,Pixar should stick to one story tales and leave peoples imagination make up sequels.
It was an OK movie. The first one was so pure with a wonderful story that they could never come close to reaching that bar again.
I do not agree they could not cone close again. Look at Toy story 3 or how about Godfather 2. Which stayed true to it’s roots and won movie of the year just as the GodFather did. Incindently the only movie and sequel to both win the Oscar
For best picture.
Pixar could have made the second even better by sticking with the racing and character interactions more and with less of the chase, explosions and big oil supressing alternative fuels(which is the reality that’s been going on for the last 100 years).
Pixar simply strayed too far away from what made us love Cars. Cars 2 would have made a good Maters tall tale but the movie should have been a followup of Lightning winning Piston cups and more World Grand Prix action. Highlights of the foreign racers victories would have been cool too.
All Pixar had to do was ask for storylines here and the movie would have been twice as good.
I saw that movie when it first came out and I must say that I wasn’t blown away. I love Pixar, but this is certainly not a standard movie for them – I’ll also stress that I’m not saying I hated it though, it’s just “different” for Pixar.
The movie is 113 minutes, yet it still moved so quickly that I felt that I wasn’t able to properly connect to any of the new characters except for Finn McMissile (who is a fantastic new character). Francesco Bernoulli is a cool-looking character, but he only has one facet – he’s a smart aleck. I guess I was expecting that if I saw a new character that was getting screen-time, that I’d eventually connect with that character emotionally (which is expected from Pixar films).
I loved the first Cars flick and I still enjoyed this one – it’s hard though because I’m comparing it to all of their other films and that’s not necessarily fair. If I take the other movies out of it – it was fast-paced and it was fun. Looking at it from that perspective, I enjoyed it.
All in all, I would give it a 7 out of 10 because the level of detail is still there! The entire frame is packed with beautiful scenery that I’m sure took an enormous amount of time to get “just right”. I’m sure this will be one of those movies that people will be finding hidden elements in the background for years to come.
Speaking of the background, it was nice to see the Pixar Planet truck again (back in Radiator Springs at the end) and the brief tag of Lassetire on Jeff Gorvette’s pit crew! Oh, and the Ratatouille nod by showing Gusteau’s restaurant was cool too.
Again – just go into the movie assuming that it’s just going to be a ton of explosions and action and don’t have an expectation of past Pixar flicks and you’ll still have a great time!
P.S. – I do agree with Chris’ review when he said that Mater got too much screen time though – it felt like a Car Toon at times.
P.P.S – (reference to the movie) – The short, “Hawaiian Vacation” was full of great laughs! The “Shark Week” comment and Rex dressed as a bird was hilarious!!
Was very disappointed in PIXAR and Cars2…WAY TOO COMPLEX of a plot for young kids. I even had trouble following along with what was going on…there’s no way my 3-5 year olds knew what was going on. I was also disappointed that hardly any time was spent in Radiator Springs. That’s too bad.
I think Pixar and Cars2 missed the mark on this one–a KIDS movie.
PS- Really martini glasses for the beverage of choice for the cars in a KIDS movie? Come on ..where is there creativity and appropriateness meter! 🙁
My other family left in the middle of it–oh well.
Thanks anyway…ejw
All the talk about too much violence in a kids movie is exactly right but shouldn’t surprise anyone.
Doesn’t anyone realize that all “entertainment” is made to indoctrinate, condition, Brainwash and give us our ideas about the world?
You should expect the agendas of the corporate billionaires who own all major media to incorporate these agendas like globalism, terroism, sustainable development, homosexuality, belief in aliens and others to be in almost all movies and programming.
It’s never really about simply entertaining us. It’s always about getting us to think certain ways, form out opinions and what we should buy. That’s why they call it programming, but anyway.
As for my review:
Unfortunately most here wanted to love it and can’t be subjective.
However, As much as I hate to say it; I was somewhat disappointed. The movie was ok, not terrible but in no way great.
Furthermore every non cars collector I have spoken to, that just wanted to see the movie all said the same.
Cars 2 was more of an attempt at an animated James Bond type spy flick that pales in comparison to Cars 1.
A very weak storyline with very little racing or racers which doesn’t fit well in a movie about a race car.
How could Pixar ignore collectors love of the race cars and race scenes. After 36 racers last time, most wanted more but instead got less.
Sure the animation is great but Disney and Pixar totally missed the boat. Gone is all the charm and character development that made so many love the first movie.
I totally agree with John in Mo. it felt like I watched Cars 3 and they totally skipped part 2.
A glaring weakness of the movie is there is absolutely no highlights of Lightning winning the 4 Piston cups. After never getting the chance to see Lightning actually winning a Piston cup and waiting 5 years it would have been nice to see. They did a terrible job in not bothering to really catch up on anything that happened in the past 5 years.
For Pete’s sake they didn’t even show who won the World Grand Prix.
The storyline is nothing a 6th grader could not have come up with. It was more like a long Scooby Doo cartoon with better graphics. Missing also are the laugh out loud jokes of the last movie. I didn’t hear more than a chuckle from anyone in the whole theater for the entire movie.
The storyline is the same old bad guys cause trouble try to sabotage things, the good guys are in trouble but of course escape save the day and everyone lives happily ever after that we have seen hundreds of times, like a 1970s TV episode of batman.
Furthermore this movie will not be able to sustain long term interest in collecting the die casts. With almost all major characters already released or scheduled I just don’t see the possibility for many more sought after die casts too far into the future.
Hopefully Pixar has something planned liked Lightning racing shorts to make up for the missing time and racing.
It is almost as if Disney and Pixar have no long term confidence for the economy in the next year or two and were in a rush to sell as much as they can as fast as they can.
I cannot believe after 5 years this is the best John Lassiter and Pixar could do. There is no doubt my ten year old daughter could have came up with a better storyline.
I don’t believe I have been so disappointed in a movie I was looking so forward to see since Godfather 3. Toy Story three was much better.
Again I know some here will disagree. A Cars forum obviously is the wrong place to get unbiased reviews but most regular movie goers that I spoke to said just ok and I agree.
Like the Simpsons started out with Bart and ended with Homer as the star, we got a full length Mater’s Tall Tales. Doesn’t deserve the caustic low ratings it’s getting, but definitely much more emotionally shallow than I expected given Toy Story 3 from last year. Lots of visual easter eggs and gags more than intelligence for which Pixar has become famous. A visual treat all the same and my 8-year-old LOVED the action. The critical raking doesn’t seem to have slowed it raking in the dollars.
I was shocked at how uncreative and trite — albeit light and fun — the Hawaiian Vacation short was given the smartness of most of Pixar’s shorts. It all makes we worry what Lasseter may allow to happen with Monsters 2. Seems like bad Disney history vibes.
Went on Sunday to see CARS 2 at the local Regal – Sundays all movies are $5, all day.
I am like Jon in MO and felt like too much was skipped over and there are some gaps that need to be filled in at some point. Maybe they can do like the Lion King and create a short or direct to home video call CARS 1 1/2!!!
Overall some great new characters and minimal involvement of the Radiator Springs crowd which opens the doors to some great marketing & sales opportunities.
I have my doubts that the product sales for this movie will be anything like the sales for the original CARS line. While merchandising will be successful, I see a lot of it sitting on shelves at Target and TRU. It may be like Coke / New Coke / Coke Classic – will we see the return of the originals???
My 5 year old son summed it up best, “can I watch just CARS when we get home?”
I expected better story development out of Pixar.
On another note…. My son was watching Toy Story 3 yesterday and I notice at the beginning, in Andy’s room, one of the prominent posters is of Finn McMissle (i.e. his actual Car likeness). Who knew?????
The Jestrfamily had a super exciting weekend down in FLA and is started with a BANG on Friday at 5pm when we hit the movie theater for Cars 2. When we pulled up to the theater, they had 2 BRAND new Fiat’s parked out front … one of which was in yellow, no coincidence, I am sure. 😉 We bought the tickets with the free movie money we earned at TRU, walked in and they had a prize wheel set up for Cars 2. My son spun and won the cool Triptych Poster. My daughter spun and won a free movie pass! We grabbed humongous popcorn and then headed in to grab the best seats, which was easy as the theater was pretty empty. It did fill up about half way by the time the movie started.
When the first preview hit, my son started wiggling in his seat and leaning forward …. but then there was another on …. And another one after another after another after another … the anticipation was KILLING my son, as each new preview stated he sighed, moaned and grumbled, “dad, where’s the movie!!” There must have been 7 or 8 previews. He was eager, and so was dad!! 😆
The movie was very good, and definitely action packed, but it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. The kids loved it, and they were talking about their favorite cars and scenes when we drove home, but I was kinda left puzzled. I felt like I was missing something … like I missed 1/3 of the movie. The animation and visuals were AMAZING … Totally overwhelming to the senses … enough eye candy to rot out your teeth 😀 … I cannot wait to see it again to catch all the details that I missed. … BUT … like many of the other folks that have already posted their review, I felt the story was lacking. There was a wonderful story there … so many chances to dive into things viewers would have loved more info on … but it seemed most of it got cut out or left out all together … this could have been a 3 hour movie easy, and it still would have flown by!! Even though there were alot of explosions and action, the moral of the story was very clear … a friend is a friend …. and just because someone is different than you are … it doesn’t make that person (or car) better or worse. Differences should be appreciated.
Being a boy, I loved the action and the spy plot. I am sure my son did not keep up with it though. With out question, this movie is geared toward 7 year old and up boys and their dads. I cannot wait to buy it on Blu Ray and watch it again when my son is a little older and can follow things a little better.
I thought the movie was 8 out of 10. My kids enjoyed it, but I am not sure it made the lasting impression that Cars 1 made on them. We hit Kmart Day on Saturday and talked more about the movie, but by that evening, it was already out of their mind. Cars 2 did not get brought up one time yesterday … but that might have been because of the trip to Sea World!! 😉
I keep telling people I talk to about the movie that it felt like “Car 3” and that I completely missed “Cars 2”.
For instance…
• Who owns all the closed down shops in Radiator Springs that I’m SURE must have re-opened once Lightning set up camp in town?
• What exactly happened to Doc Hudson?
• I would have loved to have seen Sally and the gang rehabbing the Wheel Well Motel — you could have Red extending his ladder to assist Luigi & Guido with the painting work, and Mater could be running around with a huge fly-swatter chasing all the “bugs” flying around.
• Where were the racing highlights from the last four Piston Cups? It would have been cool to see Lightning win for once, what became of Chick Hicks, etc.
• I could go on and on!!
Just think of all the possibilities with Expanded Universe stories. Lots of Tall Tales to tell about the activities in Radiator Springs the last five years. We just got the Rally Race comic book from Target last week. $6 and it was a 4 part story. My son’s first comic book. I wonder how long it will be before he tears the cover off.
My wife is waiting for braking dawn. Just like bobbyjack bought his son the comic which is a four part series, twilight had four books and ended making movies. I feel cars could’ve done the same. It may have taken longer for them but like john said about skipping information, we would’ve seen radiador springs remodel. Friday I posted that I wanted to see lightning win a trophy and didn’t happend. He won 4 piston cups, and in my opinion it would’ve been better and cool to have made a movie for each cup he won. By this, they could’ve taken their time and focused more on the characters, places, rather than switching scenes, and plots quickly. The only racecar that really spoke was francesco, unlike chick hicks, and the king.
I’m pretty sure many of the 5aday community would love to see 4 movies being done, rather than putting so many things all at once. At the same time it would be hard keeping track of all the die-cast with 4 movies. Just imagine…
Come to think of it, who won the World Grand Prix anyway????
I dont recall seeing him win the world grand prix. He won the second race, third got interupted, then went back home to do an unofficial radiator springs grand prix.
John I am with you… too many gaps and not enough story development!
All good points, John.
Cars 4 … the prequel in betweenquel??
My 7 year old nephew asked me when they were in Italy where Doc was – way beyond the part paying tribute to Doc. This was just one example of why I felt the movie was hard for kids to follow.
Manifold Jr., who is 5, says it was “good.” His favorite part was when Mater thought the free Wasabi was pistachio ice cream. “I liked the whole movie, without being changed.” (There wasn’t a part he didn’t like). Yesterday he said his favorite part was when the bad guy falls in the oil (at the airport). I loved it, but like many of you I wish the minor characters had more speaking parts. I would like to have seen more racing, and more focus on the racing characters as well. I think they could have done a lot more with physical comedy rather than such a heavy focus on guns, explosions and killing. This was my son’s first movie in the theatre and he loved it so much that he would like to see it on TV now – right now! Heh heh.
Finally saw the movie this afternoon with Mrs. Stig & the Stiglets. It was a good movie, but I have to say that I’m not sure that the whole wasn’t something less than the sum of its parts. WGP storyline, great! Spy storyline, great. “Big oil” global conspiracy subplot, interesting. But I agree with those who’ve said that it seems like about half an hour’s worth of story must’ve got left on the cutting room floor, because the movie itself did jump around a lot. And it did seem more like a feature-length MTT than a CARS sequel. Not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with that, but it wasn’t quite what I was expecting.
Or maybe it was because the 3D glasses started to give me a headache after about an hour.
I also agree with those who’ve commented on the level of violence in the movie. I mean, was it really necessary for Prof. Z to say, “kill him” so many times? They’re cars; couldn’t he have said, “wreck him” or “crash him” or something like that?
I loved the scene in Italy with Uncle Topolino and Luigi’s family, and the scene with Tomber in Paris was great. The little automotive touches, like the piston elevators, were fantastic. And being a VW guy, I especially liked the sign/countersign that the agents used to identify each other — as well as Mater’s added ramblings about the Type 3 Squareback with the pancake engine and the Type 2 like Fillmore (all of which is accurate). I’ll admit to having to look up Whitworth bolts, though. I also enjoyed the cameo by Sig Hansen and the FV Northwestern as Crabby the Crab Boat; that was not his voice in the promos, and I didn’t know he was going to be doing the voice in the movie until last Tuesday’s “After the Catch” on Discovery.
Attendance at the showing we went to was rather sparse; presumably because it was 1:30 on a Sunday, and the mall where the theater is located is undergoing some major construction in the parking lot. At least I hope that’s what it was. I can’t wait to see it again and watch for all of the little touches that went right past me the first time, but I don’t think that’ll happen until the DVD comes out this fall.
I took my two boys (16 yr old & my 2 1/2 yr old) and my 8 yr old nephew to see Cars 2 and we were more excited arriving to the theatre than leaving it. 🙁 The story line in my opinion was just too action packed for me as well as for my youngest son. He lost interest with the movie before it was half way through. Even though there was some disappointment, I still liked the movie and of course I’m going to collect these new diecast characters because I think they are so adorable. But I honestly can say that I don’t feel as much of a connection to the new diecast characters from this movie as I do with the original ones because the movie was more about “action” than on the “personalities” of the cars themselves. I think Cars 1 had a much better story line than Cars 2 and it also displayed good values.
Totally agree chica!! That’s exactly my opinion!! 😮
I took my 4 yr old son to see it opening day at the 515 showing.
The visuals are amazing. The scenes in each of the 5 countries are gorgeous. I enjoyed seeing how each building architecture employed some sort of automotive aspect, such as a car grill as part of the building facade.
I believe the moral was to appreciate your friend(s) for who they are and not be embarrassed of them, embrace their differences and be grateful for them. I am inclined to agree with some of the other posters who think there was too much violence in this one. Even at the adult level it overpowers the wonderful morals and feel good vibe of a Pixar film. My son too, seemed to mimic the violent parts more than I thought healthy.
I believe the way in which the movie jumped from one country to another was not as smooth as could have been … perhaps if Mr. Lassiter focused a bit more on the character development rather than the violence the scenes would have flowed a bit better.
I would have liked to have seen some “hollywood magic” concerning Doc Hudson … perhaps a cameo explaining what happened to him (maybe a shot of him in car heaven and they could have spliced some of Paul Newman’s audio tracks from other takes to create a sentence or two post-humously).
Overall, the imagery and animation is first rate, best by far. The story needs refinement and less violence for a young crowd. Because of this I would say the first Cars film was better than the second.
I look forward to the Blueray for further admiration of the artwork. Parents, try and emphasize the friendship between McQueen and Mater as you discuss the film and try (as hard as it will be) to direct them away from the violence.
It was a very good movie, an article in the newspaper told me its better in 2d so i saw it in 2d. i noticed only 3 easter eggs. the incredibles at the theatre, gustous in the credits, and tokyo mater cars in tokyo. 3 things about cars 2 1. I very very very disliked mater REPLACING mqueen. MATER was the main character. 2. i was hoping the race was more exiting and the other racers having more scenes like not just francessco and mqueen only in the lead and you dont see much of anyone else. 3. mqueen didnt seem much like himself, owens voice has really nice the whole time even when he was yelling at mater. he was so dumb when he chased mater on the track saying how great (“the bomb”) mater was. i also thought some scenes where too cartoony and unrealistic compared to the first. and how themed the townies were when they suddnly appeared and helped.like how did flos lights scare them? dont get me wrong,it was an amazing movie,it only seemed “all bark and no bite” with the promoting and everything made me feel sick during the movie, seriously. that may have been cause i ate pretty much a large bag of popcorn. i still feel strange from last night.then i went to kmart and bought some kmart cars and $15 siddley and they told me they were out of posters (bummer) i did find a bjs and seen character stars 3 packs,but passed and got peter and miles! i couldnt belive he was the villian. originally i thought he was like a race annoucer or somthing. i give this movie an 8/10. now make like a baby and here comes the PLANE! (s)
We saw it opening night at the last drive-in near Los Angeles, which has a Tiki theme. $7 each adult, kids free and they got to watch in their jammies.
Kids liked the movie, we liked the terracotta truck warriors in the closing credits.
We’d really like to see a director’s cut DVD with more character development.
I think there might be a story worthy of the graphics in there somewhere.
I was very disappointed. It seems each subsequent pixar movie grows more and more violent then the last one. I do not know how they keep getting a “g” rating. I cannot even figure out what is the moral of the story?
Pixar used to make movies for kids, now they make movies they wish they saw when they were kids, but from their adult perspectives which get in their way.
I would not recommend this for kids under 7.
Disney can pressure the MPAA to get whatever rating they want. Money controls everything. They never really showed any cars “dying”. Don’t know if they actually can “die” in the same sense that humans and animals can. Compared to the cartoons we grew up with, the violence wasn’t that bad. My son focused more on the racing and he hasn’t asked me for any of the new spy cars or lemons yet. I have given him the plastic Finn with the playset and Prof. Z, but all he seems to care about right now are the new race cars.
Saw it again today with my son. No matter my previous post, I really enjoyed watching him watch the movie. He stared, motionless, mouth wide open for at least the first hour (he is 4), and that, my friends, is what it’s all about! Cheesy as it may sound, we experienced some “Disney Magic” today. Then on the way home we role-played. I was Finn, he was Holly. When I asked him what his favorite part was he responded “when the Cars were fighting.” Grrrrr… exactly what I was concerned about!
I took my son and daughter today. We were suppose to see the 11:30 showing but apparently it was cancelled because someone had the $ to buy it out for a private showing. They offered for us to upgrade to 3d but I knew my little guys couldn’t sit there with the glasses on. We opted for the next showing and got free passes for another movie.
While we liked the movie I think my son would have enjoyed it more if it had been about the races vs it being about Mater being a spy. For him it actually got a little boring at times with the spy scenes, he wanted the races! All in all though they enjoyed themselves which is all that matters. They also now have more interest in the new cars 😉
Saw it in 3D today and I loved it! I was cracking up! They did a great job on it! Loved every minute of it! The new characters were awesome! My favorite characters were Mater (Like always), Lightning McQueen, and Finn McMissile. I also liked Holley Shiftwell. She was a really beautiful looking car! It was also nice to see Luigi, Guido, Sarge, Fillmore, and all the other Radiator Springs people again. I also really liked how they put Sally in it. Also spotted some easter eggs as well. Like Gastow’s, Axlerod being in the same jungle from Up, and Todd at the end of the movie. The end credits scene was great! They really need to make more singles, deluxe, 2 packs, store exclusives, etc. Also, the Toy Story short was really funny! BTW, the trailer for Brave was epic!
the best part was the toy story short.
Braves coming next year? I didnt see a trailer for it, i guess well have to wait until 2013 for monsters 2 and thats when i graduate high school. when the first came out i was in first grade! like toy story 3 i wasnt even a year old when toy story first came out. its beacuse of their contract didnt include sequels.
Took our three-year-old to his first movie at the theater yesterday evening. After spending the first thirty minutes with his hands covering his ears, he eventually figured out that his head would not explode from all the loud noises.
Lots of eye candy on the screen – will be fun to dissect all of it when this comes out on DVD. But like others have said before me, there were plenty of things in this movie that I wish had been written differently (kind of like, on a much larger scale, the could of “hillbilly hell” references in the first movie).
I know that our son will spend his life playing with and learning about and being aware of guns. And even though I knew what this movie was about and that there would be guns involved, I was shocked at how many bullets were fired and how much of a focus there was on “killing” other cars. Just not the message that Pixar usually sends with its movies.
All that being said, I think the dialogue was excellent, the visuals were spectacular, and the potential die-cast explosion is enticing/terrifying. I am glad we saw the movie but do not think it will be played on repeat the way the first movie has been in our house.
Great review! I guess it could have been worse had Quentin Tarantino directed it. 🙂
Teekay421, Your child was reacting to loud noises in the customary manner. The child is experiencing discomfort due to the decibel level. Some of the movies children are subjected to exceed any acceptable prolong exposure. I’ve been to adult movies where the audience has requested the loudness be toned down. You may want to check out some really good websites dealing with hearing loss in children and exposure to high decibel levels. And, think twice about taking the child to an air show at an AFB where the Thunderbirds or Blue Angels are flying (or Snowbirds in Canada).
I think most adults have partial hearing loss. I know I do as a result of nigh 40 years of loud cars, motorcycles, guns, air shows, pipe bombs, races of all kinds, concerts, the Walkman, and so-on.
(MET: Humm, something on your list does not seem to belong … I’m pretty sure one of them is not like the others … ).
The technology keeps getting better and better with hearing aids. By the time our kids need them, they will have something like laser surgery for your eyes but for your ears!
Yes, Met. Times have sure changed regarding questionable legal status of what kids do for fun. I, of course, was an innocent by-stander in any event!
took family today to see it, my son loved it and cried when it was over , he wanted more i think..is it me or was mater the star of this movie..
was more of a mater tale, than a lightning movie. Just like The dark knight was focused on The Joker than Batman.
right on the nose… they could have made this a CARS TOON episode.
Getting ready to head out to Kmart for Cars day but thought I would share my thoughts on the movie…
I liked it. I think kids will like it because it is so full of action. That being said…
I missed the feeling I got during the original. This new one lost the quaintness of Radiator Springs and the idea of slowing down and appreciating the things and people around you. It turned Cars into an action thriller with guns and violence and bombs, explosions and death. I didnt really like the whole spies and secret agent storyline. That’s not “CARS” to me. I also felt, like others have said, that it was like a movie version of a Maters Tall Tale – not a Cars sequel. It wasn’t about McQueen so much as about Mater. Some of the humor, though I appreciated, I don’t think my 8 year old nephew will understand.
However, I will go back and see it again so I can watch for all the little details this time. Couldn’t do that the first time
because I was trying to follow the many plots and figure things out.
Definitely need to have the guards at the palace in London, the queen, and Mater in his various cultural disguises.
Do you think this movie planted the seed for BOATS???
Just a comment on the guns and violence in this movie — I would expect that from “The Incredibles 2”, but “Cars 2”? Really???
We saw a preview for “Winnie the Pooh” with an all-new storyline. I suppose we should expect Winnie to napalm the forest to kill all the bees so he can retrieve their honey?
I would definitely go see it then. Right now I think the wife will be taking the kids to that one. Leaving the theatre, my son was a lot more excited about the Transformers poster than the Winnie the Pooh poster. My wife was excited about the Breaking Dawn poster. Go figure.
I was excited for the Transformers poster too! I’m seeing that next week!
Loved to see it in 3-D. all the details were awesome, we had fun!
Missed part of the movie: Does Rod Torque Redline die?
My cousin kept telling me that
(MET: He’s burned up a bit?)
I think Rod Torque Redline may return from the DEAD in Cars 3. Just hope he is not EVIL.
I wrote a comment yesterday about Rod torque. He was one of my favorite die-cast and couldn’t believe he “blew up.”
Since we didn’t get to actually see his destruction, we don’t know if he was reduced to just ASH. The other race cars that got blown up returned for the next race, so hopefully we will see him in the next season of Mater’s Tall Tales.
He needed Rescue Squad Mater!
Chopper one could’ve got him to the hospital…STAT!
I fell asleep…. TWICE!
That’s all I’m gonna say 🙁
As Larry The Cable Guy/Mater would say, “I don’t care who you are, that’s funny right there!”
i wish i did…. it was a “car” wreck
Spoiler Alert – I loved how he had “Ka-Ciao” on his bumper at the end… Classic funny… Can’t wait for that one at the SDCC!!!
Just got back from the movies. Saw it in Imax 3D with my whole family. I had bought the tickets online last Friday for the Imax 3D. charged $13 for adult and $10 per kid. I called 4 hours before to confirm and add another ticket and realized the showtime was delayed 1 hr. Another thing was that the prices I bought were the incorrect prices for the Imax 3D versions. It was suppose to be $15 per adult and $12 per child. They were going to refund my transaction but the manager was nice enough to let me in without paying the extra amount. When I got there, I gave them the printed receipt, handed me the new tickets and also handed me 9 extra passes for future films.Besides that, I bought the AMC stubs for $12 and received an instant $10 rewards and used it towards drinks and popcorn.
From the beginning everything was great. The short film was hilarious and had everyone laughing. The waves and fire where so detailed I knew it was going to be outstanding. all the gadgets, stunts, and sound effects of the race where phenomenal. The movie had me nervous because anything was possible. I agree that there is too much going on in the plot during the movie. I felt the movie focused more on mater than lightning and was more of a mater tale. Was upset to see rod torque explode quickly; was one of my favorite die-cast cars. I Never imagined Miles being the bad guy.
I gave it an 8/10. When I first found out cars 2 was based on a world race, I knew it was throwing off the whole Radiator Springs experience. I liked the first movie but threw me off when he gave up the finish line, but understood the whole concept afterwards. With Cars 2, I really wanted him to beat Francesco and win a trophy but it didn’t happen.
I do want to see it again!!!!
I saw the movie today with my 5 Yo son and it was simply amazing. The racing scenes will keep you kiddo dancing in his seat. 1825 that is the number of days that Disney Pixar and the Cars franchise has made my son happy. If you want a good review just stand outside and show me one kid without a smile.
For a fast paced movie they did seem to take their time panning the pit crews this time around, eh?!?!?! At the start of the first race?
I loved knowing that we would be able to really get a good look at all the pit crews when we finally get the DVD in our possession…
Hilarious! Glad you got to stay. No one was checking tickets at the two shows we were at, so we could have watched for free if we were crooks like that.
The first time we saw the movie, the audio was nonexistent during part of the previews, and during the start of the Porta Corsa scene the film jumped, so we were stuck with a big black bar going across the middle of the screen for a couple of minutes.
During our second viewing, the film just stopped during “Hawaiian Vacation” for a few seconds.
I almost forgot!!! I almost got escorted out of the theatre as soon as the movie started!!! I was so excited that I forgot how illegal it is to snap pics in a theatre… Let alone take a vid…
I wanted to get the screen shot of the Cars 2 logo for me to have – Maybe out as a screensaver, ya know…
But my practice shot of the Toy Story short gave me away and the security guard wanted to take me outside for questioning!!!
I freaked out!!! he movie had just started and I showed him that I had only taken one pic and then deleted it in front of him!!!!
Thank goodness he left me in my seat!!! I would have died!!!!!
(MET: Troublemaker! Pirate Bootlegger! 😛 ).
Two more thoughts before I head to bed:
1) I want Union Jack Ramone!!!!
2) Did anyone notice when Mater was flying the rocket-propelled chute with McQueen in tow, there was a large building that resembled Mater. There were the spaces for clocks — the one on the left side of the screen had a clock in it, but the one on the right side of the screen was missing, so it looked like Mater coming toward you. I cannot wait for the DVD to grab some screenshots!
Me two, three and four on the Ramone score!!! Only three outfits for him?!?!? Good enough I guess…
As far as the Mater-Building!?!?!? I can’t wait to see that shot!!! That’s for sure!!!
John they have Union Jack Ramone at the Disney Store. Better get one in case Mattel decides to keep making more Maters variations.
Just saw it in 3D, and did NOT see the Brave trailer with it – we got Winnie The Pooh instead, so kinda disappointed on that front. The Toy Story short was cute with a few chuckles here and there, but nothing spectacular.
I enjoyed it. I enjoy cars and fun action movies, so this was right up my alley. As for people saying it was lacking heart, I’d disagree. It wasn’t the biggest part of the movie, but the close friendship between McQueen and Mater was definitely put to the test.
Simply put, it was a spy movie all the way…and if you like the James Bond type flicks, this will be a fun adventure for you. Beautiful shots and action sequences and loads of “in-car” jokes for those in the know. I DO think the story might go over the little one’s heads, (there are a few talky parts sprinkled throughout) but overall it’s not so slow that they’d lose attention I don’t think.
Definitely a 180 in the pace department from the first Cars, but…wasn’t that a major complaint? “Cars” is so boring and slow-paced…so, Pixar has let them thrive in a world of excitement this time around.
7/10 for me.
I am all over the place right now !!! I wanna give it two thumbs and a ten outta ten… But I also have mixed feelings about certain issues… (Guns… whatever)
I just can’t wait to see it again but this time in 3D to get a better scope of things…
I AM a Cars-O-Holic and I am on cloud nine and a half right now!!!
I took my little brother to see it with me. He enjoyed it but my wife and him said there was was too many shootings going around for a kids movie
Well they are going to have to do away with Mega size now and go for Colossal size!
I just hope Mattel doesn’t have the Haulers Team create the Colossal machine that Mater tipped — it will only be the size of the Bessie diecast!
Speaking of which, I couldn’t believe we didn’t see any Tractors this time around — or even Frank!
I think I missed a whole bunch of stuff during the last race because I kept looking for Frank!
Yeah!!! That dump truck they tipped in the fields was awesome!!!!
i’d spend a bunch for one of those for sure!!! As a carrying case it could fit at least half of our collection, non!!??!!?!?
When we got home yesterday, we acted out that scene with our big Chuck the Dump Truck. Then my son thought it would be funny to have Chuck run over all his cars.
Hey there dudes…
I just realized…
This is the first Pixar film that did not make me cry.
Intentional? Maybe… Or was it cause the kids were bouncing all over the place?
Dunno – Maybe they tried for something more fun and adventuresome… Gonna have to re-assess the verdict after I see it in 3D – ALONE!!!
I cried every time the toddler behind me kicked my chair and/or his baby brother cried.
Seriously, I agree with you on this one though — when Lightning nudged The King across the finish line in the original it just caught me so off guard that I cried.
Toy Story 2 got both me AND my wife in the theater when Emily and her family dropped off Jesse at the Goodwill collection box. That Sarah McLachlan song still chokes me up when I hear it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px0j1EHF8Y0
I cried three time for ToyStory 3…
Damn You Pixar!!!
Give me back my manhood!!!
Or does that just make me more of a man…?
Whatever – Those Pixar guys sure know how to get you with that music… That’s for sure!!!
yeah, toy story 3 had me crying. I grew up watching the first two. I was 7 when I saw the first, and @ 22 last year, I broke down in tears along with my son. He did not speak after watching it. stayed quiet driving home with his head down, and finally cried inside the house when I asked him if he wanted Woody and Buzz.
PS – I took my kids to the adjoining store to get them a new Cars 2 toy since we had just watched the movie…
My little girl had no desire to get one – Where before she would have ben all over it.
My little guy was reluctant to get one and actually almost convinced me to let him get one of those new Tonka toy planes that have eyes on their windshields and I think are part of a comic strip line of toys…
We got a Barbie Light-up lipstick and prof Z. And ten minutes after we got home the professor was on his side, on the floor, almost under the coffee table. Wasted cash??!!! I dunno yet…
I took my wife and 3 grandchildren… we ended up seeing the movie in 3-D as we arrived 10 minutes before the start of the 3-D movie and 45 minutes before the start of the 2-D movie… Set me back an extra $15… er 5 Target sale price singles… We enjoyed the movie a lot, even my wife is has become a little anti-Cars due to my obsessiveness with Cars as I am definitely a Cars-a-holic.
We went to the local Walmart after the movie… I picked up the Cars2 video game (but may return it and pick it up and Target and get a free movie ticket)… I told each of my grandchildren they could get one toy at $8 (plus tax) or less… My 2 grandsons ended up getting Transformer toys, and my granddaughter a Barbie toy… after we got home, they started playing with Cars and asked if they could open more…
There were less than 50 people in attendance… I don’t think there will be a huge crowd at the Kmart I attend the Collector Event at… but I now have a greater appreciation for all the Radiator Springs Cars, even those with the 95 decal… and a greater understanding of why there are so many Finn McMissile…
I’ll see it again – when does the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack come out, Met?
I really enjoyed the movie. I thought it was just as good or better than the first. The story was very fast-paced and there wasn’t a moment that you could stop watching, it was that exciting. I enjoyed the new characters. The Toy Story short was really funny as well. I give the movie 5 stars out of 5.
Saw the movie today at 1:30 and to help you I will give a time schedule for all that happened.
12:50- Got to the theater and already about 40 people were there. I was standing outside until the doors opened at 1.
1:00- Get into the theater and totally skip getting drinks or popcorn so I could get a good seat.
1:20-ish- Watched the Hawaiian Vacation short. Too funny!
1:30- Movie starts and the sound of screaming babies were totally drowned out of my mind. The movie had my hands gripped to the armrests the whole time.
Around 2:30- My brother that went to see it with me asked if I wanted something to drink. I said “no.” and so he got up to get something for himself. I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back to his seat, and I said, “You are gonna miss WAYYY too much if you leave now!” so we never had anything to drink.
3:30- Movie ends and I never saw the Pizza Planet Truck. Was very disappointed, but the movie was still absolutely fantastic. The scenery was gorgeous, the characters were so cool, Sally looked hotter than she was in the first movie, 🙂 and did anyone else see the mysterious Racer X? Well, he was just a celebrity in the Porto Corsa part. I was glad Lizzie was still her normal Model T look, except during the train tunnel scene, and that the Radiator Springs gang were in it more than I thought. I laughed when Mater said, “Whatever you do, do NOT eat the Pistashio Ice Cream!” and when he said, “I VANT TO SIPHON YOUR GAS!”
I also heard that the main antagonist was originally gonna be a Russian Soviet Race Car named Zil, and not You-Know-Who and Professor Z. Kind of something fun to know about.
So my rating?? 4.9 stars out of 5. The only aloft problem was that the movie could have easily been 2 hours 30 minutes and not 1 hour 53 minutes. Some scenes were really fast but that just made the movie even more thrilling. GO SEE CARS 2!!!!!!!
That was not Lizzie in the train tunnel. It is an old Galloping Goose, like this:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Galloping_Goose_1.jpg
Cars 1 was amazing. When I first saw some coming attractions years ago for CARS, I thought that Pixar might have their first flop on their hands.
Five years from inital release and with hundreds of Mattel Cars in my collection, I have to say that CARS is a roaring success for the movie lover and the toy collector.
CARS 2 is not as amazing in its originality but how could it be?
It is the most pure fun that I have had this movie season and I have seen Xmen –excellent; Super 8—- pretty good; Hangover 2–a clone of the first; and Green Lantern—- average or below-skip it.
Since I go the big movies when I can, I couldn’t miss CARS 2, especially since I have been collecting them for years.
CARS 2 feels more derivative of the first movie and another movie genre, the spy thriller, like James Bond films. SPOILER: At the end, when Mater dies gruesomely…uh er okay..only kidding.
At the end Mater does his best interpretation of Ellery Queen. (The CARS boys missed a pun there).
While CARS 2 is less original than the first, it tries make to up for that with more action–which it does awesomely. Though, It still just seems like an expanded Mater Tall Tale, not an actual sequel to Cars 1.
Lasseter and the clan might be just spinning their wheels a bit here. It doesn’t resonate and tug at your soul like Toy Story 3 did, which also makes an appearance in an opening short.
It was funny.
Though not as good as the first, CARS 2 is worth catching.
I agree 100% about the Mater’s Tall tale reference… Too bad they could not differentiate Cars 2 from a crazy adventure of Mater’s.
LOVED IT!! The humour is FINNtastic, the backgrounds are second to none and the story is actually quite believable!
I read all the comments here and do not agree with the criticisms…if you think about a spy movie, either 007 or Bourne, or whatever, the minor characters do not get development. The bad guys are bad and greedy and the good guys are good and selfless. That is what you have here.
As far as the Townies, no they did not have huge roles, but they could have been completely left out VERY easily, so I think we are lucky we got them at all.
Go, enjoy the movie for what it is, FUN!!!!! Sure you find diecasts you want while you are watching it, but that is just because you have a problem…don;t worry, there is help out there!
My only complaint…. I dare not leave to refill my popcorn or drink!
Hello from Down Under,
What a treat is was, as good as cars 1 with a 007 flavor, the only disappointment was that it had to end. Bring on cars. 3 or carstoons the espionage series…
More than 1 viewing is a must and if you didn’t do it in 3D get back in the car as you have missed a extra treat.
Have a great day to all
Everyone is saying how much better the original is than this one. Dude, I fell asleep halfway through Cars when I saw it for the first time. I didn’t even really like it until I noticed how much my son enjoyed it. It grew on me and became “our ” movie.
Cars 2? No freakin’ way, that movie was non-stop action! Great experience at the cinema. Watch it a few more times. I bet people will start liking it better each time they watch it.
Agreed, kinda like needing to listen to a new album several times. On the other hand, as a NASCAR fan, I really liked the “NASCARness” of C1, made me feel like I was sitting on our platform on Turn 4 in the Atlanta Motor. Speedway infield.
Then again this is about the kid, not me. I’m sure he will enjoy it tomorrow. I just hope he doesn’t get too deep into. “shooting” and “killing” his Cars and what-not now. As Karl Childers said, “He’s just a boy.”
Here are the two reviews that I most agree with from RottenTomatoes.com:
“Bad creative decision #1: Making Cars a spy movie. The whole point of Cars 1 was to slow down and appreciate life. Now it’s a busy generic caper. Bad creative decision #2: Cars with guns. Something about this feels wrong to me. It’s not exciting, for one. Also once you put guns on cars, they’re not even really cars anymore. They’re toys and gadgets but less of a story, and much less of a movie.”
Fred Topel
Screen Junkies
“For the first time, we get a sense of ‘let’s just knock this out’ instead of ‘let’s knock this out of the park’.”
Rob Vaux
Mania.com
Fred Topel also adds this one:
“Bad creative decision #3: Political message in a Pixar movie. I know it’s all environmentally conscious to support alternative fuel, but come on. This is not the way to educate kids on driving a hybrid.”
In addition it felt filthy having Hollywood (Big Consumerism/Conspicuous Consumptionism/Egotism) try to provide a lesson on Big Oil. It’s like having a politician lecture you on the evil nature of attorneys.
Didn’t like the guns either… WAY too much of that. Nothing creative in the way they could outsmart each other and stuff… OK – Maybe that energy sending TV camera, but really, I think there were more bullets unloaded in this movie than “Hard Boiled”. (Which by the way is one of the greatest non-stop gun-slinging movies of all time where the guns never run out of ammo…)
Bad creative decision #2: Cars with guns. Something about this feels wrong to me. It’s not exciting, for one. Also once you put guns on cars, they’re not even really cars anymore.
I knew it!! I said to my wife that people would complain about the guns. What boy didn’t play cops and robbers or cowboys and Indians as a kid. Give it up people it’s make believe. Kids can tell the difference.
Saw it this afternoon with my son and wife and we all enjoyed it completely. My son didn’t leave his seat and only took his glasses off once. Sure it didn’t have the emotional impact of Toy Story 3 but it wasn’t supposed to, this was a Pixar film for kids, not for adults.
I for one am glad that it was a different tone from the original. If they would have just rehashed the same old story about slowing down and enjoying what life brings you I would have been bored.
My wife had a little game she was playing though, every time a new version of Mater she would go $5.
Not as good as the first.But the kids loved it.Seen Todd the pizza truck twice at the Radiator Springs Grand Prix down near Stanley.All made for merchandising.I bet there will be a CARS3 lets hope it it back in Radiator Springs.
Was it just me, or did anyone else notice Todd very early on in the movie?
I thought it was ok. Enjoyable, but not great. My son loved it though, and that was the important part. This seemed like a typical sequel. More flash and dash, but lacking the story elements that made you love the first one. The backgrounds were amazing and the little inside jokes were good. It just didn’t have the heart most of the Pixar films do.
Im having a party for it tomorrow and my friends, family, and i will see the movie. I wonder if the put more pixar movies at the end.
sounds like fun! BTW, did anyone see van and mini?
There were no Pixar movies at the end, which was more like the ending credits from “Up”. But near the beginning of the movie, “The Incredimobiles” is showing at the Radiator Springs Drive In Theatre.
Van & Mini had speaking roles at the end.
I sat through all the credits expecting a gag reel at the end. The projectionist probably thought I fell asleep.
They are pretty hard not to miss. They have speaking parts once again!
What happened to their Upper Midwest accents, anahay?
Just got back. I have similar feelings as many, it’s a great & fun movie but not as good as the original. Way too busy to comprehend the unbelievable amount of detail in every scene. I’ll have to wait for the DVD to truly appreciate it. Also, not enough character development. I really cared about the characters in the original. I don’t feel like I got to know any of the new characters very well, even Finn & Holley. Mater was the true star of this movie. His character held it together.
The short “Hawaiian Vacation” was great. I enjoyed seeing my old friends from Toy Story.
The Toy Story short was awesome as well, just so funny! The jokes were coming so thick and fast, and again Pixar just have so much fun with the characters. Now I am really looking forward to more of these ‘short films’.
Yup – Agree about the lack of character development… I kinda think the whole rivalry between McQueen and that I-Talian Car was left out to dry… To bad – they had really good chemistry…
I guess we should look forward to tons of new Story tellers stories to reveal a better back story and answer the truck-load of questions we will have in the days to come about all our old friends and new favourites!
We went back-to-back to the 11:30am AND 2:00pm shows and I’m glad I did because I totally missed Todd the Pizza Planet Truck the first time around. I had also missed what movie was playing at the Radiator Springs Drive In Theatre (AND that it was spelled Theatre rather than Theater).
I never have understood the need to see Pixar films in 3D — everything looks real and three-dimensional in a 2D showing. But during the entire London scenes, I was convinced they just filmed the scenery and overlaid the characters — I know it was all computer graphics, but THAT is how real it looked, even the waving flags in the background.
We will probably go see it again and we will definitely buy the DVD in November, but I did not enjoy this movie anywhere close to the original. I felt like we were seeing “Cars 3” and had missed “Cars 2” altogether. Honestly, this should have just been called “Mater’s Big Adventure”, as the charm of Radiator Springs was missing (outside of the one or two lines they gave each of the Townies). It also felt like they intended for this to be a 2 hour 53 minute film, but canned 30 minutes of it. It was just too choppy for me — no wonder John Lasseter was called in to take over for Brad Bird.
MAYBE I would have enjoyed it a little more if not for the EXTREMELY noisy toddlers who found there way RIGHT BEHIND ME for both showings. Before we left this morning, I reminded myself that there would be noisy little kids in the theater, but seriously, RIGHT BEHIND ME both times?
OK, that all being said, “Hawaiian Vacation” was pure Pixar perfection!
Wow looks like all the car fans love it besides the critics (of course). I will have to wait a whole week for me to watch it as im in the process of moving this weekend. Reading all these great reviews makes me want to sneak off for 2 hours tomorrow and watch it. Cant wait to see it.
The movie was great. My son sat speechless in awe. I think I did too. Can’t believe all the infants people brought in. I haven’t been to a little kids movie in a while though. Looking forward to seeing it again tomorrow to check out all the stuff we missed the first time. Now its time to open some new cars!!!
My son was speechless too!!! I think it was quite overwhelming and he must have loved to see his old friends and new foes… But I think a lot of it just went way over his head!!!
Animation was great, gear-head references were great, sound was great, I want all the characters as die-casts. Story and character development were a little busy and lacking. Gratuitous violence was a real disappointment. How many people know why the lemon from the Detroit Gang was purple? Not many I bet!
Went to see the first 3D showing in our area–my son and I really liked it! My son decided that it was more of a “boy’s” movie than the first one (he’s 7). I also want to see it again, to pay attention to the details instead of the story. I did catch a street sign that read “John Lassitire”. Cute!
To me the water in the beginning was the most beautiful water I’ve ever seen in an animated movie. I can’t believe how real they made it look!
Right after the movie, we went looking for more Cars 2 cars. Nothing new-we have everything that’s been released.
Pixar has another winner, as far as I’m concerned!
Just got back – FREAKIN AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!! Loved it as much as the first one!!!
But…….still not going to collect these……;)
Loved it!!!!! So did the kids!! I think they were overwhelmed for sure!!!!
Loved the Luigi and Guido girls in Italy and the GASTOW’S restaurant in France!!!
Uncle Topolino tops my list after the Queen for wants in the Die Cast line…
Great stuff!!! Can’t wait to go see it in 3D alone without the kids!!!
I’m seeing it in 3D tomorrow! Then I can post my thoughts about it here.
While I don’t see it taking the oscar this year, it was still a good movie, I had a lot more fun with it then I did Green Lantern and few other movies that have come out.
The story is a bit weak, and some of the new characters aren’t really developed. But the movie is absolutely gorgeous.
And I know where the Pizza Planet Truck is, I’m surprised I found it the first time around.
Oh and lets not forget what’s been dubbed, car gore. They did try to go the Incredibles route to me as well.
Gah!!!! Waiting until tomorrow to see it at the El Cap. It’s killing meeeee!
We went to the first showing at midnight. There were about 4 families with about 8 children there. Digital Disney 3D version.
Dazzling scenery. Seen in 3D, the opening sequences of the dark ocean were photo visually real. That scene alone shows how far Pixar Animation has come in 5 years.
Moving at frantic pace, I wished at times I could slow it down to enjoy the fantastically detailed backgrounds more.
Mater comes across as Mater, but in the end, he shows the Cars world how smart he really is.
Must be seen again to absorb it all.
Meant to add that early on there are hints that Mater’s knowledge of Car parts clues him in to the diabolical goings on. We find out in the ending moments how smart he really is.
It was amazing, loved as much as I love the first one. Saw it first thing this morning. I cant wait for diecasts of the lemon Cars!
Visually stunning! But…I can see why the movie is being panned by critics. The story is a little clunky; I think there is too much going on, with the spy story, the race story, and the emotional story. There are a lot of good visual puns, but not a lot of LOL moments. I think Pixar tried to make it more Incredibles-like, i.e. more adult…and ultimately failed.
I liked it, but Cars 1 is a better movie.
My Husband finally said YESSSS!!! Yahoooo, we’re bringing our 5,3&2 yrs old boys, their first movie in the big screen.Oh boy , oh boy, I hope my boys behave, LOL.
(MET: have fun!)
😀
It’s a SUCCESS!!!Had able to survived watching Cars 2, with my husband, 5,3&2 yrs old boys, with the help of large popcorn and a bag of small lollipops.
My boys review: 5,3&2 yrs old
This is the first time my boys went to watch a movie in a big screen. My 5 yrs old was so excited and love the movie. My 3 yrs old, had a smile on his face the whole time. My 2 yrs old, was the most excited, I can hear him laughing the whole time. Base on their reaction, Cars 2 is a big success, the fact, that my 3 small boys behaved the whole time, had able to finished the movie and had fun….Cars 2 is 10 out of 10.My five yrs old said” This is fun, can we do it again “, that’s all I need to hear LOL.
My review:
Love the story, action, James Bond Style. There were some violence like other people said, but the lesson about friendship, caught my attention more and most of all being yourself, like McQueen said, just be yourself.
hmmmm BE YOURSELF….
CARS2 is 5 star, I love it! What can I do? I’m a carsaholic.LOL.
I am so happy, that my boys enjoyed the movie and had fun!!!
I didn’t see it, but I’m going to on Sat. I’m really exited to see if Professor Z. dies or not.
I enjoyed it very much. There is a pretty good story, great characters, beautiful visuals and incredible detail.
It is definitely a car person’s movie, lots of little “in” jokes and characters that will fly right by non-car people. Be sure to Google “wentworth bolts” before you go if you do not know anything about British cars.
There are lots of great minor characters that are going to keep us poor for years to come. I want a diecast of the light green pickup with wood paneled sides that is in one of the later scenes. Also, I want the “Bobbies” and the other security people. And the Tatra T87 that is next to the Queen. And … (well, you get the idea).
I found it interesting that Finn McMissle fills the role of the worldly, wise, older Car that Doc Hudson played in the first movie. The tribute to Doc was well done and, importantly, not over done.
As you said, Met, the scenery was awesome. I particularly liked the Paris flea market and Porto Corsa. Oddly enough, the desert scenes around Radiator Springs were not as impressive as the first time. Maybe it was because they are so familar.
The action is nonstop. This will keep the kids entertained all by itself. I agree with DDD that a bit more character buildup with some of the minor players would have been nice.
In typical Hollywood fashion, some of the scenes we saw in the trailers are presented differently in the movie. I wish I had not watched any of the trailers because some great jokes are now old hat (“average intelligence” and “Materhosen” for instance).
The more you know about other cultures, the more layers you will be able to peel away. The Tokyo scenes, in particular, are bursting with cultural references.
I loved the way car themes are woven into the fabric of the movie. Pistons being used as elevators, architecture incorpotating all kinds of car parts, an old style generator in Big Bentley, Mater saying he has a “black fanbelt in Carate”, etc.
Be sure to stay for the credits. There are lots of little jokes there, too. I loved Mater’s passport picture and the car themed monuments of the ancient world.
Just got back. I thought the first half of the movie was ok but it pulled it all together for a great finish. Pixar continues their winning streak with this one. I thought some of the dialog earlier in the film came off a little corny (1st towny scene). I thought the last 30 minutes or so were fantastic. Also it wasn’t hard to spot the Pizza Planet truck so don’t even try. I’m kind of itching for some diecast cars now.
Leaving in 15 minutes!!
Saw it last night at 12:01 in XD 3-D…fantastic sound and picture (no IMAX nearby). It was absolutely stunning and really holds your interest for every frame, which is saying a lot. Great score too, and of course beautiful detail. So glad to have had the chance to go, and to finally see these toys come to life!
Which gets to the only thing that nagged at me a little on the way home…there have been months of anticipation and weeks of excitement collecting the new characters, and when I think of my little collection, I realize I’ve got a bigger connection to them as toys than I did last night as characters. I love my Tombers and Oilski/Petrov/whoever…but there’s such little interaction or conversation between anyone but the few major characters that you don’t have a chance to reflect on how cool or interesting (or unique), say, Grem was (or ANY of the racers except Francesco)…like you look at your toys and think of how cool THEY are. There’s no “Tyler Trunklis” in the movie, for example, and I feel silly now searching every Walmart for him (though I guess I still will). Oddly enough, they’re more “real” as toys. I would have liked more fun character-building scenes with the minor characters and fewer with the four or five major ones.
It makes me feel ridiculous wondering what Petrov’s real name is, or if the Disney Store character is the same as the Mattel one…it just doesn’t matter. Tomber doesn’t sip oil in the movie, but I spent $14.99 to get a diecast of him doing just that.
I guess my point is that the movie doesn’t make me appreciate the toys any more as characters…they still exist in a vacuum. (With the exception of Finn, so I guess it’s OK that I have like five of him.) I like collecting toys of characters I love, and now I feel let down. For me, “Cars 2” will always be about the toys, not the movie or the characters. Maybe that suits the suits just fine, huh?
But that’s just a reflection as a toy collector, not as a moviegoer. It’s a great and very fun movie. (It deserves much better than it’s getting, and I’ve never been into the Pixar movies.) Go see it!
SPOILER alert: diecasts I NEED: Otis the lemon and the crazy rail truck from Radiator Springs. Hope we get that fountain in Italy in some form. Also some cool big characters. BEST GAG (trying not to spoil): Mater meeting a parts vendor with a more traditional cartoon-car face.
Without spoiling anything I really love the new characters in this film. Sure it is great seeing the townies (Doc) but Holly Finn and especially Francesco are all instantly loveable.
It’s hard not to mention the detail because each scene is sssooo well done. It was also cool to watch to see how all the little bits and peices we have seen before hand all fit into the movie, like Finn the submarine and so on.
Simply, I loved Cars 2! Seeing it again tomorrow!
Taking the kids out today at 4:00 as a surprise so *shhhhh*! It’s a secret!
Nice!
We’ll be at the theater in about an hour — can’t wait!!!
Loved the movie.
The detail in the movie was amazing. I promised myself I wouldn’t watch it thinking of what die cast would come out next, instead I wanted to watch it for the movie itself. However, I found myself buried into the fine detail of everything. I was amazed at how Mater looked in the movie, it was like looking a rusty old tow truck in real life.
Also, the sound was amazing! It was like listening to Nascar, F1, rally racing and off road racing at the same time.
Need to go see it again!