|
Cars 2
| Released |
22 July 2011 |
| Director(s) |
John Lasseter, Brad Lewis |
Starring
|
Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Eddie Izzard, John Turturro |
| Writer(s) |
Ben Queen |
| Producer(s) |
Denise Ream |
| Origin |
United States |
| Running Time |
106 minutes |
| Genre |
Family |
| Rating |
G |
|
|
Burnt out.
Having missed the original Cars movie, I was perhaps at a slight disadvantage upon viewing Cars 2. Unfamiliar and a little less warm to the characters than a fan of the previous movie would have been. And while normally in some kind of completist endeavour I'd watch any preceding films in a series before reviewing a sequel, in this instance I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
I couldn't because Cars 2 is probably one of the most irritating experiences I've had in a while, even a little more irritating than the time I dropped my ninety nine onto my laptop. And to be honest that irritated me quite a lot.
What perhaps irritated me even more was the charming Toy Story short I was treated to before the movie began and the series of comparisons it led me to. The Pixar Animation Studios output, starting in 1995 with Toy Story, has been magnificent, with 26 Academy Awards, 7 Golden Globes and 3 Grammys to date. Standing beside this monolith of achievement, Cars 2, is a paltry affair. And while previous Pixar efforts glide effortlessly into box-office first place, this 'movie' trundles, sputters and bores its way into a lay-by, coughing itself unceremoniously to engine death. Not a Nemo, Wall-E or Ratatouille in sight, Cars 2 has little of the charm necessary to tread the tightrope of entertainment necessary to keep an audience of both adults and children interested. A weary trial of a movie, I don't think that even young children's automotive enthusiasm will be enough to sit through 106 minutes of this poorly plotted, low-on-fuel sequel.
- Cormac O’Brien |
