I am thinking that as an analytical person in my mid-20's I am not exactly the target audience Pixar had in mind when they released Cars 2. So with that being said I don't really want to go to far in depth reviewing it, but I will share a few thoughts I had after seeing a matinee earlier this week.

The run time for this movie is just over 100 minutes. For the sake of this entry let's call it 100 minutes even. For the first 75 minutes of this movie it felt like Pixar was just putting something out there that they would later be able to sell as a video game, an action figure, a lunchbox, or shoes that light up, (by the way, if anyone can find a pair in size 15 let me know). I felt like there was no dedication to a new storyline, or even a continuation of a storyline from the original Cars movie.

Once they did get around to putting the storyline in the movie they did a good job with it, but it needed about another 20 minutes to really feel like true Pixar movie. There are all the usual themes that you would expect from a kids movie: doing what's right, staying loyal to your friends, and people from outside the USA are enemies. But I could have gone for a little more feel good spirit in this one.

Regardless of the fact that Pixar makes kids movies, they do a fantastic job of keeping all the adults in attendance happy. There were plenty of things throughout the movie that made me laugh that the row of kids in front of me had no idea about. One of my favorite parts of this movie was a scene when the cars are in Tokyo and you can see tons of different brand names in the lights around town, albeit with a bit of a gear head twist.

I was also a little surprised about how heavy this movie showcased "Mater", the car who is voiced by Larry the Cable Guy. Obviously there is a niche market for his type of humor so it caught me a little off guard that they focused so much on his car and not Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson).

Regardless of what I thought the row of kids that were sitting in front of me were laughing, and couldn't stop talking about the movie as they left the theater. Something tells me that Pixar is much more interested in that than what I thought.

Quick Update: I can't believe I forgot to mention the best part of the movie... The Toy Story short that was played at the first 7 minutes of the show. Absolutely brought the total rating up 1/2 a point.


Cars 2
Directed by: John Lasseter, and Brad Lewis
Written by: Ben Queen, John Lasseter, Brad Lewis, and Dan Fogelman
Starring: Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, and Michael Caine
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Would Gene Pick it?: Yes