'Cars' was always considered the lesser of Pixar's films. While it did well at the box office it was not as well respected as some of their other films. Despite that it is one of their biggest merchandising items. Hence we now get a sequel.
To me this is the influence of Disney finally reaching Pixar. In the past Pixar made films where they felt they had a strong story to back it up. But this film feels like it lacks the certain magic that other Pixar films have. Personally I've never been convinced of the whole 'cars behaving like people' concept. I probably over think it but I just could not buy into it as a believable concept. Which is why I was not all that pleased with the first film. This second film does a good job of expending the scope of the story by making it a globe trotting action adventure, but the basic story is still very conventional. You know exactly where it is going and nothing seems fresh. While most of the time that is not a problem, it would have been better if the journey was a bit more enjoyable. It was nice that the character of Mater got to be front and centre and he provides the story with many humorous moments. His naive nature though is conventional.
Owen Wilson takes a bit of a backseat in this story to Larry The Cable Guy. Larry is very good and provides a strong enough character to carry the film on his own. Michael Caine is very good as Finn McMissile but I think his casting is a bit obvious. Emily Mortimer gives a nicely sweet performance.
I suppose it was bound to happen that Pixar's stellar record of making brilliant animation would not last. The problems I have are mostly things that I have trouble with so others may feel better about them.
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