Sunday, June 26, 2011

Skimps on the Heart


Will the movie Cars 2 contain as much fun and wit? The critics seem to weave all over the road with their reviews.

-Justin Chang for Variety:

-"If "Cars" was perhaps the least engaging of Pixar's hugely successful animated features, John Lasseter and his team have hit the creative accelerator with the unexpectedly delightful "Cars 2." The rare sequel that improves on its predecessor, this lightning-paced caper-comedy shifts the franchise into high gear with international intrigue, spy-movie spoofery and more automotive puns than you can shake a stickshift at, handling even its broader stretches with sophistication, speed and effortless panache...."

-Roger Ebert:

-"While I was watching Cars 2, an elusive nostalgia tugged at my mind. No, I wasn’t remembering Pixar’s original Cars from 2006. This was something more deeply buried, and finally, in the middle of one of the movie’s sensational grand prix races, it came to me: I was sitting on the floor of my bedroom many years ago, some toy cars lined up in front of me, while I used my hands to race them around on the floor and in the air, meanwhile making that noise kids make by squooshing spit in their mouths. In this memory I was completely engrossed with my cars. They were as real as people,.."

- Mike Ryan for Vanity Fair:

-Ryan's title speaks for itself: Is Cars 2 the first crappy Pixar Movie (and 24 other urgent questions). (This is a funny review through question and answer.)

- Chris Knight for The National Post:

-"John Lasseter, co-director of Cars 2 and producer of almost every other Pixar movie ever made, has said that his aim with this one was to make not a parody of a spy movie but an actual spy movie. I’d counter that he succeeded all too well, because while spy movies have action, excitement and (of course) car chases in spades, the one thing they often skimp on is heart...

Thus Cars 2 marks a rare stumble for Pixar, whose 11 films since 1995 have consistently amazed audiences and critics with their technical prowess and storytelling smarts."