Even though a convincing case probably can't be made for Cars 2, I shall attempt one here. The movie isn’t entirely necessary, nor did any Pixar fans ask for it. I was not a huge fan of the original Cars (2006), one of Pixar’s more modest efforts: it had benefited from the presence of Paul Newman as the voice of Doc Hudson, but was lacking in spectacle and adventure. Cars 2, similarly, doesn’t break much new ground. And yet it is, surprisingly, so much more enjoyable than the first film: the pace is faster, the style is groovier, and the emphasis has been placed on a different hero. I’ll probably feel guilty later for admitting this, but I had a hell of a time.
How to explain to myself? The sequel, after all, doesn’t include a cameo by the late Newman, whose Doc Hudson is mentioned only in passing in the opening scenes. Nor does this sequel include a cameo by the late George Carlin, fondly remembered as the voice of Fillmore the hippy van in the first film (Fillmore is now voiced by Lloyd Carr; this reminds me of Lee Unkrich’s decision to replace the late Jim Varney with another actor as the voice of Slink in Toy Story 3). Instead, directors John Lasseter and Brad Lewis have given us Michael Caine as the voice of super-spy Finn McMissile; Emily Mortimer as the voice of the sultry Holly Shiftwell; Bruce Campbell (!) as the voice of an the ill-fated Rod Redline; Vanessa Redgrave (!??) as the voice of the Queen’s private car; and an unrecognizable John Turturro as the voice of the pretentious Francesco Bernoulli.
Oh, and the heroes: Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen, and Larry the Cable Guy as Mater the tow truck. We remember from the first film that McQueen was the protagonist who accidentally wound up in the deserted town of Radiator Springs, and that Mater and a host of other cars came to his aid. But Lasseter and the Pixar team have done something kind of brilliant in making Mater the hero this time, and setting McQueen’s car races with Bernoulli away from most of the action. The emphasis this time is, instead, on Mater’s accidental rendezvous with McMissile and Shiftwell, two British spies who are trying to thwart a conspiracy by older cars to destroy the next generation of alternative energy vehicles (giving Lasseter and Co. a chance to promote yet another Pixar-endorsed environmental message—a stunt they haven’t pulled since WALL-E in 2008).
I think what I like most about Cars 2 is how inventive it is for an animated sequel. Lasseter finds so many fun ways to experiment with the form of the spy thriller, as well as the irresistible device of the mistaken identity: this is an animated film that feels like it was inspired by the Cold War flicks of the 60’s and 70’s. There’s some dramatic suspense in McMissile and Shiftwell’s ignorance to the fact that Mater is not actually an American spy. Where the original cars was restricted to the American badlands, Cars 2 has a much larger scope, and carries its principal characters all around the world: we hop the globe from America to Japan, England, Italy and France (“headlights, monsieur!”). Looking back, I wonder if Lasseter missed an obvious film-within-a-film joke by not having Remy from Ratatouille (2007) make a cameo during the Paris sequence. Or maybe not. Maybe rats don't belong in a cars' world.
Is Cars 2 a great film? Probably not. Pixar, as anyone knows, is capable of rich, multilayered works, whereas this movie is more an example of the filmmakers making an immense entertainment out of decidedly more commercial material. By those standards, I feel like I should be harder on the movie, but I must remain true to my initial reaction. I walked of the theater with a pleased smile on my face, feeling that money was well spent, the studio had done its duty and that the movie ought to be recommended to the first person on the street outside. Lasseter and the whizzes at Pixar will no doubt go on to make even better films, but Cars 2 is a worthy achievement. Few movies today are as pleasurable as a Pixar release that delivers the goods.
Runtime: 106 minutes. Rated G.
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