Cars 2

"Cars 2" had every chance to improve upon the leisurely 2006 animated feature from Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Studios. Yet here we are, stuck with a merchandising assembly line in lieu of a movie.

Despite its technical and design finesse, this ranks as Pixar's weakest project to date, as well as the first from the animation powerhouse that can be described as craven.

Twelve films into the life and times of Pixar, it's clear the "Cars" pictures are best assessed as the Disney stockholders' pals, skewing young and younger, the ones that pay for less easily marketed masterworks such as "Ratatouille," "Wall-E" and "Up."

Director John Lasseter's sequel smooshes the vehicular ensemble of the first "Cars" into a nefarious James Bond universe, heavy on the missiles and ray guns and Gatling guns and electrocutions. Sound peculiar? It is peculiar.

It is also gabby.

For a film so clearly dependent on its racing and chase sequences, which have their moments, certainly, in 3-D, "Cars 2" never seems to shut up. Yet it's virtually joke-free, beyond the sort of easy cultural stereotypes that recall the live-action road-rally outings of my youth: "The Great Race" or, lower down the quality pole, "Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies."

Lightning McQueen, once again voiced by Owen Wilson, spends much of Ben Queen's chaotic screenplay idling in the corner, while his Radiator Springs pal Tow Mater (Larry the Cable Guy, delivering every line with the exact same cadence) takes the story lead. McQueen competes in three separate World Grand Prix races, one in Tokyo, one along the Italian Riviera coastline (John Turturro voices McQueen's egotistical Italian rival) and the third in London. Meantime, Mater -- a good ol' boy embarrassment to his friend -- is mistaken for a cunning American secret agent by the Aston Martin superspy Finn McMissile, voiced by Michael Caine. McMissile and his field operative Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer) risk their steering columns trying to crack a global conspiracy set up by the "Thunderball"-like prologue, set on a series of petroleum derricks at sea. Here, and later, the exposition makes the live-action "Speed Racer" movie look like a model of streamlined storytelling.

The tone and emphasis of "Cars 2" veers off course from the start. Too many guns, for one thing. The whole thing is too weapons-dependent to be charming. There's plenty to watch here, and preteens who found the first "Cars" a bit pokey won't have the same reaction to this frenetic, globe-trotting follow-up. But I got little pleasure from seeing these cars (plus boats, and a plane) thrown into the spy thriller genre. It's an intriguing story risk at best, a protracted stunt at worst. The greatest Pixar films have sampled, free-form, an unpredictable variety of moods and styles. Here the mash-ups refuse to jell, and even Michael Giacchino's score sounds like someone less talented than Michael Giacchino composed it.

"Cars 2" is preceded by a zippy "Toy Story" cartoon, "Hawaiian Vacation," in which Woody and Buzz and friends treat Ken and Barbie to a faux-tropical getaway. In sharp contrast to "Cars 2" it reminds you how durable and ingratiating the "Toy Story" gang remains well into its franchise.

 

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"Cars 2" Movie Trailer

 

MPAA rating: G.

Running time: 1:47.

Cast: Owen Wilson (Lightning McQueen); Larry the Cable Guy (Mater); Michael Caine (Finn McMissile); Emily Mortimer (Holley Shiftwell); Bonnie Hunt (Sally); John Turturro (Francesco Bernoulli).

Credits: Directed by John Lasseter; written by Ben Queen; produced by Denise Ream. A Disney/Pixar release.

 

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