Okay. Saw it today in 2D (hate 3D). I LOVED it!
But I wasn't with any children so yes, it would be too violent for some kids. I thought the whole James Bond, traveling around the world, thwarting the bad guys stuff was great. I cracked up at the lemon cars being the bad guys. (Why didn't they name Pintos?) I felt there was some social/political commentary on our use of fossil fuels and how slow it is in finding a full on alternative but it certainly didn't dominate the movie.
It drives me nuts that there is SO much background detail and it is so fast paced that you can't catch even a fraction of what PIXAR put into it. At one point in one race I saw a banner in the background (went by really fast) that said "Lassityre" - a nod to John Lassiter, the director of a lot of Pixar movies. Also, at Radiator Springs they zipped by a drive in theater advertising "The Incredimobiles" - a nod to the Incredibles.
Plus, many of the buildings had spark plugs or other car parts incorporated in them. There are detailed pictures of the buildings in one of the disney monthly e-mails or I would have missed some of that.
My only complaint is that it moved so quickly. I will definitely buy it and spend time looking through all the extras and stills to catch what I missed. I hope they put a lot of extras into the DVD.
The first Cars was more of a stuck up Lightning McQueen learning the value of friendship (which he still had to learn a bit more of this lesson in the second movie) and the cool background of the old Route 66. It was more slow moving too. Remember how bored and irritated McQueen was to be stuck there? He was driving me nuts with his attitude.
The second one didn't have to build as many new relationships since they were already in place and it was a more fast paced, race around the world. It also explored in more depth the friendship between McQueen and Mater. The situations that came up forced growth in their relationship.
I really don't know how they would have been able to make another Cars movie at Radiator Springs since it's a small place and has been explored in the first film. The only plot line I could think of is if the town became super popular and over built which would ruin its charm and then the dilemma of getting it back to it's old self again.
I think maybe the very fast pace and the violence are two reasons that some may prefer the first Cars movie. I don't see why people dislike Mater's expanded role unless they disliked him in the first movie too.
The first one was about McQueen slowing down from the fast lane and getting to know and appreciate the other oddball characters in a small town and find his place. The second one, McQueen is in HIS world of high power racing and Mater is trying to fit in while having crazy situations thrown at him.
I don't know what the critics were thinking when they panned Cars2. Maybe someone is out to finally bring down Pixar after all it's successes. The expectations are HIGH when you are at the top.
My favorite Pixar movies are:
Ratatouille
Monsters, Inc.
The Incredibles
Toy Story series
Cars series
Not as high on my list:
Wall-e (this finally grew on me a little)
Finding Nemo (finally gave in and bought it this year)
Up (this is the only one I don't own and most likely will not buy)
So there's my 2 cents, for what it's worth. Go see it!
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