Cars 2 – different, not much better

The genius of Pixar movies, like Finding Nemo and Wall-E and Up and the Toy Story franchise, is that crucial mix of wit and sentimentality. You laugh AND cry.

The problem with the first Cars movie was that it lost sight of the balance between the two. It slowed down so much, it ended up almost wallowing on the sentimental side of things. Wit went AWOL for too much of Cars.

And now with Cars 2, Pixar has over-corrected the problem with the first. The result is too much action and not enough heart.

The message of Cars 1 was “Hey, Mr. Racecar, you should slow down and smell the roses … in Radiator Springs.” Cars 2 actually goes in the opposite direction. Lightning McQueen takes off with his trusty tow-truck friend Mater for three around-the-world car races. It’s all very lively and colorful and allows for a lot of witty puns and visual gags but there’s nothing that moves you emotionally.

That’s fine for most animated films, but by the impossibly high standards of Pixar, Cars 2 falls a little short. Like its predecessor, but in a completely different way.