Pixar’s original Cars was never one of the most popular of the studio’s concoctions (though the studio sold lots of toys), so it made sense for the filmmakers there to come up with something entirely different for their sequel Cars 2. The decision, however, forced them to attempt perhaps a bit more than their acclaimed genius at storytelling and character creation could comfortably accommodate, and Cars 2 emerges as an overstuffed adventure comedy with a somewhat tiresome leading character and a globetrotting storyline that’s overly complex for the simple characters in their narrative. The film is filled with the astounding animation and clever nods to creativity that all Pixar films have, but the plotlines are jumbled messes and simply don’t contain the requisite Pixar charm that is so much a part of the studio’s oeuvre.
Cars 2 3D (Blu-ray Combo Pack)
Directed by John Lasseter
Studio: Disney/Pixar
Year: 2011
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 1080p AVC codec
Running Time: 106 minutes
Rating: G
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, 5.1 English; DTS- HD HR 7.1 French, Spanish; Dolby Digital 5.1 EX English, French, Spanish
Subtitles: SDH, French, Spanish
Region: A-B-C
MSRP: $49.99
Release Date: November 1, 2011
Review Date: October 25, 2011
The Film
3.5/5
Champion racer Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is invited by international industrialist Miles Axlerod (Eddie Izzard), manufacturer of the alternative petroleum product Allinol to be used in the contest, to participate in a World Grand Prix with cars from all over the globe taking part. Foremost among them is Formula One champion Francesco Bernoulli (John Turturro) who boasts to McQueen that he has no chance in winning this series of three races making Lightning all the more eager to win. Pressured by his friends in Radiator Springs, Lightning takes along best friend Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) who knows more about engines than any other car, but Mater is misidentified as a spy by secret agents Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) and Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer) who think his redneck routine is part of his cover and is pulled into a mission to identify a mysterious saboteur who’s out to foil the race. Transported from country to country as the race series continues, Mater finds himself a fish out of water in every country with which he comes into contact.
With the creators deciding to put the star spotlight on Mater in this film rather than on Lightning (who was the undoubted star of the first film) they’ve backed themselves into a corner with a character who’s best enjoyed in small bits rather than as a major player in the film’s multiple plots. The verbal and visual gags of Mater’s constant country bumpkin antics wear thin after a while even though some of the gags are undoubtedly hilarious (Mater’s first experience with a bidet, for example, or a sequence where he undergoes many transformations in trying to find the right disguise). But with the emphasis always on Mater, McQueen’s three race sequences seem far less important until the climax where we fear for his life thus making all of that astonishingly detailed animation that comes between somewhat anticlimactic. The round-the-world tour the cars undergo is eye-opening as London, Paris, the French Rivera, Italy, and Tokyo are captured beautifully in superb CGI landscapes, and the spy stuff might have been worked into an interesting movie all its own with the wonderful nods to James Bond-like gadgetry that have been built into both Finn and Holley. In the final analysis, though, the story’s got to be the thing to keep us hooked, and it’s easy to imagine viewers’ attention spans waning with all of the many conundrums they’re presented with before we get to the (not so special) surprise revelation of the identity of Mr. Big.
As before, Owen Wilson and Larry the Cable Guy inhabit their roles with the patented personas that made them popular in the first movie, and there’s a treasurable moment where the two pay tribute to Doc Hudson’s racing career, Doc Hudson being the character enacted by the late Paul Newman in the first movie. Director John Lasseter wisely chose not to recast the part and let Doc be a golden memory. Michael Caine has the suave down pat as the Bond-like Finn, but it takes some strong suspension of disbelief to think Emily Mortimer’s sophisticated Holley would find Mater a desirable partner. John Turturro gets off lots of good lines as Francesco Bernoulli, and along the way you’re likely to recognize the voices of Bruce Campbell, Brent Musburger, Bonnie Hunt, and Cheech Marin in some of the other roles.
Video Quality
4.5/5
3D implementation – 3.5/5
The film is presented in its theatrical aspect ratio of 2.39:1 and is offered in 1080p resolution using the AVC codec. Color saturation levels are deep and impressive throughout, and with all that red, the lack of bleeding is a great accomplishment. Sharpness is always superb, and black levels reach the ultimate levels of richness and depth. There is some slight moiré that can be glimpsed in the grille work of some of the cars, but that’s the only marginal flaw in an otherwise startling video transfer. The film has been divided into 33 chapters.
Pixar has chosen not to blast the viewer over the head with the 3D effects, so it’s a much subtler and more layered approach to 3D than can be found in some of the Dreamworks 3D animated features. There’s a nice sense of depth to the image, and placements of objects on multiple planes is subtle but efficient. There is no forward projection used in the presentation, a mistake given the numerous choices available to the filmmakers from beginning to end (with both a spy story and a race story to draw from, there are literally infinite possibilities). There is no crosstalk in the transfer, so this solid if unspectacular 3D presentation is not disrupted at all with ghosting.
Audio Quality
5/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 audio presentation is another triumph for Pixar’s sound engineers. With both the sounds and panning effects of the race cars and the entire spy story with the multiple explosions plus the many locations crowded with car/people, there are multiple opportunities for an expansive soundfield, and every opportunity has been seized with superb results. Oscar-winning Michael Giacchino’s spiffy spy score will bring to mind Bond films of old while surrounding listeners with glorious, energetic music. Dialogue is sensationally recorded and reproduced in the center channel with occasional directionalized dialogue. Bass effects are also grandly handled by the LFE channel.
[A note of warning for 3D users: on my equipment, the default audio track on the 3D disc was the Dolby Digital 5.1 EX track rather than the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track. I had to manually switch them after the film had played for a few seconds.]
Special Features
5/5
The 3D disc contains Air Mater, a 5 ¼-minute short featuring Mater joining an air circus.
The first 2D disc contains the feature film and these extras:
The audio commentary features director John Lasseter and co-director Brad Lewis each making comments through the entire film about their inspirations for story, their location trips for inspiration, and abandoned storylines for the film. Many of these anecdotes are also repeated in the bonus features on disc three.
Hawaiian Vacation is a delightful 5 ¾-minute short which accompanied Cars 2 in theatres featuring the Toy Story gang giving Ken and Barbie their own brand of a Hawaiian vacation.
There are promo trailers for Planes, Brave, Lady and the Tramp, and The Muppets.
The majority of the bonus features are contained on the second 2D Blu-ray disc. All video supplements on discs one, two, and three are presented in 1080p.
The bonus featurettes are arranged in an interactive world tour scenario. By choosing various locales on a globe, you’ll see the following features:
The Pacific
- Somewhere in the Pacific (3 ½ minutes) shows how water effects, the battleships, and the oil derricks were composed.
- Making Lemon-Aides (4 minutes) explains why the “lemon” cars decided on for Mr. Big’s henchmen were the Pacer and the Gremlin.
- Oil Derrick Set Exploration has the computer taking us on a virtual tour of the location for ¼ minute.
- An art slideshow is available for this area.
Emeryville
- Motorama (7 ¾ minutes) shows the annual car show at Pixar which has been going on for a decade where employees who are car enthusiasts bring their treasures to show off.
- He Lives! (3 ¾ minutes) details the making of the Finn McMissle car toy.
- Animation Pit Stop (4 ¼ minutes) shows the formation of various characters for the movie.
- Teaser trailer (1 ½ minutes) and theatrical trailer (2 ½ minutes).
Radiator Springs
- Tall Tale deleted scene (3 ½ minutes)
- Origins of Cars 2 (6 minutes) shows how ideas for the various stories came from John Lasseter’s world travels.
- Radiator Springs Set Exploration has the computer taking us on a virtual tour of the location for ¼ minute.
- An art slideshow is available for this area.
London
- Brawl at Big Bentley (5 ½ minutes) details the research trip to London to get ideas for landmark buildings and typical automobiles there.
- Spyified (6 ½ minutes) shows where ideas came for the cool spy gadgets for Holley and Finn as well as ideas for action scenes.
- Spy Training ( ¾ minute) is the first of several shorts featuring Mater preparing for his mission with Finn and Holley.
- Big Bentley, Tower Bridge, London, Buckingham Palace Set Explorations have the computer taking us on a virtual tour of the locations for ¼ minute each.
- An art slideshow is available for this location.
Paris
- Paris Race deleted scene (6 minutes)
- Streets of Paris (4 ½ minutes) features the tour of Paris by the animators to get the feel of the city and its landmarks and story changes which had to be incorporated into the film.
- Spy Training ( ¾ minute) finds Mater in the City of Lights.
- Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Paris Market Set Explorations have the computer taking us on a virtual tour of the locations for ¼ minute each.
- There is an art slideshow for this locale.
Munich
- Germany deleted scene (2 ¾ minutes) feature a deleted race.
- Oktoberfest deleted scene (4 ½ minutes)
- Mater-hosen ( ¼ minute) is a brief clip of Mater in native dress.
- German theatrical trailer (2 minutes)
- An art slideshow is available for this section.
Prague
- Chase scene/alternate opening for the movie (3 minutes)
- An art slideshow is available for this location.
Porto Corsa, Italy
- Finding Porta Corsa (7 ½ minutes) is a fictional location combined with parts of Monaco and Portofino.
- The Heart of Italy (4 ¼ minutes) Capolino in Italy became Carpolino for the film.
- International Insurance ( ¼ minute) is a short clip with Mater and McQueen.
- Topolino Square, Porto Corsa SSet Exploration has the computer taking us on a virtual tour of the locations for ¼ minute each.
- An art slideshow is available for this section.
Tokyo
- Race, Lap One extended scene (3 ½ minutes) includes optional commentary.
- Mater Takes Tokyo (5 minutes) has the tour of the city as transferred into CGI, the first city completed for the movie.
- Many Nations, One Race (7 ¼ minutes) explains the different types of race cars brought into the film’s Grand Prix, “the decathlon of car racing.”
- Spy Training, Tokyo ( ¾ minute) is another Mater short.
- Japanese theatrical trailer (2 minutes)
- Museum Set Exploration has the computer taking us on a virtual tour of the location for ¼ minute.
- There is an art slideshow of forty-one drawings for this location.
Disc four in the set is the DVD version of the movie.
Disc five in the set is the digital copy of the movie.
In Conclusion
4/5 (not an average)
Not up the superior story and character standards of Pixar at its best, Cars 2 is nevertheless an entertaining new adventure with some old friends and quite a few new acquaintances. The bonus feature package is as voluminous as ever, and there won’t be many complaints about the outstanding video and audio transfer either.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
