Friday, June 24, 2011

Cars 2

Hello, all! Welcome back to FNS! Today I will be reviewing Pixar's latest movie, Cars 2.

It starts with a transmission from some spy asking for Finn McMissile. We see Finn boating to the location, and witnesses the unveiling of some sort of TV camera, only it is supposed to be much more dangerous. McMissile gets caught and barely escapes with his life. We then go to Radiator Springs.

Lightning McQueen has just come back from winning his fourth piston cup, which has been re-named the Hudson Hornet Piston Cup (which is a tribute to the voice of Doc, Paul Newman, who died of a heart attack). McQueen is ready to slow down, hang out with his best bud, Mater, and cruise with his girlfriend, Sally.

McQueen is on a date with Sally when he notices a crowd around the lobby of Wheel Well. He finds himself committing to racing in the World Grand Prix. Sally encourages him to invite Mater along, since he has never been to any of his races before.

They land in Tokyo, Japan, for a party, and Mater sticks out like a sore thumb and embarrasses Lightning.  Mater meets Holley Shiftwell, who was sent by Finn McMissile to get information from an American spy, which had been captured by enemy agents. Mater is mistaken for the spy, because a tracking device that he had on was passed to Mater secretly.

This is where it gets dark (but this is one of maybe only two or three really dark parts of the entire movie). We see the American spy being interrogated by the enemy spies about the information he passed on to Mater.He is given Allinol, an organic fuel, whose creator is behind the Grand Prix. Allinol is supposed to be good for cars, and by itself it is. But, when in contact with a magnetic pulse, it becomes very dangerous.Too strong a pulse makes a car explode! The enemy spies relay this information to the spy, and torture him with a stronger and stronger pulse until he gives them who he gave the device with evidence of the enemy spies' leader to. Now that they have the information they want, they no longer need the American spy. They turn the pulse up to maximum, and all we see is a picture of mater, and flames.

Holley, in an attempt to save him from assailants, cuts into the McQueen Team's headphone system, giving Mater instructions. He repeats these, and McQueen, thinking these are racing tips, messes up and takes second place in the first race because of it. McQueen fights with Mater, leading Mater to get on a plane and go home.

Finn intercepts him at the airport, and convinces him to help them catch whoever is behind the mysterious accidents in the World Grand Prix.

Overall, it was cute and funny, but some of the jokes are only understood by an older audience,and I'll admit it was a stretch for a sequel. Now, based on the dark scenes, I suggest not taking children who are old enough to understand what is going on, but still young enough to be scared by it. I suggest either taking young kids who only like watching the colorful cars, or older kids, from like 9-12.


Thanks for reading! Until next time!