So in the grand scheme of things we often judge people based on very little information. And it’s unfortunate. We don’t even give people a chance to get to know us. I know this is something I’ve said before but really, truly, honestly we need to do better. We need to stop basing out opinions of people on broad stereotypes and preconceived ideas, and we need to really learn how to let people be themselves and embrace that. We need to give people a chance to be great.
Cars 2 is an odd entry in the Pixar canon. It’s barely even connect to it’s predecessor through characters alone and it really doesn’t add anything to those characters to make it feel needed. But it still has something to say. And that involves Mater (Larry the Cable Guy). Because Mater is given a chance to be better than his outward appearance would lead you to believe. And yes it’s a case of mistaken identity, but that doesn’t detract from what he does in the movie. He becomes a better version of himself because the new characters see him as more than even he sees himself.
Mater is a bit of an odd character. In the first Cars he was really just a CGI stand in for his voice actor Larry the Cable Guy. But in the sequel he gets a whole new chance to reinvent himself. When he’s confused for a secret agent by Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) and Holly Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer) his foibles are seen as assets and he’s allowed a chance to really said as a larger than life figure. And it’s because Finn and Holly don’t just take him at face value. They justify his talents and see him for a capable and powerful member of their society. And if we all just took the time to trust that people are capable, we could accomplish so much more ourselves. That’s the first step, believe in others.
And then there’s Mater’s relationship with Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson). Lightning knows who Mater is and accepts him anyway. But there’s an embarrassment with their relationship. Lightning knows Mater is an oddball and that he doesn’t fit in to most places outside of Radiator Springs. So there’s a lot of growth that has to happen in their relationship for it to be perfect. And that’s a problem. We don’t want people who say they value us but ultimately don’t like to be seen around us in certain situations. If you’re embarrassed by someone, then you aren’t really friends. You can say you are but in order to truly be value someone you have to accept them faults and all. And that’s what Lightning comes to realize, that his own reputation isn’t as important as his friendship with Mater. In that same way we should learn to accept each other for who we are not who we wish we would be.
And then there’s Mater himself. He is aware that he’s an oddball. He’s not entirely comfortable in any place but has to do his best. And while he’s adventurous and willing to take on the world. He knows he’s an old tow truck from a little town in the middle of nowhere. But through Finn and Holly he’s able to see that there’s more to him than even he realized. He has talents and abilities and is fully capable of making his way in the world quirks and all. And it takes a whirlwind adventure to make him realize this. For us it’s much simpler. We have to simply know that life is ours for the taking. And we have to never let anyone tell us we can’t do something, even ourselves.
So when the world looks at you and tells you that part of life isn’t right for you, tell them their wrong, even if that voice is your best friend, your family, yourself. The world is too big to be tied down by voices and preconceptions that tie you down. So let the only things that you tell yourself be how valuable you are, let the only voices you hear be ones of affirmation, and never let anyone tell you who you are or make you doubt what you know and can do. Life’s too short to be defined by negative things. We are able to do whatever we want, we just have to trust in that, and never let anyone tell us who we can and cannot be.
Here is my breakdown for reviewing and ranking the movies in the Pixar series:
Voice Performances
Storyline
Worldbuilding
Most Memorable Scene
Villain
Each category will be ranked on a scale of 10 points for a possible total of 50.
So, here is my breakdown for Cars 2:
Voice Acting: Cars 2 has a better voice cast than its predecessor. And even with the passing of several of the actors from the first they find a way to make the new characters memorable, especially Caine and Mortimer. But a lot of the characters we loved from the original get sidelined and really don’t have enough time to let us enjoy seeing them again. It would have been nice to find a better balance between new and old. Unfortunately, this one falls short. (5/10)
Storyline: The story is complicated. It abandons is simple story ideas from the first for a larger than life spy thriller. And while it’s fun, it’s odd. There’s a lot of places I expected the second one to go, but it really doesn’t make sense where it did. It feels like it’s connect to its predecessor in name and characters alone but seems to have abandoned much of what we remember from the first one. And ultimately it’s subplots really fall short making the whole experience a little less than we wanted. (5/10)
Worldbuilding: The way this one builds upon this first one is really fun. It’s a solid expansion on several of the concepts we’ve seen from the original in terms of types of cars, places, and even the various ways the cars interact with the world around them makes for a lot of fun. It’s actually one of the best parts of the movie. (8/10)
Most Memorable Scene: The opening with Finn McMissile showing off all of his cool spy car abilities will forever be one the best additions to this franchise. It’s unfortunate that it seems to go downhill from there. I wanted to see more of that world and wish that the spy car franchise had been the direction from the start. (8/10)
Villain: We spend so much time unsure of who the villain is that when it is revealed to be Sir Miles Axelrod (Eddie Izzard) it just feels underwhelming. And even the plot to restore gas powered lemons just doesn’t feel like it’s interesting enough to redeem the lack of transparency from the villain. It was a poorly developed character used for a twist ending that ultimately doesn’t work. (4/10)
Total Score: 30/50
Current Ranking:
The Incredibles
Toy Story 2
Toy Story 3
Ratatouille
Monsters, Inc.
Toy Story
A Bug’s Life
WALL-E
Up
Finding Nemo
Cars 2
Cars
There’s the second cars movie in a nutshell. And we’re halfway through the Pixar movies! Next week we go back to the human world and take on Pixar’s only entry in the Disney Princess Canon. So join me for that and we’ll be sure to have another great exploration of Pixar movies.
But until next time, as I always say, thanks for taking the time to get Ploominated!
Ploominate 