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Health & Fitness

In the Mouth of Movie Madness - Cars 2

Lightning McQueen and Mater deliver a high-speed extravaganza of action and laughs!

Start your engines and put your pedal to the metal!  The folks over at Pixar Animation Studios have gathered up Lightning McQueen, Mater and the rest of the gang for their highly anticipated sequel, Cars 2.  It's been 5 long years since we last saw our high-speed friends but the question is has time away been kind to them or has the virtually flawless Pixar delivered a mediocre film for the first time?  Fasten your seat belts and let's find out together...

Cars 2 focuses on race car sensation Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) and his best pal Mater (voiced again by Larry The Cable Guy) as they head to compete overseas in the World Grand Prix race.  The road to the race becomes rocky as Mater gets mistakenly tangled up in an adventure of international espionage.  The voice cast is rounded out by Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Eddie Izzard, John Turturro and Bonnie Hunt.  John Lasseter (Toy Story, Cars) returns to the director's seat with Brad Lewis co-directing.

As my love for Disney and Pixar's animation deepens each and every year, I'm confronted with a dilemma every time the topic of Pixar's films are discussed.  When asking people what they consider their favorite Pixar film, I'm always confronted with a silence as they think hard before answering and usually can never answer with just one film in mind.  This just goes to show the power and creativity of those at Pixar, people can't seem to get enough of their films and receive great pleasure from seeing them.  On the other hand, when I ask people what their least favorite Pixar film is, without much hesitation, many people claim Cars is.  I've been scratching my head over this for years now.  After revisitng the original film prior to seeing Cars 2, I still have a difficult time understanding why this film didn't gel with a more adult audience like most other Pixar films.  I suppose the adult audience may have felt that the idea of talking cars didn't lend to a very original story or perhaps the film just set itself up to be more of a merchandise film than a film of true Pixar quality.  Regardless, Cars has developed a very dedicated fan-base through children who simply can't get enough of Lightning McQueen and Mater.  Personally, I understand the fascination and can't get enough of these talking cars.  It made me realize that while Pixar has been able to connect with children and adults across the board on all their other features, Cars just lent itself to appeal more to kids and there's nothing wrong with that especially if you're like me who finds more interest in the fun of childhood then the idea of adulthood.  As a dedicated supporter of Pixar, I was even surprised by the announcement of a Cars 2.  I figured after the success of Toy Story 3 they would take the initiative to sequelize something like The Incredibles or Finding Nemo if anything at all.  My surprise was followed by even more curiosity as I began to wonder what Pixar had up their sleeves this time around.  I've always respected Pixar for never going the obvious route, while booming box-office numbers may seem like the signal to green-light more sequels, Pixar never dives into anything unless a truly great story exists for it.  After catching Cars 2 in 3D, I can safely say that this film had a truly great story going for it.  Following the tradition of sequels to up the ante of the original, this film is bigger in every sense of the word.  The color palette used on the characters and the backgrounds look incredible while the setting of Radiator Springs is quickly exchanged for Tokyo, France, Italy and London.  Every country is animated beautifully and really sends the audience on an incredible visual journey thanks to the inclusion of 3D.  Viewing the film in 3D allows you to soak in the enhanced backgrounds and all the vibrant colors but opting for 2D won't be the biggest regret of your summer either.  

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Pixar took advantage of this sequel to do something entirely unique from the first film by utilizing the top secret spy angle.  Action packed chase scenes with exotic foreign cars using secret gadget weapons definitely heightened the excitement.  I was never left bored watching the action unfold and the humor, compliments of Mater, had me chuckling more than the original film.  Reviews from countless sources are indicating that Cars 2 pales in comparison to the original and may be Pixar's weakest link to date.  I strongly disagree with those statements and believe Cars 2 spins a fresh tale on some old friends and in fact manages to be better than its predecessor.

Director John Lasseter, who is also the chief creative officer at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation, has revived the inclusion of short animated films before the features in the last few years and audiences are better off for it.  Many will be overjoyed to see before Cars 2 a new short entitled Hawaiian Vacation starring the Toy Story gang.  Ken and Barbie plan a romantic get-away to the tropical paradise of Hawaii but are left at home instead.  Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang pull their efforts together to bring Hawaii to them in very comedic ways.  John Lasseter, who I believe to be the modern day Walt Disney, has shined a light on the company that will continue to remind future generations why Disney and the art form of animation is so cherished.  I can't imagine Walt being less than pleased with how Pixar has continued to follow in his historic footsteps.

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In closing, Cars 2 delivered an incredibly entertaining and visual delight of a sequel that exceeds the original film in every way.  The characters pack the laughs and send audiences on a high-speed extravaganza of fun with no red lights in sight.  While the original film was met with praise by children and left adults divided, Cars 2 is the film that will reunite them with simultaneous laughter and genuine delight in their eyes.                 

Cars 2 is playing now in IMAX 3D, 3D and 2D.

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