Plot: What’s it about?
In 1995 Disney’s Pixar released their movie “Toy Story” and the rest, as they say, is history. The Pixar line of films has generated billions of dollars in revenue and has created some of the most entertaining films of the last fifteen years. The great thing about them is that pretty much everyone out there can find at least one film that they identify with. For me, my favorite is “The Incredibles.” As a fan of comic book superhero films this one was right up my alley and I was ever so excited when I learned that there might be a sequel in the works (there still is, evidently). However aside from the “Toy Story” films, the only Pixar movie to have a sequel is now “Cars.” I wasn’t too big of a fan of the first “Cars” movie and with the passing of Paul Newman, a major character in the first film, I found it difficult to see how a sequel would really work. But this is Pixar we’re talking about here, they’re clever and creative so surely they’d come up with something. They did. And here goes…
We reconnect with Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) as he’s taking a hiatus from his life on the road and is hanging out with Sally (voiced by Bonnie Hunt). Naturally his best friend Nater (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy) is always around, even when Lightning doesn’t want him to be. There’s word of a World Grand Prix and Lightning is coerced into competing by the arrogant and aloof Francesco Bernoulli (voiced by John Turturro). But there’s a bit of a twist to this rather straight-forward tale in that a group of “lemon” cars are out to prevent the spread of a new, cleaner fuel. Professor Zundapp (voiced by Thomas Kretschmann) has a plan that will ignite this new fuel, thereby causing demand for more traditional oil sales. There are spies on the job, Finn McMissle (voiced by Michael Caine) and Holley Shiftwell (voiced by Emiliy Mortimer) though when Mater mistakenly gets involved, things have the potential to go awry. The question is…will they?
Of all of the Pixar movies “Cars” was probably my least favorite and the one I was least looking forward to seeing again. Now that’s not bad as even my least favorite Pixar movie was still a darn good movie. I’d have rather seen something along the lines of “The Incredibles 2” or even “Wall-E 2.” Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. The Pixar team has managed to craft another delightfully clever film that’s sure to please both adults and their kids as well. While it wasn’t quite as bad as I was anticipating, I do think they assembled a plot that’s a little too complex for some younger viewers. By no means was “Cars 2” a bad movie and even by the high standards that Pixar has established, it’s right up there. The gross wasn’t that of last year’s “Toy Story 3” but with the tie-ins and merchandising, I’m sure they managed to turn a profit. “Cars 2” delivers like the rest of the Pixar movies and if you don’t like it, fear not as another will be out in a year.
Video: How does it look?
As with every other Pixar movie out there “Cars 2” simply oozes all that is right with Blu-ray and HDTV. The colors literally pop off the screen, the red of Lightning’s “finish” looks so real and lifelike I felt I could touch it. The blues, yellows and every other color of the spectrum are all so well-represented it’s nearly impossible to pinpoint which frame looks the best. Take the rust on Mater’s exterior, for example. There are so many obvious examples of why this looks so good I won’t (and can’t) go on. Suffice it to say that you’ll know what to expect when you put this in your player. I’d say prepare to be awed, but you know you will be.
Audio: How does it sound?
Not to be outdone, the DTS HD 7.1 Master Audio soundtrack is, in itself, reference-quality. Not only do the voices come through with excellent clarity, but every speaker in your setup will be used and used often. In “Cars 2” there are explosions, races (obviously), discrete effects that have things zipping and whizzing by. It all sounds amazing. I’m constantly in awe at how good and, pardon the pun, lifelike these soundtracks are. The LFE are deep in the mix as well. Again, you’ll know what you’re getting here and “Cars 2” does deliver.
Supplements: What are the extras?
There are a couple of different versions of “Cars 2” out there and this Blu-ray release is a bit short on the supplemental side. More features do exist, but you’ve got to shell out some extra green for the Blu-ray 3D edition. Still, we do get a very interesting commentary from director John Lasseter (“Mr. Pixar”) and Brad Lewis who give us pretty much everything we need to know about the film and Pixar in general. We also get two shorts: “Hawaiian Vacation and “Air Mater” a visual example of one of Mater’s stories.
