Cars 2

Ratings: 8.0/10

Film Class: A

Genre: Action Comedy (Animation)

Cars 1 was one of the few Pixar films which I didn't like, didn't bother giving Cars 2 a chance... until I got it because of my nephew's fondness of cars. Well I thought... might as well give it a try... And zzooooommm, Cars 2 has taken over most other Pixar films and is now officially one of those in my top list. 

Lightning McQueen... star racer is back once again, and he finally brought his best bud, Mater, an old rusty tow truck to help out his race in the Grand Prix. Unknowing to him, there's an espionage brewing in the darkness, and it's up to his best bud to save the day. Yup, you heard me right, his best bud, Mater, to save the day. 

If you're hoping to see lots of Lightning McQueen (not me), be prepared to be disappointed. Cos' Cars 2 is about his rusty tow truck best bud, unexpected hero Mater. To be honest, the posters don't do Cars 2 justice, and in a way, "deceives" the audience. I would think Cars 2 is a much more matured animation for the older audience... Kids wouldn't appreciate it as much as its first movie because they wouldn't really understand the life lessons subtlely taught behind the seemingly simple storyline. 

Don't understand why it got such a bad rating on imdb, but I can confidently tell you, those guys who rated it in imdb are WRONG. Cars 2 kickass... why? Because it's both a combination of James Bond, and "karship" (Singapore pun, actually it's basically friendship between cars). The values one get to learn from this, is remarkably deep. 

*major spoilers ahead* By now you would have realise that whenever I include spoilers in my reviews, it's because I find it necessarily to justify my ratings. I don't want to leave my viewers hanging, or claim that I'm just basing it on subjectivity (only a small part, I mean afterall, isn't ratings all about subjectivity? But I still prefer subjective objectivity.) Those posts without spoilers alert doesn't mean that they aren't good, it's just that they're generally undebatable. 

There's uncover James Bond-type action scenes which makes cars 2 a whole lot different from what we saw in part 1. Action, +1 tick. There's also recognisable scenic landmarks of the world, in particular 3 countries, Japan, Italy and London, all of which are locations where the Grand Prix races took place at. Each time they were in each country, there were local and cultural jokes, as well as interesting takes on what the countries would look like if indeed cars populated them. Gorgeous scenes (backdrop) car-world style, +2 ticks. 

Life lessons taught in movie? The true value and strength of friendship. It also lets us open our eyes to the world of the outcasts/forgotten (basically the classics), what they once were, though now will never be, but as long as we remember, will forever be. And looking good doesn't necessarily mean better. Dedicated to those insecure buggers who rather drive a flashy, modified (most of the time for the worst) car than a decent looking reliable one. Morals, +3 ticks. 

Humor? +1 tick. Twist in ending? +1 tick.  Total ticks count: 8. Easily. 

Cars 2 isn't cool because it's an animated version of Fast and Furious, or of the races. It is cool because the action scenes, and because of the morals taught which I nostalgically miss since Finding Nemo...