Cars 2 sputters along

Cars 2 is the most questionable Pixar film to date. Its merchandising surpasses even that of the Toy Story series, raising suspicions about the motivations behind the sequel.

But America’s animation sweetheart does employ flashy, super-spy action to outshine the toy-selling characters and the politics clunking around inside a flimsy plot.
Cars 2 is ultimately a great ride and not without heart.

Pixar is known for their round-eyed, wholesome cast members — even when they’re bad, they’re somehow relatable.

Unfortunately, though, Cars 2 considers oval peepers and an accent to be a fully fleshed-out character.

These stereotypes border racism as anthropomorphized Asian models spout gibberish and Italian cars honk cat calls at their automobile counterparts.

Despite the generalizations, the animators manage to make the James Bond-esque gadgets cute and fun.

The results are colorful spectacles interspersed with racing, which seems distanced from the storyline of the last Cars movie.

In fact, Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is hardly the main character in this film. Cars 2 seems to be more concerned with the story of how Mater (Larry the Cable Guy), the redneck tow truck, saves the day and gets the girl once he learns to be true to his particular flavor of knuckle-headedness.

The unexpected concentration on Mater isn’t bad unless you’re tired of Larry’s overexposure.

The point is that the film struggles to find threads to follow, but once it commits, it becomes engaging.

It’s fun, fast and forgettable — everything you want from a summer movie.

By Kaleb Havens