June 25, 2010 : Cars 2 Sounds Even Worse Than Expected
It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Pixar (although I haven’t formally declared this on Facebook); and it’s also no secret that I’m not a huge fan of sequels. That is to say, I don’t like sequels when they’re made simply to cash in on a franchise’s popularity. A great story can warrant a sequel; but more often than not, it’s better to leave things alone.
One of the reasons I respect Pixar (more so than say Dreamsworks) is that they tend to believe in the art of animation – rather than the business aspect of it. With Toy Story 3 now out, I’m fairly confident that the story will be decent. But honestly, I’d much rather see original material – especially considering the sequel heavy releases expected to come from Pixar over the next few years.
Speaking of which, the next Pixar movie to be released is Cars 2. Cars was by far my least favorite movie of theirs – and critics seemed to agree. I hated the premise, the story, the execution, the voice acting… everything. So news of a sequel being made felt like a kick square in the nuts. To make matters worse (yes, it gets worse), an interview with John Lasseter gave insight to the idea of making Cars 2:
When I was traveling around the world doing interviews for Cars, I just had the characters on the brain. I kept looking out thinking, ‘What would Mater do in this situation, you know?’
Yes… the thought process of making a sequel to this horribly disappointing movie was Mater – the most annoying character in the original movie (and quite possibly in all of Pixar’s pictures). And as a result, the story will have more Mater in it (ugh). In fact, one of the key story points will be:
Mater gets involved in a “Hitchcockian” case of mistaken identity, saves the life of a British secret agent called Finn McMissile (voiced by Jack Black), and becomes embroiled in a huge spy thriller.
If you’re anything like me, you plan on visiting a doctor over the next few days because you’re worried reading the above passage gave you cancer.
So to summarize: a horrible first movie combined with the death of several original cast members (Paul Newman, George Carlin, and Joe Ranft) doesn’t lead to shelving any sequel plans. Instead, it gives more screen time for an obnoxious character with a bizarrely inane premise and a new character with a British accent (shine your tires, gov-nah?).
I am getting more and more convinced that Cars 2 might be the first Pixar movie I won’t see.
posted by Pi Visuals at 2:45 pm
Tags: Pixar , Sequels