CARS 2 Movie Review; 2,200 Pennies Worth

Cars 2 is a great movie for small children.  Mater steals the show in this sequel.  Some reviews and critics that I have read have expressed surprise that Mater gets the prominent emphasis in the sequel, but they may not be thinking about the boys under age eight that respond more to his character than that of Lightning McQueen.

As a person who self-professes love for movies, it is somewhat surprising that I only go to the movie theater a few times a year.  There are many reasons for this, but a significant reason is that it is easier to watch a movie at home with small children, where it can be paused or stopped, and where they can be noisy without disturbing anyone.  As such, I usually wait for family movies to come out on DVD.

Given this background, it comes somewhat as a shock to pay full fare for a first run flick.  My kids’ mom watched the youngest child, while I took the older two to the theater.  We saw a matinee (which is cheaper than the evening show) and it cost us 2,200 pennies to get in.  This price was for one adult and two children.  A scan of our ticket stubs is included in this post.

I won’t complain about the snack bar prices, as I know that is the only source of real profit for the theater owner.  Most of the revenue from ticket sales goes to the big Hollywood studios.  The snack bar is what pays the bills for the local theater operator.

Now, dating myself, I will note that when I was a teenager, I would go to the newest theater in my town, and pay three dollars for a matinee, or five dollars for an evening show.  Enough with the talk of “back in my day” and back to this new movie.

Cars 2 is almost completely different from the original.  Very little of the movie is set in the charming back-country fictional town of Radiator Springs.  The sequel is like a James Bond, Agent 007, style spy flick.  It comes complete with guns, explosions, and violence.

The bad guys consist of cars like Gremlins, Pacers, and Yugos.

One somewhat disturbing scene portrays a car being tortured, by having its engine revved up to the point that it explodes (off screen).  As a father, this was the most uncomfortable part of the show for me.

Mater is mistaken by British spy “Fin McMissile” for an American agent he is to rendezvous with, and from there the hi-jinks continue until the very end.  Lightning continues racing oblivious to the spy-action taking place around him, while Mater gets himself in the thick of the action without realizing what is going on.

The racing in this sequel is not modeled after NASCAR like the original, but instead has more of a Formula 1 feel, with international road courses in large cities around the globe.  This is very different from Radiator Springs indeed.

I won’t provide any more spoilers here, but highly recommend this latest movie from the folks at Disney/Pixar that produced it.

Cars 2 is rated “G”.

Related articles

• Review: CARS 2 (autoblog.com)
• Cars 2 – A Review (meetthemagic.com)
• First Movie Experience for my son (trainingupmyboys.wordpress.com)