Cars 2
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Star race car Lightning McQueen and his pal Mater head overseas to compete in the World Grand Prix race. But the road to the championship becomes rocky as Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage.
What critics thought
Cars 2 marked a genuine low point for Pixar in critics' eyes — not a mild stumble but the studio's first broadly negative response. The spy-thriller plot built around Mater drew the sharpest fire, with many reviewers finding it both frantic and hollow, and a persistent subtext in the discourse was whether Disney's merchandising machine had steered Pixar off course. A minority of critics pushed back, arguing the film's kinetic energy and emotional sincerity had been undervalued, and audiences were noticeably warmer than the press.
“This frenzied sequel seldom gets beyond mediocrity.”
Joe Morgenstern·The Wall Street Journal
“the sequel is a tire-burning burst of action and fun with a beating heart under its hood.”
Peter Travers·Rolling Stone
“At a time when some 'grown-up' action films are relentlessly shallow and stupid, here is a movie with such complexity that even the cars sometimes have to pause and explain it to themselves.”
Roger Ebert·Sun-Times Media Group
“The rare sequel that not only improves on but retroactively justifies its predecessor.”
Justin Chang·Variety
Genres
Adventure, Animation, Comedy
Cast & Crew
John LasseterDirector
Larry the Cable GuyMater (voice)
Owen WilsonLightning McQueen (voice)
Michael CaineFinn McMissile (voice)
Emily MortimerHolley Shiftwell (voice)
Suzy Eddie IzzardSir Miles Axlerod (voice)
John TurturroFrancesco Bernoulli (voice)
Brent MusburgerBrent Mustangburger (voice)
Joe MantegnaGrem (voice)
Thomas KretschmannProfessor Z (voice)
Peter JacobsonAcer (voice)
Bonnie HuntSally (voice)
Darrell WaltripDarrell Cartrip (voice)
Michael GiacchinoComposer
Ben QueenWriter
Jeremy LaskyCinematographyFrom the studio
Cars 2
Star race car Lightning McQueen and his pal Mater head overseas to compete in the World Grand Prix race. But the road to the championship becomes rocky as Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage.
What critics thought
Cars 2 marked a genuine low point for Pixar in critics' eyes — not a mild stumble but the studio's first broadly negative response. The spy-thriller plot built around Mater drew the sharpest fire, with many reviewers finding it both frantic and hollow, and a persistent subtext in the discourse was whether Disney's merchandising machine had steered Pixar off course. A minority of critics pushed back, arguing the film's kinetic energy and emotional sincerity had been undervalued, and audiences were noticeably warmer than the press.
“This frenzied sequel seldom gets beyond mediocrity.”
Joe Morgenstern·The Wall Street Journal
“the sequel is a tire-burning burst of action and fun with a beating heart under its hood.”
Peter Travers·Rolling Stone
“At a time when some 'grown-up' action films are relentlessly shallow and stupid, here is a movie with such complexity that even the cars sometimes have to pause and explain it to themselves.”
Roger Ebert·Sun-Times Media Group
“The rare sequel that not only improves on but retroactively justifies its predecessor.”
Justin Chang·Variety
Genres
Adventure, Animation, Comedy
Cast & Crew
John LasseterDirectorLarry the Cable GuyMater (voice)Owen WilsonLightning McQueen (voice)Michael CaineFinn McMissile (voice)Emily MortimerHolley Shiftwell (voice)Suzy Eddie IzzardSir Miles Axlerod (voice)John TurturroFrancesco Bernoulli (voice)Brent MusburgerBrent Mustangburger (voice)Joe MantegnaGrem (voice)Thomas KretschmannProfessor Z (voice)Peter JacobsonAcer (voice)Bonnie HuntSally (voice)Darrell WaltripDarrell Cartrip (voice)Michael GiacchinoComposerBen QueenWriterJeremy LaskyCinematographyFrom the studio
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Rent & Buy