Movie Review(s): Cars 2

[*Seanaci*]

Ok. So I apologize in advance if there is a thread for this already (please point me in that direction if there is a thread, I appreciate it).

Anywho! My son LOVED the 1st Cars movie. And he's sooooooooo excited for the 2nd one.

However, on the facebook page for our local Drive-in theater, there is a woman who keeps telling people (who are asking if the drive-in is going to show Cars 2) that it is kind of violent and some cars even "die" in it. That people should check the reviews for it.

I'm curious if anyone on the boards has seen it and/or taken their kids to see it. And if so, what you thought of it? I prefer personal opinions as opposed to "professional" opinions as I think parents tend to be more honest than movie reviewers.

I am going to go search for some reviews on it now...just to see if I can figure out where this lady is hearing these "reviews" from.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[bekkiz]

My DH and I saw it, and yes, it's much mote violent than the first, however most of it is implied. My twins LOVE the first one, but the 2nd would be too much for them. Not really for violence because I think it would go over their head, but the story is complex for a 2.5 year old, so I just don't think they could follow it. I think it would be scary for a sensative 4 or 5 year old.

However, some friends have taken the same aged kids and they were fine so maybe I'm just over-protective.

 

[bigbabyblues]

SOME SPOILERS IN THIS POST

My boys are 10 & 8, but the 8-yo is a little on the sensitive side, tends to be scared easier than most of his friends, etc.

They both loved the movie and want to see it again. It is more "violent" (not sure that's really the right word, there is no blood or anything like that that I remember) than the original one, and there are explosions. I got a James Bond sort of vibe from it. The cars that "die" are blown up and wrecked during a race. Near the end, the "bad" cars talk about killing McQueen. During that part, my DS8 got a little uneasy and hid his eyes.

Like the PP said, a lot of it is more implied than really shown, although there are several explosions. The storyline might go over the heads of little guys. The entire row in front of us looked like 3-4 year olds (birthday party from the looks of it), and none of them were crying or anything that we could hear or see that would make me think they were scared.

Hope this helps!

 

[marcyinPA]

I will preface this by saying that I have not seen it yet. However, I teach preschool and work the summer program, and a couple of parents have mentioned different things about this movie.

One of the things that stuck out to me is a parent commented that the movie has an "agenda". Apparently, the gas engined cars are the "bad guys", while the "green" cars (electric I guess) are the "good guys". Ok...I understand the whole going green, conserving our resources thing. BUT, four year olds take things literally. I can hear it now: "our car uses gas. We have a bad guy car." It just doesn't settle right with me. Hey, I'd run out and buy a "green" car if I could afford one, but unfortunately, they are out of reach for most people. I guess I'll be stuck with a bad guy for a while....

 

[akhenaten]

I will preface this by saying that I have not seen it yet. However, I teach preschool and work the summer program, and a couple of parents have mentioned different things about this movie.

One of the things that stuck out to me is a parent commented that the movie has an "agenda". Apparently, the gas engined cars are the "bad guys", while the "green" cars (electric I guess) are the "good guys". Ok...I understand the whole going green, conserving our resources thing. BUT, four year olds take things literally. I can hear it now: "our car uses gas. We have a bad guy car." It just doesn't settle right with me. Hey, I'd run out and buy a "green" car if I could afford one, but unfortunately, they are out of reach for most people. I guess I'll be stuck with a bad guy for a while....

That is not accurate:

Spoiler below






A Car is promoting a new green fuel and is sponsoring a race where the cars are only using the new "green" fuel... but he is actually leader of a group of bullied "lemon" cars who have found a new oil reserve and really want the cars in the race to fail(have accidents, the green fuel will cause the cars to blow up) to make people NOT want to use the green fuel and they will become rich...

There is no green agenda to the movie... people are putting their own political spin on it and not paying attention to the actual plot!!!

 

[skuttle]

We went see it with DS8. He enjoyed it, but he had a hard time following the actual plot. He asked a lot of questions on the way home trying to piece together why the bad guys were bad, why some cars blew up, why some didn't, etc. He just couldn't follow all of that. He wasn't scared, but he doesn't scare easy and has seen various super hero movies that are much more violent.

The Toy Story short at the beginning was AWESOME!

 

[POPCITY]

DS9 LOVED it! I thought it was eh. Mater was funny, as usual. It was a lot more violent, but with animated cars, it's not the same as violence with people, if that makes sense. The cars just get wrecked. Spoiler:

There was one that ended up crushed in a cube, which I thought was kind of disturbing, but DS didn't seem to think anything of it.

I didn't see any "agenda" to it, either. There was green vs regular fuel, but it was just a plot point.

 

[Mrs.Malone]

DS9 LOVED it! I thought it was eh. Mater was funny, as usual. It was a lot more violent, but with animated cars, it's not the same as violence with people, if that makes sense. The cars just get wrecked. Spoiler:

There was one that ended up crushed in a cube, which I thought was kind of disturbing, but DS didn't seem to think anything of it.

I didn't see any "agenda" to it, either. There was green vs regular fuel, but it was just a plot point.

The car crushed into a cube (and presented to the bad guy bosses like in gangster movies where a victim's mutilated body is presented to the mob boss) was a little shocking to my tween son and to me but that moment went right over my younger children's heads.

My children love Star Wars and the violence in Cars 2 is nothing compared to what's seen in Star Wars, but it was a little unexpected!

 

[*Seanaci*]

Thank you alll so much for your "reviews" on the movie.

We're most likely going to take our DS next week to see it. We'll see how he does.

I really appreciate the honesty and perspective of you all!!