Will Cars 2 be PIXAR'S first flop? Will you see the movie?

[Jax]

Cars 2 is set for a $75 million opening weekend in North America so its going to be a big hit for Pixar/Disney. The scores on other sites such as Yahoo place the critics average at B-, not great but nowhere near a flop if you ever hit B- or above you don't need to worry too much about critical reception. Other places I hear like Cinemascore have it placed at A- only just behind Cars 1 and am sure user reviews on places not being RT will probably be pretty good.

I do think some of the negative reviews are being a little OTT because people still have Toy Story 3 in their heads, since it was Pixar's last movie and it was sheer amazing.

 

[Peak]

The most reviews seem to have latched to the word "cash-grab", and therefore the movie is bad. Not all of them, of course, but enough of them to believe that there is a bit of "they just want to make money". Like that's something new...

"Cars" seems to be Lasseters own pet project, which makes me believe that he wanted to make the movie because he feels like it, not because they want to make a lot of money of merchandise (that doesn't hurt, of course). I'm more wary about "Planes" myself, mostly due to the fact that Pixar isn't involved.

 

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

I'm mystified that Cars gets a sequel while The Incredibles doesn't... well whatever. I didn't like Cars that much and won't see Cars 2, but good for Pixar if its doing well. I WANT INCREDIBLES 2!!!!

 

[Trekker4747]

I'm mystified that Cars gets a sequel while The Incredibles doesn't... well whatever. I didn't like Cars that much and won't see Cars 2, but good for Pixar if its doing well. I WANT INCREDIBLES 2!!!!

One word: Toys.

More words: Kids buy toys, toys based on lovable car characters are a lot easier to sell to kids and market than toys based on likable cartoon superheroes. Cars 2 is nothing more than a commercial to sell toys.

 

[Jetfire]

I'm mystified that Cars gets a sequel while The Incredibles doesn't... well whatever. I didn't like Cars that much and won't see Cars 2, but good for Pixar if its doing well. I WANT INCREDIBLES 2!!!!

One word: Toys.

More words: Kids buy toys, toys based on lovable car characters are a lot easier to sell to kids and market than toys based on likable cartoon superheroes. Cars 2 is nothing more than a commercial to sell toys.

A formula that works!

Box office update: 'Cars 2' speeds away with $25.7 mil on Friday

Assuming Cars 2 reaches $70 million this weekend, that’ll be the best debut for an animated film since last June’s Toy Story 3, which unspooled to $110.3 million. It’ll also place Cars 2 right alongside Pixar’s The Incredibles and Finding Nemo, which opened to $70.5 million and $70.3 million, respectively. In 2006, the original Cars took in $60.1 million its first weekend, or about $72 million when adjusted for ticket-price inflation.

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/06/25/box-office-cars-2-bad-teacher/



[edit] @Jax EW seems to think $70 M and not $75 M...but it could edge higher.

 

[Kirby]

I took my son to see it this afternoon... I'd give it a C+.
This was much more of a story about Mater, and Lightning McQueen's world race was just an excuse to set up Mater's adventure, which was basically The Man Who Knew Too Much meets James Bond.
It didn't have the heart that the first movie did, but the visuals were great, and the score was nice.
There was a brief mention of Doc Hudson (Paul Newman) and I'm glad they didn't try to re-cast that part. George Carlin's character Fillmore, was still in the movie voiced by voice actor Lloyd Sherr. I still think they should have had Tommy Chong do the role.

This is probably my second least favorite Pixar film and barely beats out Bug's Life.

 

[Maestro]

C'mon, Sig Hansen and the Northwestern, man!

 

[Dream]

From Yahoo reviews.

"They really missed the boat on figuring out who their target audience is here. I took my 4 year old son to see it (he has been asking if it's June 24th yet almost daily for months now) and the storyline was way over his head. He liked the races, which played a pretty minor role in the plot, and I believe this was the only thing he understood from the movie."

"If you are expecting the warm, touchy/feely movie from the first Cars movie...you will be disappointed. For CARS 2, think "Cars meets James Bond". While the visualy were unbelievable the story I thought was good for older kids and adults. Young children will not get the movie and there is a lot of "gangster/good fella's" type violence"

"Machine guns, torture, beating up cars, thugs... Ugh. I was uncomfortable watching it with my 3.5 year old. My 10 year old of course loved it, however, I did not. "

"i actually got tired of seeing Mater and hearing his voice cause towards middle of film. sad to see so many kids wearing their "cars" t-shirts walking out and end of film with no smiles."

"My 6 year old has been counting down the days for months! It was filled with murder, torture, and machine guns, it's like the people who created it didn't see the first one. Or know a think about children....what a wasted opportunity."

"We took the entire first grade class to Cars 2 on opening day, and some kids were crying at the torture scene and intensity of violence. Some kids had to leave. Not recommended for young kids."

Wow! Is the movie really that violent?! Cars blowing up and a torture scene? How the heck did the movie get away with a G rating?

 

[Kail]

From Yahoo reviews.

"They really missed the boat on figuring out who their target audience is here. I took my 4 year old son to see it (he has been asking if it's June 24th yet almost daily for months now) and the storyline was way over his head. He liked the races, which played a pretty minor role in the plot, and I believe this was the only thing he understood from the movie."

"If you are expecting the warm, touchy/feely movie from the first Cars movie...you will be disappointed. For CARS 2, think "Cars meets James Bond". While the visualy were unbelievable the story I thought was good for older kids and adults. Young children will not get the movie and there is a lot of "gangster/good fella's" type violence"

"Machine guns, torture, beating up cars, thugs... Ugh. I was uncomfortable watching it with my 3.5 year old. My 10 year old of course loved it, however, I did not. "

"i actually got tired of seeing Mater and hearing his voice cause towards middle of film. sad to see so many kids wearing their "cars" t-shirts walking out and end of film with no smiles."

"My 6 year old has been counting down the days for months! It was filled with murder, torture, and machine guns, it's like the people who created it didn't see the first one. Or know a think about children....what a wasted opportunity."

"We took the entire first grade class to Cars 2 on opening day, and some kids were crying at the torture scene and intensity of violence. Some kids had to leave. Not recommended for young kids."

Wow! Is the movie really that violent?! Cars blowing up and a torture scene? How the heck did the movie get away with a G rating?

Good question! Took my 7 year old and he loved it, but was upset by the "killing" of the cars. I was surprised at how many times they said the words "Death" "dead" and "kill", and at all the guns and all around violence. I was shocked that Pixar thought this was good for kids. My confidence in Pixar took a giant hit today.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I'm mystified that Cars gets a sequel while The Incredibles doesn't... well whatever. I didn't like Cars that much and won't see Cars 2, but good for Pixar if its doing well. I WANT INCREDIBLES 2!!!!

One word: Toys.

More words: Kids buy toys, toys based on lovable car characters are a lot easier to sell to kids and market than toys based on likable cartoon superheroes. Cars 2 is nothing more than a commercial to sell toys.

There's another factor: The Incredibles director Brad Bird said repeatedly for years that he wasn't interested in doing a sequel. He's changed his tune as of late, but that's a major reason why it hasn't gotten a sequel.

 

[Gaith]

From Yahoo reviews.

"They really missed the boat on figuring out who their target audience is here. I took my 4 year old son to see it (he has been asking if it's June 24th yet almost daily for months now) and the storyline was way over his head. He liked the races, which played a pretty minor role in the plot, and I believe this was the only thing he understood from the movie."

"If you are expecting the warm, touchy/feely movie from the first Cars movie...you will be disappointed. For CARS 2, think "Cars meets James Bond". While the visualy were unbelievable the story I thought was good for older kids and adults. Young children will not get the movie and there is a lot of "gangster/good fella's" type violence"

"Machine guns, torture, beating up cars, thugs... Ugh. I was uncomfortable watching it with my 3.5 year old. My 10 year old of course loved it, however, I did not. "

"i actually got tired of seeing Mater and hearing his voice cause towards middle of film. sad to see so many kids wearing their "cars" t-shirts walking out and end of film with no smiles."

"My 6 year old has been counting down the days for months! It was filled with murder, torture, and machine guns, it's like the people who created it didn't see the first one. Or know a think about children....what a wasted opportunity."

"We took the entire first grade class to Cars 2 on opening day, and some kids were crying at the torture scene and intensity of violence. Some kids had to leave. Not recommended for young kids."

Wow! Is the movie really that violent?! Cars blowing up and a torture scene? How the heck did the movie get away with a G rating?

Serves those dumbasses right for bringing small children to a movie that's all about worshiping the internal combustion engine without properly researching it first.

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

Serves those dumbasses right for bringing small children to a movie that's all about worshiping the internal combustion engine without properly researching it first.

I would assume they thought the first movie that WASN'T this violent was research enough?

Most movies don't have such drastic tonal shifts, especially with the toys and marketing demographic aimed at the young'ns.

 

[UssGlenn]

I'm mystified that Cars gets a sequel while The Incredibles doesn't... well whatever. I didn't like Cars that much and won't see Cars 2, but good for Pixar if its doing well. I WANT INCREDIBLES 2!!!!

There's another factor: The Incredibles director Brad Bird said repeatedly for years that he wasn't interested in doing a sequel. He's changed his tune as of late, but that's a major reason why it hasn't gotten a sequel.

As I understand it, he'll do a sequel when he comes up with what he considers an inspired idea. I suspect he'll find the inspiration he's looking for when his kids get older and leave home.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

I was bored tonight, and thought there had to be at least something to like in the film, After all, it is Pixar. But no, it really is just bad. In the past Pixar movies have been able to make me laugh like I've never laughed before, or move me to tears. They've been magical. During Cars 2, I sat stone-faced the entire time. I wasn't the only one. I'm not kidding when I say I never heard a single laugh from anyone in the audience over the course of the film. Not even the little children were laughing.

Mater is just freaking annoying in this film. Every single "joke" is about how stupid he is, yet the movie totally betrays itself by saying that the people who laugh at Mater are wrong. Yet, that's what the movie expects its audience to do. This is Mater's film through and through. McQueen is barely even in it. Since Mater's the focal point, it doesn't take long for his antics to wear incredibly thin.

More than anything else, I guess, I'm disappointed to see that Pixar is fallible. They've finally made a poor film. Maybe we can just pretend they had an off year so that they could make Brave super awesome.

 

[Gaith]

Serves those dumbasses right for bringing small children to a movie that's all about worshiping the internal combustion engine without properly researching it first.

I would assume they thought the first movie that WASN'T this violent was research enough?

For sloppy parenting standards, sure. I wouldn't take an under-10 kid of mine to any movie without checking online to see if there was anything seriously out of line. Under five minutes of googling finds me parentpreviews.com, a thorough, well-written site with only a very subtle implied pro-theology bias. And, hark:

This spy-spoof adventure may catch parents of young children off guard when cars are tortured, killed and disposed of with a variety of weapons. Examples include a car tormented with a ray gun that eventually causes the fuel within him to explode.

If parents are willing to spend three or more hours getting to, waiting for and then sitting through a movie, they can damn well take five minutes to read a parent-aimed review.

Let's also not forget that TS3 also got a G rating, and it had its freaky moments.


'Course, I wouldn't allow a kid of mine to watch either Cars on principle, and sure as hell wouldn't take him/her to one. But I suppose that's neither here nor there...

 

[Warped9]

I wasn't won over by the first Cars and so I couldn't see the value of a sequel. A sequel I'd have liked to see was to The Incredibles.

 

[TheBrew]

Serves those dumbasses right for bringing small children to a movie that's all about worshiping the internal combustion engine without properly researching it first.

I would assume they thought the first movie that WASN'T this violent was research enough?

For sloppy parenting standards, sure. I wouldn't take an under-10 kid of mine to any movie without checking online to see if there was anything seriously out of line. Under five minutes of googling finds me parentpreviews.com, a thorough, well-written site with only a very subtle implied pro-theology bias. And, hark:

This spy-spoof adventure may catch parents of young children off guard when cars are tortured, killed and disposed of with a variety of weapons. Examples include a car tormented with a ray gun that eventually causes the fuel within him to explode.

If parents are willing to spend three or more hours getting to, waiting for and then sitting through a movie, they can damn well take five minutes to read a parent-aimed review.

Let's also not forget that TS3 also got a G rating, and it had its freaky moments.


'Course, I wouldn't allow a kid of mine to watch either Cars on principle, and sure as hell wouldn't take him/her to one. But I suppose that's neither here nor there...

I now want to see this movie.

Maybe I'll take my nephew to it.

 

[Nerdius Maximus]

I never saw the first one, as I am 100% opposed to the existence of Larry the Cable Guy.

That's my take on the whole thing. Just looking at that tow truck character he does makes me angry. What is it, "Tow-mater" or some shit? Ugh.

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

For sloppy parenting standards, sure. I wouldn't take an under-10 kid of mine to any movie without checking online to see if there was anything seriously out of line.

On one hand, sure, that makes sense.

But on the other, it's a cartoon that sells just as much in kids bedsheets and toys for 3 year olds than ticket sales. Or do adults still sleep in "Cars" bedsheets?

When Disney comes out with a "Tinkerbell 2" movie, it's more than reasonable to assume that the sequel is basically the same as the first. That's generally how kids movies work (can you think of any off hand that shift SO drastically as Cars 2 did from the first?)

Common sense and decades of movies with sequels have taught us this. It's strange that the direction of the movie strayed so far from what made it popular in the first place. Fun for the WHOLE family entertainment.

 

[Gaith]

For sloppy parenting standards, sure. I wouldn't take an under-10 kid of mine to any movie without checking online to see if there was anything seriously out of line.

On one hand, sure, that makes sense.

But on the other, it's a cartoon that sells just as much in kids bedsheets and toys for 3 year olds than ticket sales. Or do adults still sleep in "Cars" bedsheets?

When Disney comes out with a "Tinkerbell 2" movie, it's more than reasonable to assume that the sequel is basically the same as the first. That's generally how kids movies work (can you think of any off hand that shift SO drastically as Cars 2 did from the first?)

Common sense and decades of movies with sequels have taught us this. It's strange that the direction of the movie strayed so far from what made it popular in the first place. Fun for the WHOLE family entertainment.

I don't think it's strange at all - when you're doing a whole movie about cars, which have no arms or legs, the range of motion and physical expression is obviously extraordinarily slim. Makes perfect sense to me that the filmmakers would compensate for that with guns, missiles and explosions.

Now, I do take your point. And the mistake, if a mistake it be, is indeed an understandable one. All I'm saying is, that for a child of mine, only the most excellent of parenting standards would be acceptable. And that would preclude any notion of seeing Cars 2, so it's not a mistake I'd be liable to commit.