"Cars 2," in fact, is really Mater's movie, expanding the first film's friendship-driven themes from the moving perspective of a character whom others are quick to dismiss as a dumb sidekick.

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It's the Pixar touch of valuing feeling over frenzy that makes Cars 2 a winner.

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The cars in "Cars 2" have developed an array of new bells and whistles ; they extrude so many wires, spikes, weapons and gimmicks they must really be shape-shifters, and Mater in particular is expert at disguising himself.

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Lightning and Mater mix it up with Formula 1 and spies in yet another Pixar winner.

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Pixar Cranks Up the Action, Dials Down The Emotion.

There are very basic themes of friendship and a not-so-subtle pro-environmental message but, beyond that, Cars 2 is all gloss.

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That “Cars 2’’ is the animation auteurs running on fumes, that it’s stuck in neutral, that it’s a gas guzzler, that it’s wrapped itself around a tree, albeit a big, astonishingly real-looking, impossibly well-detailed tree.

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Incidental, and yet very much a part of the background, is an underlying message about the relative morality of big oil companies and major conglomerates.

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"Cars 2" doesn't have the focus, comic sharpness or thematic depth of its predecessor.

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This Pixar product is better than the toys they sell along with it.

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One aspect that hasn’t changed is the meticulous level of detail that the world and the cars have.

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Cars 2 is confusing and loud

There's nothing really objectionable about Cars 2, although parents of young children should be warned that a few evil vehicles meet violently inauspicious ends.

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But at least Cars 2 looks as expertly sleek and sturdy as audiences have come to expect from the standard-setting animation company, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

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'Cars 2 'stalls as sequel idles in neutral

Pixar movies are so much more evolved than most other fare — animated or live action — that watching Cars 2 feels like stumbling on a Neanderthal amid a corps of advanced Homo sapiens.

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Lots of detailing, but too much vroom

Cars 2, the sporty sequel to the 2006 release widely considered the lemon in the Pixar cornucopia, celebrates the little tow truck who could.

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Pixar's 'Cars 2' has a stalled engine

"Cars 2" is like a gorgeous sports car with a toxic tailpipe, a busted navigation system and a loud stereo that plays only commercials.

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It's sometimes funny, often silly but never really transcendent, though the same could probably be said of the original, as well.

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Hawaiian Vacation, a short featuring the characters from Toy Story, precedes Cars 2, and unfortunately reminds us of the imagination missing from Cars 2's assembly line manufacturing.

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Lightning and Mater are back! Shaken, not stirred.

What's lost here, for the most part, is the warmth and heart that we adore, and expect, from most Pixar offerings.

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Cars 2 Is All Chassis and No Soul

The plot of Cars 2 is both overly convoluted and thin, and it folds in so much unvarnished toddler-instruction that it almost feels like an educational film.

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Despite a complete change in gear, Cars 2 is just as unremarkable as its predecessor...

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Just who is Pixar aiming this movie at? Contemporary children or their great-grandparents?

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The film’s frenetic pace will keep the kids from getting bored but overall Cars 2 does not further Pixar’s previously pristine legacy.

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Pixar’s ‘Cars’ franchise is coming around for a second lap.

... Cars 2 seem like a significant step backward for Pixar...

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This being Pixar, Cars 2 looks fantastic, but the studio has never given audiences—especially audiences over the age of 10—less reason to be emotionally invested in the beautiful shiny things flying across the screen.

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The First Truly 'Bad' Pixar Film.

... Cars 2 arrives as the prettiest, shiniest direct-to-video sequel...

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Cars 2, even more than its predecessor, is the Pixar movie that's safe to hate.

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