Tuesday, June 21, 2011

BABY, YOU CAN DRIVE MY CAR: Normally, when a Pixar movie's coming out in 3 short days, we'd be in full excitement mode, but it seems like not just us, but everyone is unexcited about Cars 2. In fact, as of right now, it's the first Pixar movie since Bug's Life that I'm unlikely to see in theatres. Why doesn't it seem to be getting traction? A few thoughts:
  • While it's sold tons of merchandise (particularly to young boys), no one really seemed to actually like the original Cars, which felt less like a Pixar movie than something created just to sell merchandise and appeal to young boys. The characters and story didn't really seem compelling enough to support the first film, much less a sequel.
  • The ad campaign has made the film seem far less like a heart-driven Pixar film than a Dreamworks style pop-culture parody. Now, I've quite enjoyed many of the Dreamworks flicks, but this looks far more like Shark Tale than Kung Fu Panda.
  • Excessive Larry The Cable Guy in trailers. I get why he was cast as Mater--the voice works--but that character as a central one wears thin very quickly.
Is anyone particularly excited? Because frankly, I'm far more likely to see Bad Teacher this weekend rather than this one. It'll make big bank, though, because so much of the kids stuff out there or coming looks even worse (Mr. Popper's Penguins, Zookeeper).