thedriveintheatre

What do double-decker buses and London cabs transport in the Cars world?

A few fans on the various forums and blogs I follow have said that Pixar has the right to try a fun movie once in a while, especially three emotionally-draining pics (if we start from Wall-E onwards). And I agree that Pixar should cut loose and that they don’t always have to make tearjerkers.

But one of my biggest beefs with this sequel was how the theme was brought across (or rather, how poorly it was done). Every film has a theme; in Cars 2’s case, it’s about the struggle of Mater and Lightning’s friendship when Lightning moves on to bigger things. There is also something about Mater seeking acceptance from others when what he really needs to do is find his own inner self-confidence.

But the film couldn’t really decide if it wanted Mater to accept his shortcomings, or if Lightning was the one who needed changing. It also made Lightning out to be the bad guy when really, Mater ‘done goofed up’, to use a popular Internet meme. Granted, Mater didn’t intend to botch Lightning’s Tokyo race, but when his friend’s professional life is on the line, he really needed that wake-up call to stay focused and not be distracted.

And then there’s the whole conflicting message of “Remain the way you are,” when compared with the first movie. Cars was about Lightning realizing he needed friends, and he did this by undergoing a paradigm shift and being a better person. Cars 2 is also about Mater needing new friends and not relying on Lightning so much, but he’s told by Lightning that he should remain the obnoxious and ignorant truck he was during the Japanese dinner function. What if Mater told Lightning that he should remain selfish and cold-hearted? Would he have gone through the proper character development he deserved?

There’s a difference between being yourself and simply having good manners. If Mater perhaps tried to be as confident and well-groomed as Lightning’s peers (you know, like putting on a false air of knowledge by giving suggestions on wine or something), and then he accidentally trips over himself or blurts out a faux-pas, then maybe he would be more empathetic. Or maybe have one of the racers (Francesco probably) snub him in public, call him names. Most of us know how it feels like to attend a formal event and how we put on a fake veneer of sophistication (well, at least the insecure of us do). If it was done that way, then the moral would be we can be polite and educated, yet we don’t have to ‘Keep up with the Joneses’.

But the way they handled it, he essentially is an overenthusiastic ‘ugly American’ (it pains me to use that term, but that’s how I saw it) who ignores Lightning’s pleas to behave himself. It is as if he lost all his self-control and inhibitions and made a total *ss of himself. Lightning had every right to tell him off, but then he suddenly feels guilty about it after the Topolino talk and becomes painfully possessive of Mater to the point of creepiness during the “You’re the Bomb” scene. When really, he should also be ‘letting go’ of Mater and let him find new friends in the form of Finn and Holley, which thankfully, he somewhat did in the end.

Or they could’ve had Mater’s motive for being a spy is so that he can finally impress someone else (especially after his fallout with Lightning). Or maybe this is his way of getting back at Lightning, by having a good time and proving he can be sophisticated and classy and oh-so-suave (against his true nature). Instead, he is merely strung along, and occasionally attempts to tell Finn and Holley that he’s not really a spy, despite him willfully going along with the plan.

Another qualm I had was the theme didn’t really tie in with the movie as cohesively as other films I’ve seen this year. In scriptwriting convention, the throughline is the emotional journey our protagonist takes that runs through the entire story, and this often coincides with the theme. One of my ways of seeing if a theme is presented powerfully enough is to see whether the conflicts and struggles would still make sense if I took it out. Every problem, every challenge faced, has to call-back to that theme. So for Rango, every move the chameleon makes to convince the townspeople of his awesomeness is his attempt at portraying his ideal self, which in turn becomes his true self. The bar scene, the calling of the posse, the high-noon showdown, etc. In Rio, every action Blu does is to win the heart of his romantic interest, Jewel. There is also a secondary theme of Blu being too reliant on his owner Linda, and he encounters a turning point before the climax that signifies his independence. Kung Fu Panda 2: Po has to stop a diabolical villain from taking over China, but his real mission is to discover his past, sort of like an ancient version of The Bourne Identity. Every step he takes brings him closer to the shocking truth… et cetera.

For Cars 2, I can take out the theme of friendship against all odds, or self-confidence in one’s abilities, and the story would still work. Mater has no motive to be a spy other than it being a case of mistaken identity. Lightning didn’t need to patronise Mater. The theme doesn’t bubble to the surface or register on the palate as significantly or succintly as it should be. Again, this can be fixed by a few story adjustments like having Mater actually pretend to be a spy instead of being passively led on, or Lightning telling Mater straight-up that he shouldn’t have to play secret-agent just to impress him, because he loves him as a friend just the way he is, that sorta thing.

I can appreciate a brainless, fun movie. I watched Fast Five, another automobile-themed movie, and loved every second of it. But at least it was consistent and thorough with its throughline and had one theme: “Friends can be like your family.” Maybe people took away a different message (“Never drive in Rio”, “The Rock beats Vin in a fistfight”), but that’s what I got. For Cars 2, it’s a hodgepodge, mess of a potpurri. “It’s okay to be the fool, even though you should make no attempt at self-education”, “Make new friends, although you really should cling on to your besties, especially when they have a bomb strapped to their hood.” Oh, and “Lemons are misunderstood. We shouldn’t laugh at those less fortunate than us, although most of them are evil.” It is these conflicting multitude of themes, plus their total unrelation to the plot (I can take out all except the lemon-racism theme, which is crucial to the whole conspiracy) that makes Cars 2 a lesser movie in my eyes. That’s why a movie like Gladiator is better cinematically than 300. Or Saving Private Ryan being more magnificent than The Expendables (well, story-wise, anyway).

A movie can be entertaining and tell a good story; the two aren’t insoluble.