Cars 2 Review

Jul 25 2011 Leave a Comment

cars2_logoWhile we were in California, I took the boys to see the movie, Cars 2. Jim and I wanted to take them before we left on our trip, but couldn’t find the time. So I picked a day when the workload wasn’t too much and surprised them with a trip to the movies.

They were so excited, jumping up and down and dancing. We planned to go to a morning movie and then meet Yaya for lunch. Popcorn and candy in hand we got settled into the theater only to be greeted with a 40 minute delay due to a projector problem. There was a 15 minute period of time where I thought I was going to have to drag two hysterical children out of the theater because they were going to cancel the showing. Somehow miraculously Will sat in his seat eating popcorn and reading books until they finally got it working.

Eventually the movie got going and I have to admit I was underwhelmed. I had heard that some of the reviews were negative, but I don’t always agree with the critics. This time I did.

First of all, Lightning McQueen was hardly in the movie; Mater and the new character Finn McMissile were definitely the stars. The story was a lot more complex and violent than it needed to be. The oil and alternative fuel message was too complex for children to understand and if Disney/Pixar put that in for the adults it wasn’t necessary. Interjecting humor throughout the movie for adults is enough. Due to the oil and secret agent storyline there were a lot of guns, shooting and violence. It was bordering on not appropriate for Will.

The best part of the movie, the races and the characters, Lightning McQueen and the race cars from around the world, were completely overshadowed by the oil and secret agent story. They didn’t even show the end of the last race in London. The story could have easily been the races around the world with the big question being who will win. That would have been enough for the kids and for me.

Although the kids will say they loved it, I can say that it is far from my favorite. With that said there were some good moments. My favorite had to be in the very beginning when Crabby, a character designed after the crab fishing boat the Northwestern from Deadliest Catch and voiced Captain Sig Hanson (both from Seattle) took Finn out to the secret oil rigs. I also felt that they did a good job paying tribute to Doc, voiced by the late Paul Newman.

Overall I was disappointed with this much anticipated sequel, because the first one is still one of my favorite cartoons. Maybe they will do better with the next one, if there is a next one. Based on how long it took to make this one, and given its bad reception, I won’t hold my breath.

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Parental Guidence Suggested

Jun 27 2011 1 Comment

Why are we in such a rush to have our children grow up? It seems like kids today are asked to be mini-adults basically from birth. There is a palpable and pervasive parenting style that appears to be more the norm than not in which children are pressured to be the best – the best athlete, the best musician, the best scholar. While it is not surprising, it is still shocking the extent to which some parents push their children at such an early age to be better at everything than their peers. Now, don’t get me wrong I think some competition is healthy. But when it comes at the expense of a childhood, what is the point?

What happened to the days when kids could just be kids? There was a time not long ago when they didn’t need to be reading in preschool, hitting pitches at age five, or watching Transformers or Iron Man at six. As a parent there is so much pressure to keep up with everyone else that you begin to consider things that you would have thought were completely inappropriate before. Even if you are confident in your morals, it is hard not to question them when the mob is forging ahead without questioning why and at what cost.

It is hard to sit back and let you kids enjoy life, pushing them just enough to keep them motivated, as others are repeatedly pushing their children to the point of burnout before the third grade.

If you choose to dig in on an issue that is important to you, such as movies, then you risk being labeled as the outcast of the group. I try to be pretty conservative about what movies the boys should watch. The pervasive violence in movies today is troubling to me, but I will save that for another post. A number of Jack’s friends have seen movies such as Transformers and Star Trek (a few of them have older brothers, so that changes the rules, ask me about Will and Star Wars sometime). As a result, he asks to watch them frequently because “so-in-so is allowed to watch it.” What am I to do?

I really want to mimic some other friends who are also conservative and wouldn’t let their ten year old watch Avatar, because it was rated PG-13. He was ten, not six. I just don’t know how I am going to hold out until I am ready for him to watch movies like that. I feel like the ratings are there for a reason and more often than not, are a good benchmark.

Kids are kids for such a short period of time – why are parents compelled to force their children to grow up so soon? Life isn’t a race. It’s a journey comprised of all the vivid memories you collect along the way at all stages. Don’t waste it looking beyond.

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