Before you heed my warning, let me provide a little context. I have seen the original PIXAR Cars movie dozens and dozens of times. When my sons, now 4 and 6, can’t agree on anything else for family movie night, we watch Cars. I took my then 18 month-old to see Cars in the theater as his first toddler movie-going experience; that was a bad idea for other reasons, but the movie is sweet, simple, not scary, and has a positive message of friendship.
Ummm, why are they running for their lives?
So, why not take your toddler or young preschooler to see Cars 2?
- Guns. Lots and lots of guns. Shooting. Killing. You don’t want your kiddo to see gun violence, stay away from this movie. You don’t care so much? Read on.
- Complicated plot. Way too confusing. If you replaced the animated cars with human actors, this could be a regular semi-decent spy thriller. Children do not understand the difference between Big Oil and bio-fuel nor should they have to.
- Lacking all charm and positive messaging. Actually, if you are an adult really looking for these things, you will find two different throw-away lines about standing by your friends and being yourself. But those lines are buried. Buried by guns.
I took my sons to see this movie on the first Saturday matinee showing. They said they loved it but didn’t understand lots of it. My four year-old had nightmares for two nights after.
Don’t take my word for it. As of this writing, Cars 2 has scored 33% fresh on RottenTomatoes.com, the worst score for any Pixar movie. According to Commonsensemedia.org, 74% of parent-reviewers say that violence is an issue and they recommend it for ages 8 and up.
So, if you saw Cars 2 already, do you agree with my assessment? If you haven’t, did I sway your opinion?
I loved this movie for myself, not for my soon-to-be 4 year old. My son believes that Lightning McQueen and Mater are real people. Finn McMissile and Holly Shiftwell, not so much! The only scene he talks about from the movie – dump truck tipping. He didn’t get the rest of it. We are back to watching Cars 1 every week and happy about it.
I completely agree. I was horrified at the amount of guns, explosions, and the thought of “killing” the main character of the movie. My son is 3 and luckily, most of it was over his head. It left such a bad taste in our mouths though for Pixar movies.
My boys (almost 4 and almost 6) have been assaulted by the marketing for this movie and are dying to see it…but I have heard multiple people saying the exact same thing as you Heather, which makes me nervous.
We had promised to take them this weekend, but we’ll see what happens. I feel unsettled by all the reviews.
I’m not sure that the guns bother me so much as the overly complicated plot and lack of a clear bottom line feel-good message.
Sounds like I have more research to do prior to the desperate pleas tomorrow morning.
Thanks for the heads up!
Hi Heather!
None of my family members have seen this film, but as a long-time biodiesel user I wanted to comment on your point #2:
“Children do not understand the difference between Big Oil and bio-fuel nor should they have to.”
It reminded me of when my 3 year old daughter Sofia was introduced to people she would sometimes say, “our car runs on biodiesel, what does your car run on?”
So here’s to kids learning about the difference between Big Oil and biofuel! Based on your review I’ll skip the movie. It’s too bad, I also thought the first Cars was fun and totally kid appropriate.
@Jason
*SPOILER ALERT* One of the main characters turns from good guy (proving that the world can be free from big oil) to bad guy (he was just tricking and is really a big Big Oil kinda guy) in a highly confusing finale. The other 95% of the movie seemed to be a positive message about biofuels and, actually, Lightning McQueen was saved from murder because he was using it… but I think that flew over most young viewers’ heads.
Gosh, I loved it. So did my son.
And all my kids loved the first one.
I agree that the littler kids won’t get it. My son just loved watch the races and the action. But he (4.5) loves Transformers and Star Wars and all that sort of guns and rockets stuff.
But I personally appreciated that there was an actual plot for the older kids to follow this time around. Sorry, the original Cars to me was boring.
Murder, torture, guns, and rockets? I think it really depends on how your kids are and how you look at things. It’s definitely *not* like the first one but my kids love action and they can’t wait to see it again.
I completely agree, I was so disappointed as my 2.5 year old adores Cars. His name is Finn so I had already purchased a Finn McMissile toy something I seriously regret now, along with going to see the film. Not that he’s even into the toy because he didn’t find the film interesting either, he played with out iPhones for the second half, this after he sat through all of Rio & Toy Story 3 & watches Cars at least weekly.
It was guns, guns, guns & shooting, in stark comparison to Cars where the only shooting is the police car backfiring the opening sequels of Cars 2 has every car with a gun & a massive malicious explosion, followed by the protagonist faking his own death! The messages are not good at all. For me there was no friendship message, Lightening drops Mater for being himself early (hence is in the film very little) & the the friendship is only rekindled at the *very* end when Mater is of use to him.
Possibly they are trying to age the themes with the original audience? Except my nephews who were in the original Cars demographic have no interest in Cars because “it’s a baby’s movie”.
Complete fail.
Thanks so much for this post. We were so looking forward to Cars 2 as my 2 yr old son really liked the first movie. It’s the only one he’s ever made it all the way through (which is a good thing in itself) and I loved that there was nothing scary or mean in the movie.
With all that in mind we thought we might treat our boy to his first movie theater experience when Cars 2 came out. Then I saw the trailers and was quickly glad we hadn’t mentioned it to him. I was so disappointed by all the guns and violence just in the trailer! Glad to know for sure that my instincts were right – this is NOT a movie for us.
@Kristen, thanks for the comment. I agree it is much less boring than the first one.
I could also probably have fun imagining which human actors would play these parts…
I’m glad you shared this! I’ve been on the fence about this, and now I’m happy that our first movie for our 3yo will be Winnie the Pooh.
I think the people at Pixar expect their audience to age up with the movie. If the first Cars was 3+ they expect the audience to be 8+ now, roughly. Toy Story 3 seemed that way to me. I didn’t find it wholly inappropriate for my 3yo, just over his head in a lot of areas.
Thank you for this. I completely agree that our children should not watch violence. What they watch today will influence what they become tomorrow. Thank you for letting me know about his movie. I will not be taking my daughter!
1) Guns. Guns are bad. Take them to see Tangled where the message is YOUR MOM IS EVIL, EVERYTHING SHE DOES IS TO KEEP YOU AWAY FROM ‘GENUINELY LOVING’ TEENAGE BOYS. 2) Complicated plot. You (and you’re kids) have to understand EVERYTHING in order to enjoy something. Take a roller coaster for example: Don’t know the drag ratio coefficient threshold for hill #3 if you’re traveling 40MPH in 65% humidity? Well, then the ride won’t be any fun! 3)Charm and positive message. Umm, excuse me? Shouldn’t that message be coming from something more realistic than some animated talking cars? How about from the home? (just sayin’)
thanks for the tip. i took my girls to see kung fu panda 2 (on a friend’s advice who has older boys) and felt similarly horrified. it was paige’s first movie and she was terrified. the movie was both boring and relentlessly violent. that’s what i get for not reading reviews ahead of time!
I never finish reading someone’s comment, or take them very seriously, when they incorrectly use “your” or “you’re.” Just sayin’.
Thanks for the heads up. We won’t buy the DVD when it’s released.
I must have seen the first one a hundred thousand times (ok, it’s overreacting). But I don’t mind seeing it that many times because it was always fun for my kid and he “gets” it. This is the second time I’ve read a bad review about the movie. Another girlfriend told me his son got scared and was really upset from watching the movie. I guess we’ll pass.
We had free tickets and went to Cars 2 on the first day. Took our almost-3-year-old and his slightly older cousin. His cousin was fine, but during the opening scene with all of the shooting and explosions, my son started yelling, “turn it off!” I spent the rest of the movie with him on my lap (8-1/2 months pregnant), covering his ears during the loud parts. He did like the 3 races. But although he can explain the plot of the first movie, this one seemed to be way over his head.
I imagine a world for children in which movies don’t exist… Is this really how a 3 yr old needs to spend their time? Nature and their imaginations have so much more to offer.
I took my 5 year old and 2 1/2 year old and they were so scared we left shortly into it. I completely agree with your assessment of the movie. Not a fan, but we too love the first one.
Thanks for writing this! We have been thinking about taking our 18 month old Holden to see this movie for his first, but you have changed my mind.
I wish I’d seen this before I took my 4 year old to Cars 2 yesterday afternoon. I couldn’t agree more with your review. It was completely disappointing and not at all what I expected from Pixar. Sad, eh?
I do agree with your review. It lacked the charm of the first movie (which didn’t even really have a villian). I got lost during the first five minutes of Cars 2, so I know my 6yo had no idea what was really going on. It was disappointing. I don’t understand why it got a G rating when Tangled was rated PG. There are some issues in Tangled, but nothing worse than Cars 2, and maybe not even as bad. I noticed that the Cars 2 video game is rated E/10+. I think the movie should have been also.
I saw this movie today. As an adult, I highly recommend it. It was comedic, and a good thriller plot. The voice actors were great. HOWEVER, that being said. It is definitely not for kids. It is confusing, lots of guns, “alcohol”/oil for the cars..but served in martini glasses, and no clear theme of happiness or friendship.
At first when I saw a link to your piece – I was a bit shocked and thought – no how couold anyone think that but then read your review and did actually agree. I was having my doubts about the show and could not quite work out what I was upset about. I think your review is quite accurate.
I saw it with my son ( 3), son 4.5 and daughter 7.5yrs……
I think the story part of it was definitely aimed at an older age group than the original movie.
MY 3 yr old loved it and is obsessed with the Cars #1 but I doubt he even understood any of it and just loved the colors and the car chases.
As for guns – I find it hard to avoid, even if you had none on TV – other kids at creche, kinder etc introduce your child to it. We don’t have any toy guns etc but certainly the boys watch Ben 10, transformer cartoons some superhero cartoons, megamind etc so have seen them but it is the first time I have seen them play act guns with their toy cars……. interesting
I know my boys want to see it again but more for the car chases rather than the story line in general
The other thing that annoyed me was that it seemed to be more about Mater rather than Lightening McQueen ie everyone’s favorite character.
The marketing makes it hard to resist the kids pleas….just glad they have not started asking me to take them to transformers – of course that will not even be considered.
Thanks for your review
I love reading the comments of posts like this!
We loved the movie … hands down. Our two little ones can’t wait until it comes out, and our teenager thought it was great. Much better than Cars1.
I would though agree … I wouldn’t suggest it for the smaller crew (many of you are saying 18 months, etc.) especially if you are expecting it to be similar to the original movie.
Our five year old would have enjoyed it more, except she can’t stand 3D glasses (and 3D is often the only option where we live).
I think that you have to quantify the comments and suggestions based on the ages of the kids …
I liked Emily’s comment about Pixar having their series “age up” with subsequent release (she mentioned ToyStory) … it could sure seem that way!
Thank you. We won’t be going.
In response to some comments: I don’t think the answer here is praising kids who have been desensitized via watching movies that are above their level and, frankly their parents should know better. PG-13 movies are not the place for children. And 4.5 is a child.
TOTALLY agree with the comment about Tangled. Most Disney movies, Toy Story 3 fits with too much violence, pending death, are also completely inappropriate for kids. When are more people going to pay attention to the statistics about the number of violent images children see?
My now 5 y.o. son loves Cars so much that we had to buy a replacement DVD a year and a half ago when our first one wore out. About a month ago, we received an invitation to my nephews birthday party – a Cars 2 movie party. We were, of course, wicked excited at first. As my son saw a few commercials for Cars 2, he noted the guns. Even at one point saying that we can’t go to the movie because there were so many guns and shooting in it. I felt obligated to go because it was my nephews party, so we did. In a theater of 30 3, 4, 5, 6 y.o.’s, it kept the interest of about 10 kids who weren’t up running around 3/4 of the way thru. The violence was outrageous. The message it sent wasn’t typical Pixar wholesome. It was very disappointing. I wish I had listened to my son when he said we shouldn’t go!
We went with our 8 mo old and our 28 mo old because my husband LOVES movies (I could go the rest of my life never seeing a movie in the theatre…) and my 2 1/2 yr old has been wanting to see it. We’re NOT typical parents when it comes to guns/violence etc. (she watches The Clone Wars and other “older” shows regularly) although we’ll have to taper it down as the 2 1/2 gets old enough to understand the bad parts of it, I’m sure. It bears mentioning that my husband was a Marine and we live on a ranch so guns and death are a necessary part of life here. So, as far as Cars 2, when it comes to parents being upset by the violence in this movie I don’t have a leg to stand on. I will note, though, that alot like the Harry Potter movies or other “2″s this was probably created thinking that the major audience for this movie (parents and 7-12 yr olds), who were the original cars audience, had grown up and wanted something a little more action packed (and was now old enough to handle it). I was also dismayed to hear that Disney (Pixar parent), after The Princess and The Frog movie, has decided it will not be making more “feel good, girly” movies for a while. They are going to focus their energy on the “boy” audience – which, apparently, means guns, explosions, and “higher intelligence-required” plot lines (like we see in Cars 2). I’m no feminist – but I do really resent the blatant gender holing here. All that aside, even as an adult I didn’t enjoy Cars 2 (my husband now works for an oil/natural gas company, so bashing on our livelihood also seems like bad Karma…). The plot line was too diluded and lacked a clear focus, and the obvious political undertones of the movie bugged me. If I want to see a movie bashing on current political situations, there’s plenty out there – Disney/Pixar movies are supposed to be fun, enjoyable, and timeless…this one was obviously all about the politics. My husband liked the explosions; my 2 1/2 yr old liked Lightening and the colors in the Tokyo scenes, and was bored through most of the rest of it. My 8 mo. old slept. All in all, a total waste of 20$ for us, and however many millions it cost to create…probably should have gone straight to DVD. So I guess I didn’t like it either, but for different reasons than most parents here seemed to dislike it.
We did go and see Cars 2. And I agree there were too many guns and too much violence for my liking, my 3 year old on the other hand had no idea that the guns would ever actually hurt anyone, having never seen gus or shooting before, and I don’t think he had ever heard the word “kill” before the movie so all of that went right over his head.
He wasn’t a fan of things “catching on fire” ie the explosions because “fire is hot and could hurt the cars” but he did like the races.
For him, since most of it was over his head, I feel like the movie wasn’t a huge deal, but to kids who are a little older and understand the violence I would say to know what you’re getting into when you go, my 7 year old nephew loved it, but his 4 1/2 year old sister was scared.
I am disappointed in Pixar for this one, and quite frankly a bit surprised by the G rating.
I’m so glad I found this. We took our son to Kung-fu Panda 2 for his first movie theatre experience a few weeks ago. It went so well and we had so much fun I thought Cars 2 might be a good next one to see. However, I’m not a fan of exposing him to gun violence. After his first experience with water guns it was hard enough to get him to stop saying “I’m going to shoot you”! I really don’t need him watching his beloved car buddies engaging in that kind of stuff. Thanks for the warning. I think we’ll skip this one.
Wish I’d seen this or read some reviews before we took our almost 4 year old to the drive in this weekend to see it. She was scared and didn’t get it or like it… your review is right on. Pixar failed bigtime with this one. Guess I didn’t read any reviews because typically Pixar does well. Next time I’ll be sure to read before we go… that was our first time taking our daughter to any movie (theater or drive in)… and it was a flop…
Good review! Sadly, I did not read this before going. I had heard the movie was bad, but I thought that meant that it simply wasn’t very good. We went, and it WAS very bad. So bad, I want to write Disney and say, “How did you let this happen?” There was one scene in the movie where Mater happened upon a women selling her ‘headlights’ (innuendo? in a Pixar movie???). Guns, yes. And even a threat to McQueen’s life. The little guys that this movie was meant for (as a sequel to the previous one) really don’t yet understand death. Do we really need to talk with them now about ‘killing’? I was not impressed! Am a little worried myself that peanut will be having nightmares. We’re trying to downplay it. Actually, we came home and immediately watched Cars 1, trying to purge the experience from our minds!
We don’t own a tv, though our kids do watch some carefully selected shows on Netflix. I grew up with only sisters, and so guns/violence were just not part of my vocab growing up.
My 5-year-old son, despite this careful upbringing, LOVES guns. He turns anything into a gun or a sword. And it was weird for me for a while, but he’s a well-adjusted, nature-loving, kind-to-friends, fun-loving kid…and I’m not going to let it bother me.
So I’m normally pretty sensitive to violence, but…
We LOVED Cars2. We saw it at the drive-in, so maybe because we couldn’t hear as well? Or maybe because we kept rummaging around and getting treats and getting into tickle wars? But we thought it was a great movie, lots of fun.
And as far as the “no good message” – I TOTALLY disagree. We thought there were great messages!! We got out of it: stand by your friends! People are valuable even if they look/talk a little different! Be yourself! Stand up for yourself! And people make mistakes…and you can be forgiven.
Did we see a different movie??
I could not agree with you more. I normally check Common Sense Media before taking my daughter, who is 4, to a movie. I didn’t this time because, well, it’s the CARS franchise. The first one is one of my favorite kids movies ever. I was horrified by the movie. It was so disappointing. My daughter didn’t seem to be scared but, when we got home, told Daddy, “They were trying to kill Lightning McQueen”. I’d never heard words like that out of her mouth. So, I say, “SHAME ON YOU, PIXAR!!!”.
Well said, we too went to the Saturday matinee the weekend it came out with our 2 year old and you pretty much summed up my thoughts on the movie.
I totally agree! We took our 2 and a half year old, who LOVES Cars 1, to see this as his first movie theater experience. We were blown away how within the first five minutes they said “jerk” and “kill him” while my son was introduced to the concept of guns. After 45 minutes he said, “I don’t like Cars 2. Let’s go home.” I was happy to leave!!
Maybe my husband and I will watch it, but I guess we won’t let our toddler watch it. Sounds like with the “biodiesel” and “BIG oil” being the “good” and “bad” guys they are trying to push an agenda anyway.
I’m of the belief that little kids don’t get MOST children’s films. Marxism in A Bug’s Life? Issues of obesity in Wall-E? Or what about the environmental message in Wall-E? Half if not all of the jokes in any Charlie Brown special are over kids’ heads. The violence in Cars 2 sounds bad and not something that I would want to expose a young kid to, but the argument that kids won’t get it is, to me anyway, a little silly since they don’t really understand half of the movies made and marketed for/to them. They are usually more impressed with the characters and the colors and the funny stuff than the actual plot.
I think your all overreacting way to much. It was a great film that was very entertaining. If you think this is inappropriate then why don’t you take a look at some of the Commercials that are on TV. Guns are not bad for a child to see. Is Toy Story 2 bad because Jessie shoots the dart gun at Woody’s poster? Is UP bad because a shotgun is shot at Carl? Eventually a child is going to see these things in movies, Tv shows, and commercials. It is a great film that I think people of all ages will enjoy. I saw it opening day while on vacation at Disney World, I saw it a week later with some friends, and I plan on seeing it many more times before it leaves Theaters. If your that worried about what your kids see then you might as well lock them up in their room and never let them socialize or anything. I say that take them to the movie and let them and yourselves enjoy it.
Kenyon, it wasn’t just that there were guns, and it wasn’t just that there was content that only adults would ‘get’ (to respond to Marty’s comment). As Marty pointed out, kids movies always have content that goes over kids heads so that parents/adults get some enjoyment out of the same movies that their kids enjoy.
The problem was that 3-year-olds were in the audience (because the movie is marketed to them) watching a movie about characters trying to KILL other characters. It was scary to my three-year-old. He is just beginning to grasp an understanding of life and death… and now I have to explain to him – at the age of three – why anyone would want to take someone else’s life. Epic fail on the part of Disney and Pixar. Simply, it should have been marketed at an older crowd, and rated higher than G.
If you want to know what the rest of the world thinks, just check out rottentomatoes.com. The movie is not all bad, but it’s not that good either.
I’m only guessing – might be wrong – but based on your post it sounds like you don’t have children of your own. Is that right? It’s difficult to appreciate a parent’s point of view until you become one. Just ask any parent. We all knew everything there was to know about parenting… until we became parents.
I think sometimes parents look way into things. My kids (7 and 4) loved it. They don’t play with guns or talk about anything of the sort. Let your kids enjoy the movie without making a bigger deal than it really is.
A, did you read any of the comments here or any of the reviews of the movie on other sites? Several parents have said that their kids didn’t enjoy the movie or were scared by it and even had nightmares after seeing it. You talk to these parents as if they are denying their kids some pleasure. Just the opposite. These parents took their kids to the movie and hoped they’d love it. They didn’t. Please don’t tell conscientious parents how to care for their children. The fact that the inappropriate material in this movie isn’t a big deal to you is irrelevant to them.
I totally agree with A. Making a bigger deal out of something than it is makes it worse on the kid. Let them enjoy it! I took 6 kids to see it for my sons birthday party and all of the kids and the parents enjoyed it. We did not over think it. Could there have been less guns? Certainly. Is there always someone out there wishing you harm in life? Most certainly. Handling it with grace, humor and NOT over reacting are life lessons not easily learned.
Teaching our kids that it’s okay to have an opinion and that it’s okay not to like something just because other people seem to (or because other people tell us we should) is an important life lesson. People who don’t like this movie (or aspects of it) for various reasons are not overreacting. They are expressing an opinion. There is no grace in following the crowd.
I think this spurs the question: What is the appropriate age to take a child to the movies? Honestly, I never would have thought to take my 4yo to any movie at a theater – Cars 2 or other. And I believe it’s my job as a parent to vet what she watches before she is exposed to material that I don’t believe is appropriate for her age or our family. That’s not Pixar’s job.
I took my 7 year olds to see Cars 2; that seemed like the appropriate age to see it. I, too, wouldn’t recommend seeing it earlier than that.
I have to admit I was taken aback by the violence in this movie. I took my 2.5 yo and some parts were scary for her but she loved it. If I have an issue with the movie it was no ones fault but my own that I took her to see it. I will use it as a teachable moment. I’m sure we will buy her the dvd when it comes out. With everything that is out there and so accessible I would prefer her to understand than not know and shockingly observe something without my knowledge and “parental expertise”.
well, after much hesitation, I took my 2.5 yr old to see Cars2 today. I read the reviews. I thought about it (alot) and figured we’d take a gamble, he’s been asking about it for weeks now!
I enjoyed the movie.
My son cried. I know what you are thinking “told you so!”
He cried because he was sad we were leaving the theater and he didn’t want to leave mater at the end of the movie. For those on the fence – I think you know your child best… like anything you do in parenting, use judgement.
We saw it the opening day and I loved it. But…. I cannot believe they had cars being killed. I took my 8, 7 and 2 year old. I don’t mind that lot’s of the movie was over their head. I appreciate that there are things only the adults “get”, but they went over the top with the killing. Give it a rest. My kids are shocked that a good guy spy would be killed. They don’t even understand kill. Good thing I think. What a disappointment.
Thank you for posting your review on this movie. WOW! What a jump from Cars to Cars2, not what I expected at all or even would have imagined that Pixar and Disney would release. I think if I had gone to see this action packed movie with just my husband and I, we would have enjoyed the 007 aspect of this ‘Hollywood’ SPY movie. However, I took my son who is 4.5 and I am kicking myself for not reviewing it properly. This is not something that I want to introduce or reinforce with my child at his age. Yes, he is a boy, who adores all cars and trucks and likes to make shooting sounds etc. However, he was incredibly taken back in the opening scenes (explosions etc) and the killing of the good guy with the powerful beam (he had to cover his eyes). In my opinion, it was TOO life-like for a kids cartoon. SHAME on PIXAR for putting this kind of crap out there (sorry had to say it)! Totally disappointed.