Sorry, can’t edit the original comment.

I think a lot of people take for granted about what goes into a good story. The storyboarding in Cars 2 was so excellent, it was difficult to realize initially that there were multiple sequences in the movie that pushed the same story beats. Even though I didn’t like the plot very much, although I will admit that it was very cohesive and formed, the story carried me along so well I didn’t mind very much. Storyboarding is a very difficult process that isn’t very clear cut at all. The storyboarding in Cars 2 was so excellent that it flushed the weak and formed plot right out of the water.

I watched a screening of this a while ago, where I got the first half hour of the movie, and I actually wanted to see more of the movie by the time my half hour was up. I really felt something, personally, after watching the full version of this movie, and I rarely feel anything these days from a movie. Cars 2, didn’t feel like ‘more of the same’ which is what I’ve been getting from Pixar movies for a very long time now.

Most sequels generally offer more of the same, they usually are not better or worse. But sequels are generally not received as well as the original, because people have high expectations for a sequel. When I turned off my PS3 after watching Cars 2, I felt like I saw something really new and different. There are a lot of animated films that have come out in the past year, and Cars 2 isn’t even the best sequel of the lot (that award goes to Kung Fu Panda 2). I don’t think that Cars 2 should receive the rough end of the stick just because it defies the expectation of what a Pixar film should be. I didn’t ‘feel’ anything coming out of Arthur Christmas, and apparently that film has been proclaimed as one of the best reviewed films of the year, even though it has nearly all of the same flaws (in some cases to a even worse extent) that Cars 2 had.

–Adam

I think the most of the criticism in Cars 2 boils down to three main critiques. First, for the central conflict of the film, Lightning Mc Queen’s frustration about traveling with Mater in the Grand World Prix, there were about 5 or 6 sequences in the film, roughly, that pushed the same story beat, again and again without adding much to the story, when they only needed 3, maybe 4 sequences. The second problem with the film was that they took the ‘car lemons’ joke a little bit too far, especially during the spy sequences. It worked very well in the first sequence where they used the joke, but by the end of the movie, it grew very thin. Third, I think that there is this general distaste for Pixar sequels in general. I don’t think audiences mind seeing Pixar movies with the same rough story (which is what nearly every Pixar film has used, with the notable exception of The Incredibles), but they want to jump into a brand new setting and set of characters to go along with the familiar story. When I was talking with my friends about Cars 2 before it came out, everybody I walked up to would tell me that: “I don’t want a ‘Cars 2′.” Interestingly enough, everybody I’ve talked to who’s seen the film, said they really liked it, but they didn’t hear anything good about it coming into it. So I think a lot of that bad sentiment just comes from the general distaste of a Pixar Sequel that isn’t Toy Story. Sheep, you should know what this is, after all, you work for Rare, look how many fans dunked ‘Kinect Sports’ under the water before giving it a chance! That game wasn’t the ‘hardcore title’ fans expected from your studio.

Looking back, Cars 2 was excellently animated, storyboarded, and it had incredibly impressive visuals. The plot is incredibly cohesive, deep, and simplistic, which is an incredible achievement in and of itself. The caricatured locations are absolutely gorgeous.