How low can you go?

Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan

Will there be very many more reviews? Since it opens today, are there usually very many stragglers on RT?

 

Originally Posted By DDMAN26

I don't think there would be but who knows.

 

Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan

120 reviews, now down to 34%.

 

Originally Posted By basil fan

The only thing I liked about Cars were the backgrounds. The only part I found mildly entertaining was the cow-tipping scene.

I find CGI pretty lifeless in general (except for Rapunzel), and making the characters machines just increased the static feeling.

Plus, cars and racing just bore me. And I really don't see the appeal of Mater. In fact, there wasn't one character in the first movie I really cared for.

all things considered, I don't want to spend six bucks and 2 hours on on a "you might like it."

However, the real reason I posted was to mention that our local newpaper called it better than the original.

House of Mouse
<a href="http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/disney/house.html" target="_blank">http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/...use.html</a>

 

Originally Posted By utahjosh

77% positive from viewers.

 

Originally Posted By Manfried

Thank you utahjosh.

 

Originally Posted By skinnerbox

<<Thank you utahjosh.>>

For what? I started this thread about the critics. I don't care to discuss what the public thinks of this film, and stated from the beginning that I knew it would do good business:

"Even though I fully expect this film to do very well at the box, it will probably end up as the worst rated Pixar film to date."

Discussing what the movie goers think of the film is for another thread elsewhere on the boards. I wanted to focus on the critics because of their history of absolutely adoring every single film that Pixar had done previously, with the possible exception of Cars.

In most critics' eyes, Pixar could do no wrong.

My, how the tide has turned indeed.

 

Originally Posted By skinnerbox

For the record, that 77% audience approval is now at 73%. And the 34% RT critics rating is now at 33%.

 

Originally Posted By EmmaJayne

Cars 2 may be the weakest of the Pixar films - however it's not all together bad.
I believe a lot of critics are harder on it because it's below the normal Pixar standards..

Honestly, I didn't really like it but I will still be buying the DVD for Master 4 and I wouldn't say it was horrible. It felt like a sequel but it did have some redeeming qualities. I felt there were some good gags and quality animation. The opening scene of each new country was wonderful.. The story line was a little weak but 34% seems unreasonably low considering

Meet the Robinsons is sitting at 66% and it was so bad I actually fell asleep then walked out.

Hannah Montana: The Movie, which just felt like on over extended episode, has a rating if 44%

I'm sure there are others.. 34% to me, indicates the movie was almost totally a disaster.. I understand how RT works and it all depends how many critics wrote on a certain film etc but even so.. it seems like they are being highly critical of Cars 2 just because it is Pixar's worst.. It might not be up to the same standard as their other films, but it's not terrible either.

 

Originally Posted By dshyates

I often wonder if I am actually seeing the same films you guys are. I like Rat, I LOVED Wall.E. I thought the beginning of Up was brilliant. And i could hang with the story during the flying the house and walking it around to the falls. And the Kevin thing was cute. But when the dogs started talking, i just had to roll my eyes. When the talking dogs started flying airplanes all I could think was:

<a href="http://sharetv.org/shows/dastardly_and_muttley_in_their_flying_machines" target="_blank">http://sharetv.org/shows/dasta...machines</a>

I was ready to simply walk out of the theater.

I found TS3 to be boring, and forced. 'Oh, my, we're all gonna die in an incinerator. Let's hold hands'. Give me a frickin' break.

As far as Cars 2. I had a ball. I thought it was hee-larious. I would watch it over Up or TS3 ANYDAY.

But I still think KFP2 was the best Animated feature I have seen this year

 

Originally Posted By mawnck

This isn't even that good a popcorn movie.

Popcorn movies only work if someone you give a darn about appears to be in real jeopardy. Neither were true in this case. I never was all that charmed with Mater to begin with, and there were so many IM-plausible impossibles bailing him out at every turn that being in jeopardy was never even in question.

Result ... I spent the whole movie scanning the screen for sight gags. And that's a lot easier to do on a rented DVD.

The fact that there isn't much heart in there doesn't seem to be in dispute, and I'm sure not going to dispute it.

Cars 1 was better. KFP2 was better. Rango was better. Heck, Over the Hedge was better. Pixar, I am disappoint.

PS - Thumbs up on Hawaiian Vacation, and the trailer for Brave. Thumbs way way down, followed by a different finger way way up, for the 3D Lion King. But I'll put that in the relevant topic.

 

Originally Posted By skinnerbox

<<For the record, that 77% audience approval is now at 73%. And the 34% RT critics rating is now at 33%.>>

Quick update: RT rating is back up to 34% at 146 critics. But the 73% audience approval is now at 67%. I suspect that number will dip even lower as the week progresses.

No doubt that Cars 2 won the weekend, with an estimated $68 mil. But adjusting for inflation and increase in ticket prices, how does that compare to other Pixar films, including the original Cars?

<a href="http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3192&p=.htm" target="_blank">http://www.boxofficemojo.com/n...2&p=.htm</a>

"Cars 2 marks Pixar's first sequel to something other than Toy Story, but, while the first Cars was presumably a favorite among tykes, it wasn't beloved by everyone else. It debuted to $60.1 million five years ago and closed with $244.1 million, or the equivalent of $72 million and $293 million adjusted for ticket price inflation."

That's quite a difference, considering 40% of the box for Cars 2 is from higher priced 3D tickets, which would make the $72 million for the original an even more impressive figure.

I have no doubt that the film will do well financially, and the toy sales will be astronomical, as they have been for the past five years. I'm just frustrated that many Pixar fans have used the stellar RT ratings for previous films as justification for why Pixar can do no wrong, while now dismissing many of the same critics because they gave Cars 2 a thumbs down.

So when the critics love a Pixar film, they're smart and clever and know quality when they see it. But when the same critics hate a Pixar film, they've got an agenda against Lasseter or are too elitist or they're stupid and wouldn't know quality if it bit them in the behind. Sounds quite hypocritical to me.


At the end of the day, Cars 2 is nothing but a toy merchandising pimp. Not exactly what I was hoping to see Pixar become, given the films that preceded this one. But truthfully, Pixar stopped being Pixar the moment Disney acquired them. And that's coming from several friends who've worked at Pixar since the Point Richmond days.

 

Originally Posted By mawnck

Worth noting ... not many critics HATED Cars 2. *I* didn't hate Cars 2. The low, low score on RT exposes the limitation of their fresh/rotten scoring system. A mildly negative review gets the same "rotten" as an angry rant against the movie and the reels it rode in on.

To get a more representative rating, go to metacritic.com, which only uses "respected" critics and scores each review on a percentage scale rather than a simple thumbs up/thumbs down. Cars 2 gets a 58 from them, which IMHO is about right.

<a href="http://www.metacritic.com/movie/cars-2" target="_blank">http://www.metacritic.com/movie/cars-2</a>

Here are the scores for all the PIXAR flicks. Ratatouille FTW!
<a href="http://www.metacritic.com/company/pixar-animation-studios" target="_blank">http://www.metacritic.com/comp...-studios</a>

Aaand Dreamworks:
<a href="http://www.metacritic.com/company/dreamworks-animation" target="_blank">http://www.metacritic.com/comp...nimation</a>
(See? I told you Over the Hedge was better than Cars 2.)

 

Originally Posted By CuriousConstance

God, I hated Over the Hedge. I still have to watch that terrible thing from time to time because my kids own it. I hate the music in it, I hate the character voices, I hate the whole darn thing!

 

Originally Posted By DlandDug

>>In most critics' eyes, Pixar could do no wrong.

My, how the tide has turned indeed.<<

It's ONE FILM. One not-so-good film.

One wave does not a tide make!

 

Originally Posted By skinnerbox

I wasn't referring to the film itself, Doug. I was referring to the critics' attitude towards Pixar films in general.

So many of these critics have been way too positive in the past with Pixar features. Sure, they're good films. Some of them are great films, even classics. But many of these critics do take a black-and-white view regarding this studio, as if it were incapable of making a poor film. Which, of course, is impossible for any film studio to do over the course of 10 or 20 years.

Yes, the tide has turned, based on this one film. It's Pixar's first "rotten" film. Even at mawnck's metacritic link, it's still not highly positive, compared to previous Pixar efforts.

Truthfully, I never expected to see this many negative, even mildly negative reviews for a Pixar feature. The original Cars received 74% at RT, and that's not shabby at all. Still mostly positive, at 3 out of 4 reviews. But 34% on RT? And 58% on metacritic? For a Pixar film?? That truly floors me, given the infatuation the film critic community has had for Pixar since Toy Story.

That's the tide that has turned.

 

Originally Posted By skinnerbox

I guess what I'm trying to state but not in a very effective manner, is that so many critics have supported Pixar so blindly until now, that I find the high number of solidly negative and somewhat negative reviews to be astonishing. This professional community has been nothing but infatuated with Pixar and Lasseter. I never thought they would have the capacity to write a negative review for anything produced by this studio. And that's what I meant by the tide has turned.

 

Originally Posted By JeffG

>> "I guess what I'm trying to state but not in a very effective manner, is that so many critics have supported Pixar so blindly until now, that I find the high number of solidly negative and somewhat negative reviews to be astonishing. " <<

Have you considered that your past impression of "blind" support from the critics was the wrong one? I would say that the mixed-to-negative reaction to "Cars 2" pretty strongly suggests that the critical support for the previous films was likely based on genuine admiration for the films themselves.

-Jeff

 

Originally Posted By DlandDug

Post #58 beat me to the punch. My thoughts exactly.

 

Originally Posted By DDMAN26

I thought the movie was fine and entertaining. But two things really excite me one deals directly with Pixar and the other has nothing to do with them. The first is the images from Brave are stunning. I'm really looking forward to it. And the other is Brad Bird went over to Paramount to direct Mission Impossible:Ghost Protocol and Andrew Stanton is directing John Carter for Disney. I'm really excited to see how these guys handle live action.