I don’t think in this respect “weakest” equals to “worst”. I agree Pixar doesn’t have a worst film, but it’s inevitable to have a weakest one.
I agree. And honestly I agree that that would be Cars in my perceptions. But, my point was, that we’re all paying good money to see the sequel, right? So at least we all enjoyed Cars. 
I couldn’t agree more with your statement IV.
Hahaha your welcome Virginia. 
Well I don’t see how Cars can be Pixar’s weakest. I just don’t understand why and it sometimes bothers me to see this kind of topic come up on the Cars board. It’s one of those things that just annoys me when it comes to my favourite movie because it feels like Cars is always being treated like the runt of the litter. 
It’s based off a lackluster script and a by-the-numbers story. You’re going to have to get used to hearing tthat unless Cars 2 beats it for that distinction.
I already am used to it, I’ve been hearing it for 5 years… Could somebody please explain to me what a “lackluster script” is supposed to be? I know what it means but please explain to me why everyone feels that Cars has such a poor story. I hear this all the time but nobody ever says why.
Cars doesn’t have a poor story. It’s simply not great. That doesn’t mean it’s bad.
The whys? The scrip has some problems, most of them about the pacing, which makes the film feel a little overlong. Other thing I’ve noticed is that the story is all about setting the character for the final moral. Mater isn’t an appealing character for everybody. The dialog is week sometimes. The love story (sorry shippers, I know you’re most Cars fans) isn’t developed in a good way. Oh, and sometimes the humor is a little too childish.
That said, I must repeat that I love this film. It’s not bad at all. It’s still impressive, specially on the technical level. But it has flaws and what’s wrong with admitting them?
Nothing is wrong with admitting their flaws. Thank you for actually going into detail and explaining that because I hear that complaint all the time but it never gets backed up. I understand the movie isn’t perfect but as a Cars fan it just hurts me to always have to see topics like this. I feel like this tends to happen a lot more when it comes to Cars. I think we need to remember that Cars has a lot of strong points too and that it’s different for every person.
Of course it has strong points. But the fact that it has more low points than the other Pixar movies is what make it the weakest. It’s just that simple.
Actually, my explanation of the script flaws wasn’t very good (I’m not very able to review things in English). But I’ve seen critics that offer their opinion on why the script is weak, and back it up properly.
That makes it weakest in your opinion, and the opinions of many others but that doesn’t mean it truly is. Personally Pixar’s weakest for me is A Bug’s Life. I’m not a big fan of Ratatouille either as a Pixar film. I mean, I’m not against it or anything, it’s a good film but I was really disappointed in it. I wouldn’t call it the weakest though, like I said, A Bug’s Life is the weakest in my opinion.
Funny thing. I think Ratatouille has the strongest script 
I wasn’t talking about the script. I was disappointed because the ads were quite misleading to what the actual storyline was.
Oh, well, then you should blame the marketing department (which isn’t even Pixar’s, but Disney). I understand that the trailers focused more on the slapstick element, but I don’t think they were misleading.
Anyway, I went in there with somewhat low expectations (Cars hadn’t exactly met my expectatives, and while I liked Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, at the time I wasn’t mature enough to realize how good they were) and Ratatouille blew me away.
It was the film that renewed my faith in Pixar, and I still have a soft spot for it.
See, and just as Ratatouille took you in awe Cars did the same thing to me. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Cars. My favourite Pixar movies are Cars, Finding Nemo, Monster’s Inc, the Toy Story’s and The Incrediblies.
The thing is(and I’m not attacking anyone or arguing, just trying to explain) this isn’t about our opinions. I mean, if we’re discussing opinions, then I say it is Finding Nemo that’s the weakest. But, Finding Nemo isn’t weak at all. I just don’t love it. But “weakest” refers to objective fact, critiquing each film individually, and then seeing how each measures up. Personally, I really believe that that is Cars. But, Cars is one of my favorites!
But that’s how that works. Cars is just the least well made Pixar movie. There’s nothing wrong with that. 
That’s exactly what I was trying to say, Virginia! I’m glad you agree.
It’s all up to objective facts, as you said.
I find no problem with the talking cars or the “realistic” aspect of it. They’re talking cars. You’ve seen talking toys, fish, bugs, robots, monsters, superheros, an old man flying his house to South America, a cooking rat, and all those movies had 90% and up on RT. Yet you complain about talking cars not being realistic? It’s a dang kids film.
What I don’t like about Cars or Cars 2 is the story. The first one felt far too predictable, and I’ve never seen a Pixar film which has been predictable. This one was a bit more unpredictable, as with any other Pixar film. Who imagined the toys coming within spitting distance of facing death in a fiery inferno? Who expected PT Flea to crash the party and expose Flick? Who expected Syndrome to steal Jack Jack? Pixar films have lean, fun, and unpredictable stories. Cars did not have one of these, and while Cars 2 is less predictable, it still is no Toy Story 3 or Up.
Am I unfair for comparing it to past Pixar efforts? I don’t feel I am. Cars 2 is more cartoonish then other Pixar films, Up was far more serious and even more cartoonish in design (Carl and Russell’s stylized looks), yet despite bringing audiences to tears with life and death, it was hilarious, and made me laugh more then Cars 2. Emotion doesn’t mean a story has to be serious or tear jerking. Again, WALL E, Up, and Toy Story 3 were serious, but hilarious at many points. Cars 2 gets a few “aww’s” at a few times, but I felt no emotional stirring like I did with those three films. Monsters Inc was not as serious as those three examples of Pixar emotion at it’s finest, yet I was shocked to see ten years after it came out, Monsters Inc made me weep.
Back to comparing to older Pixar films, I don’t feel I’m wrong because Pixar had -always- done right. We have come to expect Pixar being Picasso at filmmaking. And this time, they didn’t do so. I believed that with eleven straight critical successes, after a sequel like Toy Story 3, Pixar could do no wrong. I mean, what happened? We are likely just spoiled after eleven straight “fresh” films from Pixar. Imagine being at a fancy restaurant, and by the twelfth course, you’re already full, your bloated belly is full of great, delicious meals, and your favorite dress pants are about to rip, you’re so used to the good eating. Yet Cars 2 has let us down, and that’s when you take your check and leave, disappointed the chefs messed up on course #12. Yes, we are spoiled by Pixar’s flawless record, but this relative critical flop is not the end of the world. Pixar and Disney have gotten rich off of their movies, one flop isnt going to deter them. Will it make them seriously think and learn from this mistake? DEFINETLY. But this is not the end of anything.
I’m not giving up on Pixar because of this IMO screw up, but I’m not a purist who will overlook this. Pixar’s track record has proven it can do better then this - it just proved it last year with Toy Story 3. And you know what? Those Oscar level films, Ratatouille, WALL E, Up, and Toy
Story 3 came after the first Cars. So how will Pixar make up for this flop? And why didn’t they learn their lesson from the first Cars? And how did Pixar let this happen? I imagine we will see this answer and more once John Lasseter is interviewed by the press about Pixar’s first “flop”.
That’s an interesting review Chopperface . It isn’t the end of the world if this film is a dud, as you are saying; if anything, it could be a great thing. Because Pixar could learn something very valuable.
“It is good to have a failure while you are young because it teaches you so much. For one thing it makes you aware that such a thing can happen to anybody, and once you’ve lived through the worst, you’re never quite as vulnerable afterwards.”
-Walt Disney
^ Great quote right there! Well, if we all just agree that Cars is the weakest then I don’t really get why we are having this discussion. 