I absolutely love Cars 2. It’s definitely very high up on my list of Pixar films, and films in general. But after watching this great movie 4 times in theaters and many times elsewhere, I think I’ve noticed something interesting that may cast the outcome of the movie in new light.
So the entire film, Axelrod and the lemons were trying to create a conspiracy to make alternative fuel look bad, right? Because they own the world’s largest oil supply, and they would earn huge profits if everyone stuck to gasoline and fossil fuels. At the end of the film, there’s a sense of victory because Axelrod and his conspiracy plot gets exposed. But… what I’ve realized is that other than that, nothing has really changed! It turns out there’s actually no “magical alternative fuel”, because Allinol is just engineered gasoline. Soo, cars will still be using gasoline. And the lemons still hold the oil supply. And… you guessed it, that means that they still are going to getting filthy rich. Also, considering how the lemons almost managed to pull off the biggest coverup in cars history, I hardly think that anyone’s going to be making fun of them anyone. In the end, it looks like that they all got exactly what they wanted in the first place.
Some people may point this out as a plothole and evidence that the Cars 2 storyline was flawed. But I actually think this is very interesting, and that it adds to the overall ambiguity and complexity to the film, not detracts anything from the plot. It just goes to show that sometimes total victory is not achievable. But preventing the alternate, total destruction, can be enough of a victory in and of itself. So, what are your thoughts? Who do you think had the victory in the end?
This is a very interesting perspective, Ding. I never thought of that!
Well, I suppose that now Axlerod has been uncovered as a mastermind behind acts of terrorism, all his assets will be confiscated. If he partly-owned the oilfield, those will be liquidated (not literally, of course) and ownership will be transferred to the British government (since he’s a British citizen).
I’m not sure if the lemons own part or all of the oilfield; I’ll need a rewatch. But if they did, that would be a lost, since it was (I assume) legitimately obtained. If it was in international waters, I suppose they have a right to it. But if it was within the waters of another country, I suppose that country can lay claim to it.
I guess the ‘victory’ is that clean fuel is not discredited as a viable alternative, and maybe some honest scientist or financier will uncover real technology in the future. If anything, this international incident would give gasoline a bad name, and maybe convince more cars to consider safer and cleaner substitutes.
I’m by no means a qualified lawyer, but these are my two cents on the legal ramifications.
Wow, Ding, that never crossed my mind! Good find. I mean, TDIT pretty much said all there is to say. Their oil shares might be taken away when they’re shown to be connected to AxelRod.
This is all so confusing. I think that basically their plan was to get everyone to stop using organic oil and/or solar power for good, making all those cars flock to their oil fields.
But overall, things just keep going the way it did before the film. I mean, all the cars must of got their oil from SOMEWHERE other than Axelrod’s field. So I guess they keep going there.
And after all THAT oil is done with, they’d use Axelrod’s. Which was probably seized by the Cars world’s version of the UN, seeing to that he was a criminal and couldn’t own the fields anymore.
That or a war between nations would break out over the fields. Hey, Cars 3 anyone?
Ohh! I’d like to see a mystery one like “Mater Private Eye” in black and white. I guess that is kind of similar to Cars 2 but I just thought it was really neat. I think it was just because of the black and white.
I have a great idea for Cars 3! A oil tycoon from a rival fuel company hires Lightning to do a job for him. Lightning, the most skilled extractor, travels all over to assemble a team which consists of Holley, Mater, and Finn. They have to enter Axlerod’s mind and dreams to plant the idea for him to dissolve his oil empire. Along the way will be dreams within dreams, intense slow motion gunfights, gravity disregarding, reality questioning, and reconciliation with oneself and a deceased lover. Wow, I should really pitch this idea!
Wait, could we even assume these lemons are intelligent enough to negotiate their oil shares across the globe, or remember the coordinates of its location?
I mean, 
Their oil shares might be taken away when they’re shown to be connected to AxelRod.
That sounds amazing! 