I should probably start by saying that the first Cars film ranks in my top 5 movies of all time. With it, Pixar managed to tell an engaging and original story with a heartfelt message through the use of cutting edge graphics and technology. It was a film that was truly more than the sum of its parts.

Unfortunately, with Cars 2 the opportunity to build on what made the first such a stellar piece of storytelling was forsaken by a lack of focus all around.

The plot, as others have mentioned, is multithreaded and confusing. This is uncharacteristic of Pixar, whose films have always focused on story first. As a spy film, it's merely ok. As a moral tale of alternative energy, it's weak (alternative fuel has been invented, but wait -- no it hasn't?). There is no character arc for any of the leads (whereas McQueen's character arc was what made the first film so touching). Francesco himself starts out as an arrogant foil to McQueen, but never learns his lesson or has an opportunity to change. He simply gets forgotten by the wayside as the story about the faux-alternative fuel takes center stage.

As for the merchandising, this is where I am baffled. Prior to seeing the film, I was excited to see all the new characters from Francesco to Raoul to Carla Veloso and Jeff Gorvette. Most of these new characters don't even have speaking parts! All that creativity is simply squandered.

As a final note, who was it that saw Cars 1 and then thought, "I know, if we add guns & bombs we can make a sequel that will be awesome."

In light of alternatives for children such as Tangled, Toy Story or even Sammy the Turtle, the more I think about it, the fewer stars this film deserves.