Soundtrack Includes Weezer, Robbie Williams & Brad Paisley
OK, so we know that Disney makes literally billions and billions of dollars a year off merchandise for the original “Cars,” so the sequel was something of a no-brainer for them, but do they really need to sell it this hard? Apple has debuted the latest trailer for “Cars 2” on their site, which marks the 25th such entry for the film in the last year. Admittedly, most have been brief video introductions to seemingly every character glimpsed in the film, but it still seems like overkill.
Particularly when the film continues to look so unappealing. The first film in the series might have been at the bottom end of Pixar‘s usually stellar output, but it at least had a kind of Midwestern geniality that doesn’t seem to have been replicated here, with the latest clip reinforcing the feeling that the switch to the spy genre has made a film more garish, noisy and charmless than we’d ever expect from John Lasseter‘s dream factory.
There’s plenty of new footage here, including more substantial looks at the characters voiced by Michael Caine and Emily Mortimer, and the first glimpses of those played by John Turturro and Eddie Izzard. Everyone loves Eddie Izzard, right? We also get the first glimpse of what seems to be the film’s emotional arc, with Larry The Cable Guy‘s Mater looking sad because everyone thinks he’s a fool. To be fair, we don’t think he’s a fool. We think he’s a hillbilly prick.
The second half of the trailer also punishes your eardrums with an atrocious version of The Cars‘ “You Might Think” by the now-firmly-beyond-redemption Weezer, which a press release from Disney reveals heads up a soundtrack collection that also includes a track from Japanese girl-band Perfume, two tracks from country star Brad Paisley, one of which is a rock ‘n’ roll duet with British pop star Robbie Williams, and a song by French band Bénabar. Ouch. On the plus side, we suppose, Playlist favorite Michael Giacchino co-wrote the latter, as well as composed the film’s score, which also features on the release, and we guarantee that it’ll be the best thing about the film.
The soundtrack will hit stores on June 14th, with the film following hot on its heels on June 24th. Maybe it’ll surprise us, but Disney has had plenty of chances to change our minds so far, and haven’t yet delivered. Although, hey, maybe the next 17 trailers will be an improvement!
