EnemyPavement

I saw Cars 3 in the theaters with a group of adults without ever seeing Cars 2. The film holds up as a sequel to the first movie. I recently rewatched all three movies and in all honesty, you really don't need to watch Cars 2.

If you're seeing these movies for the first time, skip Cars 2 and go straight to Cars 3. You won't be confused with what's going on. Cars 2 is such an offshoot from the first film It's like a bizarre fever dream that never needed to happen.

Cars 3 takes the franchise back to its roots thematically, structurally, and aesthetically. And while its not as good as the original film, its miles better than the second film.

The movie really puts Lightning McQueen in the shoes of his mentor Doc Hudson as Lightning, now an older car, finds himself getting passed by younger vehicles and gets into a crash that almost ruins his career. Its a surprisingly touching story.

Its not Shakespeare, and no one should expect it to be. But it goes above and beyond its expectations as the third installment to one of Pixar's weaker franchises.

You can't expect much from a direct-to-video, CGI, Lego movie. And it seems almost appalling that Warner bros. would allow a film like this to be made or that someone would even conjure up the idea for this movie in the first place.

But surprisingly enough, I didn't hate it. I mean don't get me wrong, it's not a good movie, but its not nearly as bad as the premise led me to believe.

First of all, they did manage to get the official voice cast together to make this. That alone improves the film. The movie also has a pretty classic Scooby-Doo plot that is executed fairly well. On top of that, they managed to pull off the comedy. The jokes were good and they even had some pretty clever Lego-inspired gags throughout.

But of course, this movie does fall short in a lot of areas. Besides the funny bits, the script was poorly written. The supporting characters were throw-away consisting of an unsettling and unappealing tour guide, an off-brand Elvira, and not one, but two generic J Jonah Jameson ripoffs.

The ending was also completely predictable, they didn't give Velma anything to do throughout the film, and they mis-characterized Daphne by giving her a craving for fame. A trait I don't recall from any of the other movies/TV shows.

In the end, this movie obviously isn't great, but also isn't a train-wreck and I'm sure your kid will love it if they like Scooby-Doo and have a weird thing for Legos.

This has been the first time I've watched the Wiggles as an adult and I must say I was quite surprised by the quality of this video.

This was filmed about 15 years after the group's formation and even as an adult, watching it without children, I still found it entertaining somehow. Maybe it's nostalgia. I don't know. But the performances were great and some of the songs were kinda catchy.

It's a bit odd at times. There's a weird Genie character who is aggressive about his passion for oranges, there's a guy dancing around in a big pink fish costume, and they've all aged quite a bit since the last time I saw them. But I think this makes it all the more entertaining.

I will however mention the fact that though the video's title is 'Surfer Jeff', there isn't really a whole lot of surfing going on. They sing one song about how Jeff is good at surfing and then they move on to sing about olive oil (for whatever reason).

Considering the fact that this is one of the group's final projects with the original lineup, I think its well worth the watch. AND if you plan on watching this movie with children like a normal human being, I'm sure they'd get a kick out of it too.