4. Cars 2 - Meet Finn McMissile
Cars 2 will always be remembered as the first blot on Pixars previously immaculate record. A follow up to its then weakest film, the sequel ditched the heartfelt message that friends give your life meaning and replaced it with a lifeless spy story. Focussing on Mater, a character no one liked from the first one, the film, uncharacteristically for Pixar, devolved into a nonsensical mess. When I first saw Cars 2, the showing was cut short by a fire alarm, meaning I was left only seeing the first five minutes. And boy what a first five minutes they are. We witness super spy Finn McMissile in a thrilling set piece on an oil rig, observing a deadly plot then making his explosive mistake. With Michael Giacchinos rousing score and Pixar's always sterling animation, it functions as both a pastiche of Bond films (with the Aston Martin design and numerous gadgets) and as an action scene in its own right. When I returned to see the film fully, I couldn't help but be disappointed. Pixar always have amazing openings and normally follow them up with a worthy rest of the film Up and Toy Story 3 are two obvious examples but the moment we move to Radiator Springs the film falls down massively.