Cars 2 [PG]

Racing champ Lightning McQueen is back with all his friends in Razor Springs for a bit of R and R, until he gets roped into competing in the World Grand Prix race. To add insult to injury, McQueen also gets roped into brining his best friend Mater along, but their friendship becomes rocky as, through a series of incidents, Mater gets mixed up in an adventure of his own: industrial espionage. 

All the memorable characters from Cars are back, as well as a few new ones and, without a doubt, this is one of the rare occasions where the sequel is better than its predecessor. 

Racing champ Lightning McQueen is back in Razor Springs with all his friends for a bit of R and R, until he gets roped into competing in the World Grand Prix race, which starts in Japan, goes through Italy, and finishes in England. To add insult to injury, McQueen also gets roped into bringing his best friend Mater along, but their companionship becomes rocky as, through a series of incidents, Mater gets mixed up in an adventure of his own: industrial espionage. 

Admittedly not as warm and heartfelt as the first one, Cars 2 did still harbour some strong messages about friendship and acceptance. Which was nice. 

But I think what makes this film a little more memorable was the fact that everything about it was just bigger. 

For a start, we travel through three different countries and get to see other famous figures represented as cars, including the Pope and Her Majesty the Queen. 

Secondly, the story of Mater’s adventure with a couple of secret agents was pretty damn cool: engaging and visually cool to watch; the gadgets that some of these cars had were pretty trippy and impressive, and it gave the film that feeling of watching a Bond film… only animated and about cars. I don’t know, in general it just amused me more than the first one did, and it didn’t try and recreate too many of its predecessor’s jokes, which I thought was a good thing. 

Featuring the voice talents of Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Bonnie Hunt, Emily Mortimer, John Turturro, Eddie Izzard, and Michael Caine, Cars 2 was a fun family film that was packed with action, adventure, comedy, friendship, drama, gadgets, and suspense. I still don’t think that the whole Cars thing was Pixar’s finest cinematic achievement, but they’re fun films to watch nonetheless.