Cars 2 is vintage Pixar: a rousing adventure, overflowing with humour, colour and personality

Rating: 8/10 (24 July 2011)

A super spy car named Finn McMissile (voiced by Michael Caine), who belongs to British intelligence, sneaks onto an oil derrick to photograph an extraordinary new weapon that's being developed by the evil Professor Z (Thomas Kretschmann). Meanwhile, back in the town of Radiator Springs, Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is looking to find some space for himself and his girlfriend Sally, away from his best friend Mater (Larry the Cable Guy). But after Mater confronts a rival of McQueen's over the phone, an arrogant racing car called Francesco (John Turturro), McQueen is invited to the World Grand Prix race, organised by Sir Miles Axlerod (Eddie Izzard). His race is being held in four countries, Japan, France, Italy and Britain and he's promoting it through alternative energy by having some of the cars run on electric power instead of regular oil. At a promotional party in Tokyo, Mater is mistaken for an American spy by McMissile and his impulsive assistance Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer). They enlist him on a mission to stop the super weapon from being aimed at cars on the racetrack.
Cars 2 is vintage Pixar: a rousing adventure, overflowing with humour, colour and personality. Most sequels look to recycle what was previously successful. Here, the clever screenplay by Ben Queen has changed the direction of Cars entirely. The first film centred on the reinvigoration of a small, desert community, as McQueen did some soul-searching. But despite retaining some of the same important moral lessons, Cars 2 is more on par with a spy movie and has given Mater the centre stage this time. The opening chase scenes work to parody the James Bond films by including a mysterious villain, high tech gadgets and a devious scheme on a global scale. But most pleasing is how effective the writers have worked the classic line of 'mistaken identity' into the story and the film's composition too. Cars 2 reveals itself to be a tribute to any number of Hitchcock films, complete with a MacGuffin-like device as well. There's an exhilarating racing scene in Toyko where directors John Lasseter and Brad Lewis handle this with aplomb. Using cross-cutting, they bring three or four different threads together at once, so effortlessly, that the film bursts with humour and dramatic irony. Adding to the fun is when the film plays with other chase movie clichés, including old favourites like the red digital readout bomb, all moving at a rapid pace. And as expected, the animation is flawless. Each city looks and feels unique, in part because of the colour and the miniscule level of detail. Look for sight gags like the monocle on Professor Z, the bobby hats on the British police cars, a glimpse of the Popemobile or even just the expressive brow of Mater himself. It's stunning how often Pixar draws emotion from once inanimate objects. They're aided immeasurably by some excellent voice actors, who bring feeling to their characters. And if this wasn't enough incentive, there's a very funny short film before the main picture, featuring the cast of Toy Story. Ka- chow!