Spy Thriller in the Cars Universe

Rating: 8/10 (4 July 2011)

Take the Cars characters, place them in "Wacky Races"-style races, mix in a healthy dose of Bond (including physically impossible gear), shake (don't stir) and you get Cars 2. Finn McMissile is Bond and Sir Miles Axlerod is Dominic Greene. A character who has already given surprises us shows them in spades in a fun globe-trotting adventure.
The Michael Giacchino soundtrack, just like his work for The Incredibles, invokes a number of spy themes. "Collision of Worlds" by Robbie Williams & Brad Paisley hits the combining of Cars and Bond.
Cats and Dogs 2 has numerous Bond references - this film has an absolute ridiculous number of them, starting from the Aston Martin DB5, Bond's iconic vehicle (FYI, they're listed in the credits). For a Bond fan like me, they're fun, but the family-film only people will be confused and angry (unless they watch the Spy-oriented family films like Spy Kids).
Lightning McQueen grew up in the first film - this time it's Mater's turn.His country hick persona and inability to keep a secret hide his strengths. How everyone grows I'll leave for you to discover (and some folks seem like they didn't). A hint: Think Columbo and Matlock.
Lots of guns, explosions, and numerous understood deaths of vehicles. (Don't the 80''s Transformers do this?) Fortunately, nothing as cold as Bond killing a henchman. Also, aren't kids often playing with cars hitting each other and shooting?
Including the closing credits, this film borrows from numerous films in an interesting concoction (shaken, not stirred) worthy of the professional critic rating it has been getting. My daughter is awaiting its arrival on DVD/Blu-Ray/Digital Copy to see it again and again. Myself, I'll be getting the soundtrack once I put enough in iTunes cards together...
Disclosures: I own Disney stock which was originally Pixar stock. A relative of mine, Michael Fong (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0284591/), works at Pixar. Finally, my screen-saver is a collection of photographs of Aston Martin Rapides I took at a special showing at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco in 2009 and the 2010 San Francisco Auto Show.