Pixar REVS UP Cars 2

LITTLE ROCK — Cars 2 88

Cast:

(Voices of) Larry the Cable Guy, Owen Wilson, Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, John Turturro, Eddie Izzard, Joe Mantegna, Bonnie Hunt, Franco Nero, Tony Shalhoub, Bruce Campbell, Edie McClurg, Vanessa Redgrave

Directors:

John Lasseter and Brad Lewis

Rating:G

Running time:104 minutes

By Pixar’s own elevated standards, Cars, the scenic, animated amble on the backroads of the Roadrunner’s desert Southwest, was the company’s worst film. Laugh-starved, lacking much in the line of action, it was a triumph of toy sales and product tie-in (NASCAR) over motion picture.

Cars 2 overcompensates for those “Get off the fast track” midlife crisis musings, but does so in an often funny and action-packed “James Bond goes racing” comedy. It turns more of the story over to the comic relief, the dopey tow truck Tow Mater,and gets a sillier, more kid-friendly movie out of it.

In a Bond-style “opening gambit,” we see a scheme involving deep-sea oil rigs, which has attracted the interest of Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Agent Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) drags the inexperienced Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer, Caine’s Harry Brown co-star) along on the chase.

Mater (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy) is still in Radiator Springs, long-ing for those occasional visits from his stock-car racer pal, Lightning McQueen. He’s a drawling hick of an embarrassment to McQueen (Owen Wilson), but at least he goads the Piston Cup champ into entering a world grand prix series sponsored by Sir Miles Axlerod (Eddie Izzard), who is promoting his new alternative fuel “Allinol.”

But when McQueen and his crew start racing, they get into a feud with a snotty Formula 1 champion (John Turturro, doing his broadest, funniest Italian accent). Meanwhile, Mater is mistaken for an American agent and sucked into intrigues with the Brits.

“You obviously have plenty of experience in the field,” McMissile observes.

“Well, I do live right next to one,” Mater drawls back.

Somebody is plotting to ruin the racing series, and at every turn, infamously ugly “lemons” from the automotive past (Gremlins, Pacers and Yugos - called “Hugos” here) are car-napping our heroes and causing wrecks in “Tow-kyo,” Italy and London. What might their motives be, and who could be their boss?

Bad guys must be foiled, Mater must figure out where his competence lies and Lightning has to realize that “Whoever finds a friend, finds a treasure.” Vintage Pixar messages.

And as in the first Cars, Cars 2 is jammed with homages to vintage motoring - Mini Coopers, Fiats, a Rolls Royce and a NASCAR MonteCarlo. This is a cartoon for the Top Gear dad to drag the kids to. But unlike the first Cars, the kids won’t mind this time. This Pixar product is better than the toys they sell along with it.

MovieStyle, Pages 33 on 06/24/2011

Print Headline: Pixar REVS UP Cars 2