Cars 2 involves Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater going around the world for a grand prix. Along the way, Mater is mistaken for a spy and is targeted as an enemy by “Lemons” (A funny nickname for cars who always break down) and as an ally by Finn McMissile and Holly Shiftwell, who are both members of British intelligence.

THE VOICE ACTORS
Mater took a backseat role to Lightning McQueen in Cars, but in Cars 2, the roles are reversed. Mater is definitely the main character as most of the film happens around him. Larry The Cable Guy is great as Mater but, either by fault of the script or just him, I feel he slipped in part of his catchphrase too much “That right there is funny”, the first few times i didn’t mind, but every time it happened it would become more and more obvious, to a point where Mater was becoming slightly unbearable.

There are two main characters introduced in this movie, Finn McMissile, played brilliantly by Michael Caine and Holly Shiftwell, played greatly by Emily Mortimer, both have previously worked on Harry Brown, another great film. Caine is charming, funny and just perfect as the suave 007-esque character and Mortimer is equally brilliant as the new agent Holly Shiftwell and their chemistry is fantastic and just strengthens the film.

Owen Wilson and all the other cast do a great job, however i do have one gripe, enough of putting famous people in the movie for a crappy cameo. It isn’t funny, 90% of your audience won’t catch them all and they are just tedious.

THE ANIMATION
Cars 2 looks absolutely beautiful. You can truly appreciate all the fine detail that Pixar put into all of their films. I watched Cars 2 on Blu-ray and can safely say that it is the best picture quality i have ever seen, it truly blew me away and perfect for testing the capabilities of your home set up.

From the tiny light reflections off of the cars, to the detail of the brick in a huge building, it is all perfect, down to the tiniest detail.

CONCLUSION
When I heard that Pixar were making a sequel to Cars, i immediately thought that this was it for Pixar, they have no new ideas and are just cashing in. The above statement is partly true, Pixar are cashing in, but only so they can fund other projects like Brave, which looks superb. Having said that, it is not a cash in in the normal sense, although this film lacks Pixar’s famous heart, it is still fun, action packed and can compete with most other animated films this year. In fact, i preferred this film slightly over the original Cars. Cars 2 is great fun for kids and adults, just don’t go in expecting your heartstrings to be ripped apart รก la Toy Story 3 or Up.

MY SCORE
7/10