The incredible success of the first movie, Cars (2006), garnered a sequel. I remember the first film had a great soundtrack, animation, car racing, drama, and comedy. It's no wonder why a follow-up was made.
Suddenly, the franchise did a complete 180 and made a spy movie. This is not James Bond or Mission Impossible, but everything about this didn't work out, even though this is caused by one of the most established animation studios, Disney and Pixar.
We again follow our hero's exploits from the first film, Lightning McQueen. Five years after the historic Piston Cup race, the famous racer returns to Radiator Springs to spend time with his friends. An arrogant Italian race car, Francesco Bernoulli, challenged McQueen to the World Grand Prix governed by environment-loving tycoon Sir Miles Axelrod.
Lightning McQueen and his friends Mater and others go to Tokyo to participate. After getting into a dumb accident, Mater fends off a fight between a criminal and a spy. They thought Mater was the spy they were looking for. They recruit him to do spy work.
Even though the race is interrupted after a few cars explode, Lightning McQueen finishes second after Bernoulli. He blames Mater after a miscommunication between them. The two had a fallout and removed him from his team. Heartbroken, Mater agrees to take part as a spy to prove to his friend and save other cars before they get targeted by the enemy.
Returning to this film are the voices of Larry the Cable Guy as Mater and Owen Wilson as the famous Lightning McQueen.
The story is quite ambitious, but it lacks substance. Anamorphic cars and spy missions are excellent, but this movie didn't work out. I'd instead focus on the intense car races and breathtaking drama. I want it to be plain and simple like the first one. This is a very dull movie that never goes anywhere.
I don't know if there is something positive about this movie except for the more advanced animation that they used. The soundtrack is still great, but the first one is a thousand times better. Also, the voice acting is still okay.
I would only recommend this film to the completionists. If you want to watch all Pixar films, you can add this to your list. Otherwise, skip this one because even though this movie's runtime is a tad below 120 minutes, it's not worth the time.
A very disappointing 1 star out of 5.