FAMILY MOVIE REVIEW INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND KIDS -- CONTENT REVIEW: CARS 2

"CARS 2"
(2011) (voices of Larry the Cable Guy, Owen Wilson) (G)

QUICK TAKE:: Animated Action: As Lightning McQueen competes in a three-city international racing competition, his good buddy Tow Mater gets mixed up in a crazy spy caper.

PLOT:

In an alternate world inhabited solely by sentient cars, trucks, and other vehicles, Tow Mater (voice of LARRY THE CABLE GUY) the tow truck is reunited with his race-car friend, Lightning McQueen (voice of OWEN WILSON) who asks him to tag along on a three-city tour in which McQueen will race the world's greatest cars. Lightning has been challenged by an Italian hot rod named Francesco (voice of JOHN TURTURRO) and he wants to set the record straight as to who is the fastest in the world.

Once in "Towkyo," though, Tow Mater gets caught up in a spy game involving British agent cars Finn McMissile (voice of MICHAEL CAINE) and Holley Shiftwell (voice of EMILY MORTIMER), who are hot on the trail of Professor Z (voice of THOMAS KRETSCHMANN) an enigmatic weapons dealer who intends to use an electromagnetic pulse gun that looks like a TV camera to wreak havoc at the car races. When activated, the pulse flashes ignite the alternative organic fuel that Sir Miles Axelrod (voice of EDDIE IZZARD) has developed to rid the Cars' world of its dependence on fossil fuels.

It's eventually up to Tow Mater, who Finn and Holley have mistaken for an American secret agent, to save the day as Lightning McQueen becomes the bombing target during the climactic third leg of the race. Tow Mater is horrified to learn that his friends from Radiator Springs -- Sally (voice of BONNIE HUNT), Luigi (voice of TONY SHALHOUB), Ramone (voice of CHEECH MARIN), Sarge (voice of PAUL DOOLEY) and Flo (voice of JENIFER LEWIS) -- are also in harm's way.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Absolutely. With its heavy merchandising angle, the "Cars" films are more geared to kids than perhaps any other Pixar property except for maybe the "Toy Story" movies.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: G: Presumably for not containing material to warrant a higher rating.

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