ka-ciao #cars2
It was a tentative experimental manouvre, the first ever visit to the cinema for my wee boy - he's two and a half - so it could have gone either way.
He's a big fan of McQueen, Mater and co so if there was an opportunity to test his attention span, this was it. You'll be relieved to know that the morning passed without incident, even the potential trauma of 3-D glasses didn't prove to be any situation.
While the first Cars movie has a balance of high octane action and the 'human' story that evolves in the interactions of the characters, this one goes full-on power action from the get-go.
Story-wise it's a kind of James Bond meets Cannonball Run meets An Inconvenient Truth.
Mogul Sir Miles Axlerod (a Land Rover voiced by Eddie Izzard) looks to prove the his revolutionary clean fuel invention Allinol as a viable gas substitute by inviting the top race cars from the various genres to compete in three races in Paris, Italy and Japan.
Art Director's note: the scenes in the fictional Italian seaside home of Luigi and Guido are of particular note - ka-ciao.
Meanwhile British secret agents Finn McMissile (the Bond-esque character - an Aston Martin voiced by Michael Caine) and 'Bond-girl' Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer) are chasing down a plot to sabotage the races by the evil Petroleum companies baddies.
In the unravelling, Mater becomes an unlikely secret weapon for the goodies, his and McQueen's friendship is cemented and there's the little twist at the end.
The producers have gone for the more-is-more approach for this one, big big big on spectacle while the little gentle touches that made the first film watchable over and over (parents of young children - you get this) was perhaps lacking slightly.
Still pretty cool though.
End of review - I'm not holding my breath for any calls from Film 2011 or Empire Mag - but, hey, being an A-list blogger, thought-leader and influencer has it's rewards [joking].
Thanks to Mandy from PN.
