“Cars” is widely regarded as among the less dazzling of Pixar’s dozen sterling titles, so it’s fair to imagine that the animation studio’s pit crew used a little extra elbow grease in order to deliver an improved new model five years later.
On the whole, they have in “Cars 2,” as Lightning McQueen and the loyal pick-up truck Mater quickly vamoose from sleepy Radiator Springs to join the Grand Prix circuit in a succession of world capitals, where they become entangled in some related international spy intrigue. Featuring cooler cars and more action than “Fast Five,” the sequel is notably less refined and more rambunctious than Pixar’s recent run of artistic gems. But commercially, it’ll be off to the races after it opens on Friday, with even bigger international prospects assured on this lap than on the first spin.
No special knowledge or memory of the original is required to get one’s bearings, as this beautifully designed sequel stands easily on its own four tires. A self-professed car nut from his youth, director John Lasseter takes advantage of the global locations to jam the cast with an auto show’s worth of vintage international motorcars, from an amply armed Bond-style Aston Martin to the humble East German Trabant; in the bargain, he even further adorns the Big Ben clock tower, the Eiffel Tower and, in the end credits, Pixar’s own campus to charming effect.
Perhaps as much as in any animated film one could cite, there’s always something beautiful or clever or funny to look at and, as often as not, to listen to as the anthropomorphized automobiles zip about in high and determined spirits.
The story, cooked up by Lasseter, co-director Brad Lewis and Dan Fogelman and scripted by Ben Queen, is both simple and not always entirely discernible on a moment-to-moment basis. At the outset, in fact, the coordinates are geographically and dramatically inscrutable; physically, the action begins literally at sea, amidst an ocean of sinister oil rigs infiltrated by British spies Finn McMissile (an Aston Martin voiced by Michael Caine) and Miata-like Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer), who make use of all their special extra-automotive endowments — wings, heavy weaponry, underwater capability — to make a nocturnal escape with their dignity and paint jobs intact.
A world away in the American desert, the spiffy red Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is hot-rodding around with tow-truck buddy Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) when he’s persuaded to enter an upcoming series of races in which big shot Land Rover Sir Miles Axlerod (Eddie Izzard) hopes to prove the viability of his revolutionary clean fuel Allinol as a substitute for gasoline. Here, as elsewhere, the visual, verbal and musical jokes practically exceed the speed limit; one blink-and-you-miss-it gag shows the marquee of the local drive-in promoting “The Incredimobiles.”
First stop is Tokyo, where cars engage in sumo wrestling and the lights of the Ginza district look so bright you’re glad for the slight dimming effect of the 3D glasses (Pixar typically amps up the brightness of its images to compensate for the darkening).
During a pass through Paris, the old Les Halles is wondrously reconstituted as a spare parts bazaar, Gusteau’s from “Ratatouille” is part of the cityscape, the tops of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe are automotively reimagined and Mater, who went home after Tokyo, makes a too-soon return. Inoffensive in small doses, Mater’s “Hee-Haw” routine gets old pretty quickly and comes to dominate the film with his saddlesore witticisms.
