Review: 'Cars 2' takes a wrong turn

Although “Cars” was one of the weakest links in the Disney-Pixar animation factory’s chain of hits, its strange little universe of talking autos –– no humans at all –– struck a nerve with kids and their dads who grew up in the American car culture.

Not only was it a box office success, more importantly it generated $10 billion in merchandise. That’s really the reason why, five years after its release in the summer of 2006, there’s “Cars 2.”

This sequel, despite some terrific backgrounds and extraordinary 3-D work in its car races, has the feel of being a real toy story… boosting all those replicas of hero Lightning McQueen and all the other cars that are already on toy store shelves.

If the plot for the original “Cars” was a trifle –– hot-shot racer McQueen stranded in the dusty desert town of Radiator Springs where he eventually redeems himself by learning the true meaning of friendship –– “Cars 2’s” plot is a stretch. It puts the second banana character Mater, the bedraggled yokel tow truck, in the driver’s seat.

McQueen takes a back seat to Mater’s adventures as the rusty tow truck accidentally becomes involved in international espionage, enlisted by a James Bond-style spy who thinks Mater is a genius — pulling a dumb act in order to deflect attention from his well-laid plans.

Of course, the rest of us know that Mater is really as dumb as a crankcase, which is the joke of the film.

A plot about an unlikely character who is suddenly thrust into the world of spies when top-secret information is mistakenly dropped in his lap sounds like it might have been a leftover from some sequel designed for Goldie Hawn 20 years ago, dredged up from the bottom of the pile, dusted off and finally given the green light. That is how it plays on screen.

At the start of the film sporty red race car Lightning McQueen (voice by Owen Wilson) is challenged by his arch rival –– the insulting Italian red race car Francesco Bernoulli (John Turturro) — to enter the first-ever World Grand Prix that’s being organized by Sir Miles Axlerod (Eddie Izzard).

The races are to be staged in Tokyo, the Italian Riviera and London and McQueen heads off to Japan with his pit crew, led by Mater (Larry the Cable Guy.

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