MyBrownBaby Reviews: Cars 2 Is An Action-Packed Thriller For Kids & The Young At Heart

By KIA MORGAN SMITH

Sometimes friends can be embarrassing, maybe even uncouth, rude or downright loud and lewd. Maybe you are the one who unknowingly humiliates your cohorts. Whatever the case, acceptance is the key. It's a lesson that Lightening McQueen had to learn when it came to his embarrassing best-bud Mater in Cars 2, the sequel to Cars, in theaters today.

I had the pleasure of screening Cars 2 at the Los Angeles premiere of the movie at the El Capitan Theater last week. It's an action-packed ode to spies and espionage; get your engines ready and gear up for a cool virtual ride in Range Rovers, Aston Martins, and Mustangs these cars are not your momma's back-in-the-day Buick!

If you've got big kids age 7 on up, you better believe they will ohh and ahh as the 3-dimensional hot rods race right off the screen and into their faces; the visual effects are a stunner. And the story takes us on an international tour as Lightening McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) competes in the first ever World Grand Prix to determine the world's fastest car. But the road to the finish line is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and bombshells when Mater is mistakenly ensnared in an intriguing escapade of his own: international espionage!

Mater (voiced by Larry the Cable guy) finds himself torn between assisting Lightening McQueen in the high-profile race and towing the line in a top-secret mission orchestrated by master British spy Finn McMissle (voice of Michael Caine) and Holley Shiftwell, a rookie spy.

Sir Miles is an oil baron who claims to have found the clean fuel of the future Allinol. He then creates and sponsors the World Grand Prix to bring attention to the new energy product. Sir Miles is voiced by comedian Eddie Izzard.

Mater takes on a larger role in this one. In fact, this movie is really about the friendship between Mater and McQueen. But Mater embarrasses McQueen a lot. He realizes that he's the butt of most jokes and McQueen gets fed up with his bumbling buddy. McQueen later realizes that he should accept his buddy for all he is a little goofy, kinda uncouth, but definitely a good friend who saves his butt when the going gets rough.

I love the message that true friends should stick together and kids truly need to know that acceptance doesn't come with conditions. Parents and car buffs will love the movie because of the stylish rides. The movie is better suited for older kids. The movie reminds me of a James Bond type action adventure, and things do get blown up, and cars do get shot at, so little kids may get a little jumpy, especially when seeing the movie in 3-D mode.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie because it was funny, exciting, fast-paced and visually stunning. The movie held my interest and has intrigue starting from the very beginning. You'll see what I'm talking about this Friday June 24^th. And I'll be going again, but this time I will be taking my own pit crew (of five kids) to the movies to see it too!

 

Kia Morgan Smith, author of the delightful children’s book, Goony Goo-Goo and Ga-Ga Too, is a passionate and dedicated educator and former award-winning education reporter from Philadelphia. She has five kids and balances life like nobody’s business all of which she chronicles on her blog, CincoMom. She lives with her husband and their family in Atlanta.