To say that Cars 2 is bigger than its predecessor is an understatement.  To say it is better than the first film would be robbing it blind. But if you said that Cars 2 is one of the biggest and best film of the year, you would be right on the money.

Let me start this review off with a dash of honesty before we get started.  I think the first Cars film is the weakest of the 12 films Pixar has pumped out over the last 16 years.  I liked the film overall, as I do with most of what that studio releases, but I just didn’t connect with it as I assumed I would.  The feeling of days gone by doesn’t connect all that well with my generation.  Sure, I spent most summers cramped in an RV with my two sisters traveling around the States and taking in the views.  A fact I hated when I was younger but thank my parents for now as often as I can.  So I figured the Route 66 theme would be a real treat to see. The film, like all Pixar films, is beautiful to watch, but I couldn’t get over the idea of a world populated by talking cars. Sure, the film starts off with a bang at that insanely cool Nascar race, but the second Lightning jumps over a crashed car with his tongue out, I was gone.

Call me a scrooge but I’ve already done bugs, toys and monsters. Also keep in mind that I was coming off the high of Pixar’s previous film, The Incredibles which truly lived up to its name. Something about visiting another world of anthropomorphized characters in Cars wasn’t something I was ready to do again. So when I heard Pixar was working on Cars 2 I was all set to let that film be the first one I would be skipping.

John Lasseter doesn’t like sequels, a fact he’s been very open about. So on the verge of a 3rd Toy Story film (Toy Story being my all-time favorite), Pixar announced a sequel to my least favorite of their films. I was already talking about how Pixar had lost its touch and they didn’t have any new stories to tell and they were scrapping projects (Newt) and DreamWorks was churning out winners.  It all looked pretty awful for a moment.  All this negativity had me believing Cars 2 would be the end of the streak for Pixar.  I could not have been more wrong and proves that I should never doubt Lasseter and his team of creative genius.

Besides this film being tonally very different from the first, which helps for me, it’s an incredibly enjoyable film on its own merits. Under the hood of the film is still the relationship between Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) and Lightning (Owen Wilson) that’s very stock when it comes to these types of films. However, everything else on the surface is totally custom.  Cars 2 is a spy caper wrapped up in shiny Pixar skin. Simply put, Cars 2 is the best action film I’ve seen all year and delivered in a package only Pixar can.

Cars 2 starts out with a very James Bond like action sequence. We are immediately introduced to our newest character Finn McMissle (Voiced by the great Michael Caine) as he is in full spy mode investigating this creepy oil rig in the middle of the ocean. This scene sets the tone for the entire film. It’s beautiful and full of action and I almost forgot that cars were talking.  When we finally meet back up with the old gang at Radiator Springs, which provides the only breath you’ll get in the film, we are given a nice touching tribute, which provides dual services to both Doc Hudson and the man who voiced the character, Paul Newman. The short time we spend in Radiator Springs is all that remains of the first film.  We are swept away as Cars 2 successfully navigates two different and sweeping storylines.

Our first story involves Lightning McQueen in his attempt to prove he is the fastest car in the newly created “World Grand Prix”.  Cars from all over the world are entered into a three-race series that takes them to Tokyo, Porto Corsa and London. The real race, however, is between McQueen and a Formula-1 car, voiced by the great John Turturro, named Francesco Bernoulli, a character more boisterous then Jean Girard from Talladega Nights. Their races are elaborate and the settings are beautiful in a way that you can only truly appreciate in 3D. However, all this is happening in the background, the real story rests on the shoulders of the witless tow-truck Mater.

In a conventional way, Mater is mistaken as an American spy and is swept up into this world of espionage and action.  What happens after is quite unconventional in Pixar films.  The film has strong political themes and actually depicts a lot of violence, including the death of several characters, something we haven’t seen on screen since The Incredibles.  The World Grand Prix is created by a wealthy alternative fuel car by the name of Miles Axelrod (voice by Eddie Izzard). He has created the alternative fuel Allinol he believes will reduce our dependence on fossil fuel and requires that all cars in the race use this as proof.  However, there is someone behind the curtain that isn’t too fond of that idea. It’s up to Mater, who is forced to team up with  Field Agent Finn and desk jockey Agent Holley Shiftwell, (Voiced by Emily Mortimer) to find the mastermind behind all the evil doings.  Both of these new characters add so much to the film I can only hope they return to do more in future installments.

The film is Mater centric, so if you didn’t like him in the first one, you may have a hard time with the amount of screen time he gets.  If you are one of those people though let me start by saying you’re not alone.  Mater was my least favorite character in the first film, but there is something about his journey that I really like. With the addition of Holley Shiftwell, we get to see two of these characters take very similar journeys alongside each other and eventually towards each other.  I also think the emergency brake-180 burnout this film does helps quell anything you may have disliked in the first.  Sure there are some plot devices that seem to make no sense whatsoever and some obvious humor that seems a bit over the top for Pixar. But overall this film brings back memorable characters in a totally new adventure that leaves the original in the dust.

I think Cars 2 is the standout film thus far in a very hectic summer movie season.  With the addition of great new characters and amazing locations you’ll also want to see it in 3D.  I was fortunate enough to see the film at its world premiere so the bulbs were amped up and the glasses didn’t darken the image all that much.  But I mention being at the World Premiere, thanks to Disney, only to stress the point that I would gladly pay to see this film again. At the end of the day isn’t that what we moviegoers expect from our films, to be worth every penny?

****~ (4/5)

“Cars 2” opens in the US on the June 24, 2011 an in the UK on the 22nd of July.

This Friday sees the release of Disney Pixar’s latest movie, Cars 2 and yesterday morning, the UK premiere was held with director John Lasseter, stars Sir Michael Caine, Jason Isaacs and producer Denise Ream all in attendance. Our friends from Upbeat were there to interview them all and have very kindly passed over their footage. Check out the interviews in the video below.

Cars 2 is directed by legendary John Lasseter and features a voice cast which includes Owen Wilson , Larry The Cable Guy, Michael Caine , Emily Mortimer , Bonnie Hunt , Tony Shalhoub , Cheech Marin , Jason Isaacs , Joe Mantegna , Peter Jacobson , Thomas Kretschmann , Guido Quaroni , Lloyd Sherr , Paul Dooley, John Ratzenberger , Jenifer Lewis, Michael Wallis , Katherine Helmond , John Turturro , Franco Nero , Vanessa Redgrave , Eddie Izzard , Bruce Campbell, Michel Michelis, Jeff Gordon, Darrell Waltrip , Lewis Hamiltonand David Hobbs. Rather extensive eh!

You can keep up to date with all our Cars 2 coverage here and watch it when it hits UK cinemas 22nd July.

Synopsis: Star racecar Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) and the incomparable tow truck Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy ) take their friendship to exciting new places in “Cars 2″ when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world’s fastest car. But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage. Torn between assisting Lightning McQueen in the high-profile race and towing the line in a top-secret spy mission, Mater’s action-packed journey leads him on an explosive chase through the streets of Japan and Europe, trailed by his friends and watched by the whole world. Adding to the fast-paced fun is a colorful new all-car cast that includes secret agents, menacing villains and international racing competitors.

If you missed the first interview check it out here with Larry the Cable Guy and Emily Mortimer. In this interview, I get to chat with Owen Wilson and Eddie Izzard about their roles in the brand new Pixar movie, Cars 2 which comes out in the UK 22nd July.

I enjoy Eddie’s flamboyant comedy and loved his work in “Oceans 12/13” and “Valkyrie”. For me Owen shines when working with Wes Anderson but “Wedding Crashers” is one of my favourite comedies of all time. Needless to say I was extremely excited at the opportunity to talk to both of these men.

I was sort of split going into my interview with Larry the Cable Guy (Daniel Lawrence Whitney) and Emily Mortimer.

My wife and I are huge fans of Emily’s work in such films as “Dear Frankie”, “City Island” and her hilariously brilliant stint on NBC’s “30 Rock”.  On the other end is comedian Larry the Cable Guy, who I only know because of his involvement in these Pixar films and that his catchphrase “get ‘er done” was quite popular for a time.

As actors they have very different bodies of work so I was extremely curious how they would interact with each other during the press questions.  In the film, Mater and Holley Shiftwell (Mortimer) spend most of their time on screen together trying to foil the bad guys.  However, most people are aware that voicing animated characters doesn’t allow a whole lot of face time between actors, so it seemed interesting that they would pair these two together during the junket.

What happened is exactly how I hoped my first junket would turn out.  They were extremely receptive to my questions and seemed to genuinely enjoy each other’s company.  Before the interview started they were joking and laughing with me regarding my lack of a UK accent considering I was covering the event for HeyUGuys.  It was interesting to find that Whitmer isn’t always in character.  I was fully expecting him to be Mater or Larry the Cable Guy, All in all I think this was the most fun I had at the event. The fact that they still had a sense of humor after three solid days of press put me at ease, and seemed like they put their actual chemistry to good use on screen and off.

Here’s the interview,

I remember seeing “Toy Story” in my local movie theater in Whittier, Ca. I was 10 years old when that film came out. So having the opportunity to interview John Lasseter was a nerve racking and surreal experience.  I told myself if I ever got the chance I would simply tell him “Thank You”.  Last week I got the chance I didn’t miss the opportunity.  Before cameras started rolling on our conversation I explained to the “Cars 2” Director that his feature film debut basically defined my childhood and planted the seeds of what would become my infatuation with film.  We also briefly chatted about the fact that we both grew up in the same Los Angeles suburb of Whittier.  He talked about how his love of cars grew while working at his dad Chevrolet dealership and I explained that I went to a high school called Whittier Christian High School that wasn’t actually in Whittier (he attended Whittier High – which is actually in Whittier). He’s the kind of guy I felt like I could talk to for hours, and I would have if they didn’t tell me that cameras were rolling.  I now had the obligation to start asking some questions.

While I loved “Cars 2” so much more then the original “Cars”, I didn’t really feel like asking a whole lot of questions regarding the film. Actually you’ll see that same theme in my interviews with the voice cast as well. I figured they had probably talked enough about the film over the past three days that I didn’t want to get the same stock answers.  I decided I would ask questions from the stance of a Pixar fan in general.  With Lassester, my questions were more themed on how he approaches his films as a Director and as the Chief Creative Office for Walt Disney Animation.

And while John Lasseter wears many hats at Disney and has become more or less a household name (I mean my dad knows who he is for christ sakes), I still think of him as the guy who directed “Toy Story”. And now he’s the guy who has directed my favorite film of the summer.

“Cars 2” Opens Today in the US and July 22^nd in the UK. My Cars 2 review is here. Check out my interview with John below.

Disney Pixar have just sent over the official Cars 2 music video and song named ‘Collision of Worlds’ which is performed by Robbie Williams and Brad Paisley. If you’re a fan of either artist, you’ll probably like this + we get to see a little more footage from the latest creation from the legends at Pixar. Williams have previously worked with Disney on the Fidnign Nemo soundtrack so parents will have yet another audio delight to listen to over and over again!

The voice cast in the movie includes Owen Wilson , Larry The Cable Guy, Michael Caine , Emily Mortimer , Bonnie Hunt , Tony Shalhoub, Cheech Marin , Jason Isaacs , Joe Mantegna , Peter Jacobson , Thomas Kretschmann , Guido Quaroni , Lloyd Sherr , Paul Dooley, John Ratzenberger , Jenifer Lewis, Michael Wallis , Katherine Helmond , John Turturro , Franco Nero , Vanessa Redgrave , Eddie Izzard , Bruce Campbell, Michel Michelis, Jeff Gordon, Darrell Waltrip , Lewis Hamilton and David Hobbs.

You can keep up to date with all our Cars 2 coverage here and watch it when it hits UK cinemas 22nd July.

Synopsis: Star racecar Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) and the incomparable tow truck Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy ) take their friendship to exciting new places in “Cars 2″ when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world’s fastest car. But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage. Torn between assisting Lightning McQueen in the high-profile race and towing the line in a top-secret spy mission, Mater’s action-packed journey leads him on an explosive chase through the streets of Japan and Europe, trailed by his friends and watched by the whole world. Adding to the fast-paced fun is a colorful new all-car cast that includes secret agents, menacing villains and international racing competitors.

To mark the release of Disney Pixar’s new movie, Cars 2 on July 22nd, we’ve been given 4 tickets to give away to a lucky reader for a screening of the movie a month before it’s official release date! The screening will take place in London’s West End on Sunday June 26th. Doors open at 10am with the screening starting at 11am.

John Lasseter is back to direct while the the voice cast includes Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen, Larry The Cable Guy, Michael Caine , Emily Mortimer, Bonnie Hunt , Tony Shalhoub , Cheech Marin , Jason Isaacs , Joe Mantegna , Peter Jacobson, Thomas Kretschmann , Guido Quaroni , Lloyd Sherr , Paul Dooley, John Ratzenberger , Jenifer Lewis, Michael Wallis , Katherine Helmond , John Turturro , Franco Nero , Vanessa Redgrave , Eddie Izzard , Bruce Campbell, Michel Michelis, Jeff Gordon, Darrell Waltrip , Lewis Hamilton and David Hobbs.

You can keep up to date with all our Cars 2 coverage here and watch it when it hits UK cinemas 22nd July.

Synopsis: Star racecar Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) and the incomparable tow truck Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy ) take their friendship to exciting new places in “Cars 2″ when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world’s fastest car. But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage. Torn between assisting Lightning McQueen in the high-profile race and towing the line in a top-secret spy mission, Mater’s action-packed journey leads him on an explosive chase through the streets of Japan and Europe, trailed by his friends and watched by the whole world. Adding to the fast-paced fun is a colorful new all-car cast that includes secret agents, menacing villains and international racing competitors.

To be in with a chance of winning all four tickets, simply answer the following question using the form below:

Who voices the character ‘Lightning McQueen’ in Cars and Cars 2?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 22nd June at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received
• No cash alternative is available
• Expenses to get to and from the the screening are not covered in the prize

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

Disney Pixar have released a new clip from their new movie, Cars 2 and in the clip, we get to see Formula One World Champion, Lewis Hamilton attempting to act! It is quite a sight to be seen (or heard I guess!).

The voice cast in the movie includes Owen Wilson, Larry The Cable Guy, Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Bonnie Hunt, Tony Shalhoub, Cheech Marin, Jason Isaacs, Joe Mantegna, Peter Jacobson, Thomas Kretschmann, Guido Quaroni, Lloyd Sherr, Paul Dooley, John Ratzenberger, Jenifer Lewis, Michael Wallis, Katherine Helmond, John Turturro, Franco Nero, Vanessa Redgrave, Eddie Izzard, Bruce Campbell, Michel Michelis, Jeff Gordon, Darrell Waltrip, Lewis Hamilton and David Hobbs.

You can keep up to date with all our Cars 2 coverage here and watch it when it hits UK cinemas 22nd July.

Synopsis: Star racecar Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) and the incomparable tow truck Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy) take their friendship to exciting new places in “Cars 2″ when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world’s fastest car. But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage. Torn between assisting Lightning McQueen in the high-profile race and towing the line in a top-secret spy mission, Mater’s action-packed journey leads him on an explosive chase through the streets of Japan and Europe, trailed by his friends and watched by the whole world. Adding to the fast-paced fun is a colorful new all-car cast that includes secret agents, menacing villains and international racing competitors.

Disney Pixar have released this brand new featurette for their new movie, Cars 2 called ‘Spy Cars Like Us’. In the featurette we get to find out more about the Spy Cars that we get to meet in Cars 2 introduced by Director, John Lasseter.

The voice cast in the movie includes Owen Wilson, Larry The Cable Guy, Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Bonnie Hunt, Tony Shalhoub, Cheech Marin, Jason Isaacs, Joe Mantegna, Peter Jacobson, Thomas Kretschmann, Guido Quaroni, Lloyd Sherr, Paul Dooley, John Ratzenberger, Jenifer Lewis, Michael Wallis, Katherine Helmond, John Turturro, Franco Nero, Vanessa Redgrave, Eddie Izzard, Bruce Campbell, Michel Michelis, Jeff Gordon, Darrell Waltrip, Lewis Hamilton and David Hobbs.

You can keep up to date with all our Cars 2 coverage here and watch it when it hits UK cinemas 22nd July.

Synopsis: Star racecar Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) and the incomparable tow truck Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy) take their friendship to exciting new places in “Cars 2″ when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world’s fastest car. But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage. Torn between assisting Lightning McQueen in the high-profile race and towing the line in a top-secret spy mission, Mater’s action-packed journey leads him on an explosive chase through the streets of Japan and Europe, trailed by his friends and watched by the whole world. Adding to the fast-paced fun is a colorful new all-car cast that includes secret agents, menacing villains and international racing competitors.

Disney Movies UK & Pixar have just released a brand new international trailer for their latest movie, Cars 2. The trailer is similar to the US theatrical one that we put up last week but has a few new bits in there.

The movie is directed by legendary John Lasseter and features a voice cast which includes Owen Wilson, Larry The Cable Guy, Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Bonnie Hunt, Tony Shalhoub, Cheech Marin, Jason Isaacs, Joe Mantegna, Peter Jacobson, Thomas Kretschmann, Guido Quaroni, Lloyd Sherr, Paul Dooley, John Ratzenberger, Jenifer Lewis, Michael Wallis, Katherine Helmond, John Turturro, Franco Nero, Vanessa Redgrave, Eddie Izzard, Bruce Campbell, Michel Michelis, Jeff Gordon, Darrell Waltrip, Lewis Hamilton and David Hobbs. Rather extensive eh!

You can keep up to date with all our Cars 2 coverage here and watch it when it hits UK cinemas 22nd July.

Synopsis: Star racecar Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) and the incomparable tow truck Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy) take their friendship to exciting new places in “Cars 2″ when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world’s fastest car. But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage. Torn between assisting Lightning McQueen in the high-profile race and towing the line in a top-secret spy mission, Mater’s action-packed journey leads him on an explosive chase through the streets of Japan and Europe, trailed by his friends and watched by the whole world. Adding to the fast-paced fun is a colorful new all-car cast that includes secret agents, menacing villains and international racing competitors.

Check it out below:

Disney Pixar have just released the third and most likely final trailer for their new movie, Cars 2. The movie is directed by legendary John Lasseter and features a voice cast which includes Owen Wilson, Larry The Cable Guy, Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Bonnie Hunt, Tony Shalhoub, Cheech Marin, Jason Isaacs, Joe Mantegna, Peter Jacobson, Thomas Kretschmann, Guido Quaroni, Lloyd Sherr, Paul Dooley, John Ratzenberger, Jenifer Lewis, Michael Wallis, Katherine Helmond, John Turturro, Franco Nero, Vanessa Redgrave, Eddie Izzard, Bruce Campbell, Michel Michelis, Jeff Gordon, Darrell Waltrip, Lewis Hamilton and David Hobbs. Rather extensive eh!

You can keep up to date with all our Cars 2 coverage here and watch it when it hits UK cinemas 22nd July.

Synopsis: Star racecar Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) and the incomparable tow truck Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy) take their friendship to exciting new places in “Cars 2″ when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world’s fastest car. But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage. Torn between assisting Lightning McQueen in the high-profile race and towing the line in a top-secret spy mission, Mater’s action-packed journey leads him on an explosive chase through the streets of Japan and Europe, trailed by his friends and watched by the whole world. Adding to the fast-paced fun is a colorful new all-car cast that includes secret agents, menacing villains and international racing competitors.

This new trailer focuses mainly around the race and the first ever ‘world grand prix’ and then cue Michael Caine and the main storyline where the bad guys are out to get Lightning McQueen. It’s scary stuff!

This one comes courtesy of Apple where you can watch it in high definition.

It seems that we’ve been bringing you new posters for nearly a year for this movie now…. that’s because we have an here’s a couple more! With all these new animated movies coming out, it seems nice to have a movie that will take us back to the good old days of Disney and they’ve done it in the form of The Princess and the Frog.

The movie features voices of Anika Noni Rose, Terrence Howard, John Goodman, Keith David, Jim Cummings, Oprah Winfrey and Jenifer Lewis and is directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. If you’ve not seen the trailer, you can check it out here. It’s set for release 12th February which feels like a long time to wait but no doubt it’ll come around fast.

Source: Filmofilia

Here’s yet another poster from Disney’s latest 2D movie, The Princess and the Frog. This will be Disney’s first 2d movie for years!

It’s released in the UK 12th February 2010 so you can ignore the date on it! It’s directed by Ron Clements and John Musker and features the voices of Anika Noni Rose, Keith David, Jenifer Lewis, Ritchie Montgomery, Bruno Campos, Terrence Howard, Oprah Winfrey and John Goodman. Click the poster to enlarge.

Much like Sony have done with 2012, Disney have released the first five minutes from their new 2D animation, The Princess and the Frog. I’ve embedded the clip below along with a 30 second clip showing how some of the animation was achieved. The video clip also features some animation which is as yet incomplete.

The Princess and the Frog features voices from Anika Noni Rose, Terrence Howard, John Goodman, Keith David, Jim Cummings, Oprah Winfrey, Jenifer Lewis, is directed by Ron Clements, John Musker and is released 12th February.

Synopsis: Walt Disney Animation Studios presents the musical THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, an animated comedy set in the great city of New Orleans. From the creators of “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin” comes a modern twist on a classic tale, featuring a beautiful girl named Tiana (ANIKA NONI ROSE), a frog prince who desperately wants to be human again, and a fateful kiss that leads them both on a hilarious adventure through the mystical bayous of Louisiana. THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG marks the return to hand-drawn animation from the revered team of John Musker and Ron Clements, with music by Oscar®-winning composer Randy Newman (“Monsters, Inc.,” “Cars,” “Toy Story”).