Cars 2 is a great movie for ages 7-12. My kids 3, and 4 went to the early screening with their dad and my daughter said it was too scary, and my son loved it The only negative thing was that all day all they could say to each other was die, kill, shoot and their normal car toy playtime was much more violent that it usually is. So it’s a bit on the violent side for the much younger audiences. As an adult, I loved it. I usually watch children’s movies thinking what will my kids think of this movie? How will they enjoy it? Will they think that’s funny? I watched the movie all the way though and never thought of my kids. You see, the 3D looks so natural, that you’re transported into their world. It was amazing down to every detail of the cities they visited. In Paris, you could see how dirty the streets were and that there was trash everywhere. Having visited Paris, I loved that they didn’t glamourize the city. Most movies seem to have scrubbed the streets before they started filming. My husband watched it and said that it’s the first movie he’s seen in 3D that actually makes sense in 3D. He even said, they looked like real pictures of the cities, and he had a hard time believing that they were generated by a computer because they looked so real.

Cars 2 enters theaters this Friday June 24th promising to entertain all ages with the newest installment of Lightening McQueen and Mater, but what a surprise it packs as it’s not just another car movie, it’s a spy spectacular action filled film. Summer begins for Mater the minute Lightening gets home from a season of racing and winning his 4th Piston (renamed to Doc Hudson Cup). Their plans quickly change as Mater ends up on the phone with Francesco Bernoulli telling him that his friend Lightening is the fastest car around, and well, they end up in a world race trying to prove that very fact. That’s when the action begins, because little did anyone know, they were all in the middle of the biggest oil conspiracy ever.

I should back up just a bit, and let you guys know that the movie actually begins with Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) pulling off a Mission Impossible/James Bond move gathering intel on a missing agent. He finds that a well known bad guy Professor Z is behind some kind of evil plan involving a video camera, and Finn was discovered before he was able to find out all the details so he had to flee for his life.

I really find myself feeling for Mater at the pre-party. He’s just being himself but he ends up embarrassing Lightening quite a bit. While Mater is trying to clean himself up, he’s mistaken for an American Spy that’s supposed to have all the answers to the espionage going on in Finn’s life, this is when we meet Holly Shiftwell. Holly has to step into the role of a field agent, because Finn can’t blow his cover. While Holly is talking spy talk to Mater, he ends up believing that he’s got a date!

This movie is all about Mater. As he enters the spy world all he can think about is how he’s disappointed Lightening McQueen. He wants to help Finn and does everything he can, until he finds out that even Finn sees him as a bumbling idiot. Mater learns that he is who he is and finds in the end that he’s happy that way. He loves his life and everyone loves him for who he is. Even Lightening wants Mater to be who he is because that’s who is best friend is.

Of course I left a lot of the details of the movie out, you need to go watch it yourself. There’s twists and turns and even eco friendly fuel brought to you by Sir Miles Axelrod (Eddie Izzard). You’ll feel like you’ve been transported right into a world of adventure and not even realize that almost 2 hours went by.

Disney paid for all expenses for me to attend the Red Carpet Premiere of Cars 2 in Hollywood.