I feel misled by Pixar. Their last three movies were rich and complex, had beautiful storytelling and engaging characters, all wrapped up in a fun animated package. If felt in a sense that Pixar had easily transcended the entire genre of CG movies. Then Cars 2 comes along and reminds you Pixar makes movies for children.

Cars 2, this summer’s offering from Pixar, takes the characters in a completely different direction that will be welcomed by some, and hated by others. The first movie left a world of possibilities for future storytelling, but let’s be honest, the small-town appreciation tale had been told, and a second movie would need to move in a new, larger direction. The logical progression is that once you’ve taken the big city character into the small town, the sequel calls for the small town to meet the big city. That means that Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) becomes a secondary character relegated to the B story, because this is Mater’s (Larry the Cable Guy) story, and everyone else is along for the ride.

The two intertwining stories in the movie feature Lightning McQueen on a globe-trotting World Grand Prix sponsored by a revolutionary new alternative fuel, while Mater is accidentally conscripted into the British Secret Service to uncover a sinister plot going on behind the scenes of the races. As a spy caper, it’s well done, though it’s quite simple and lacking in red herrings, taking out some of the fun for parents watching along with their kids.

Once the main characters leave Radiator Springs, familiar faces show up occasionally, most notably on pit lane, but we’re largely introduced to a whole new cast of characters led by spies Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) and Holly Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer), and Formula 1 racer car Francesco Bernoulli (John Turturro). Caine is perfect, as you would expect, as the dapper and unflappable British super-spy, while John Turturro brings a lot of energy to his character, without taking it as far into the ridiculous as he does in Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

But more important than those two, it’s the polarizing Larry the Cable Guy who has to carry the load in the movie, and he does it quite well. It might seem initially that Mater is too one-dimensional of a character to build an entire movie around, but as the Cars Toons Mater’s Tall Tales shorts demonstrate, there is enough meat there, and Larry has the acting chops to portray a fun, multi-dimensional children’s character.

One issue that the story will bring up for parents is that this is a very violent movie, comparable in some ways to The Incredibles, but a definite departure from the sweeter original. There’s plenty of gunfire and explosions, cars are broken, crushed, and presumably killed, and many other cars are threatened with death. For the youngest viewers, this can definitely come across as frightening, and can surprise unsuspecting parents.

It’s becoming cliche to say this, but Cars 2 is easily the best-looking Pixar movie yet, and I say that having seen the movie in old-fashioned 2D. There are times when you could look at these computer rendered images, and there’s the appearance of actual texture and tangibility, as if this was ridiculously complex stop motion made with models rather than flat computer images. Luigi and Guido’s Italian village feels as if you could reach out and touch it, as do the streets of Paris and London.

There are also, once again, plenty of automotive touches in the backdrops, as we travel from Radiator Springs to Tokyo, Italy, and finally, London, England, and it’s worth watching the movie again just to try and pick them all out.

With all that said, Cars 2 falls short in one very important way: It feels, by a decent margin, the most soulless of Pixar’s movies. Perhaps it’s unfair to compare this decidedly commercial adventure to Pixar’s recent movies, but compared to the outstanding emotional maturity of Wall-E, Up, and Toy Story 3, Cars 2 feels less like a Pixar movie (which it is) and more like a giant noise-filled toy ad (which it is). There is an emotional through line of friendship between Mater and Lightning, but it lacks the kind of resonance or depth that typically marks Pixar movies, with the end result being a movie that’s fun and enjoyable to watch, but doesn’t have heart.

There is a silver lining though, and that is that the simple messages in the movie, about being yourself and being a good friend, are ones that children will easily grasp and understand.

One tricky issue for the movie, that is handled interestingly, is reflecting the death of two supporting characters. Paul Newman, who voiced Doc Hudson in the first movie, passed away in 2008, and it seems impossible to imagine another actor stepping into the role.Instead, Doc’s old shop has been converted into a museum, and the unseen character is referred to as if he’s dead. Though it’s never explicitly said that he’s gone, he’s obviously not there anymore and his life is being celebrated. On the flipside, Fillmore, who was originally voiced by the also-deceased George Carlin, returns with a soundalike voice actor (Lloyd Sherr, who voiced Fillmore in the Cars Toons and most recent video game) and actually plays a minor role in the plot.

The GamerPops Recommendation

Without a doubt, kids will enjoy Cars 2, and superficially, adults will as well. Like all Pixar movies, there’s a universal appeal in the movie, offering something to viewers of all ages, wrapped up in beautiful visuals, effective storytelling and memorable characters. While it lacks the emotional complexity of the studio’s truly great movies, there’s more than enough action, visual impact, and entertaining characters to make it a must-see for families.

As a postscript, I would fully expect in the next year that we’ll see Cars Toons Mater’s Tall Tales replaced with Cars Toons Mater’s Spy Tales, as the further espionage exploits of the lovable tow truck seems like a perfect match for Disney’s TV channels.