So the shiny, red, "Lightning McQueen" is determined to make it to distant California to compete in the "Piston Cup". Along the way he stops off in the small town of "Radiator Springs" where he manages to tear up their road. His punishment? Well they have a giant tarmac laying machine, so he has to get it to resurface the road before he can be on his merry way. This isn't an easy task, and in order to finish that job he's going to have to find some allies. That's not so easy for this cocky and tunnel-visioned character, but as he gradually starts to listen, learns and make friends, he realises that there is much more to life than this one race! There's a gently bubbling moral to the story - learning to value the more important things in life like friendship, teamwork and self-reliance, and the characterisations of "Sally" - a lithe and stylish Porsche and "Mater" - a tow truck that looks like it's held together by Wrigley's and good will, help drum this message into "Lightning' and the watching audience. There's plenty of colourful and vibrant action alongside quite a bit of humour (and puns!) from the writing to keep it going and although I found this a bit wordy - and perhaps just a little too focussed for internal (US) consumption, it's still an enjoyable start to what I assume will become quite a flexible franchise.
