It was clearly coming. Disney Pixar, the most consistently dazzling animation studio on the Hollywood block, was always going to struggle to top the misty-eyed farewells of Toy Story 3, the highest grossing film of 2010.

Cars 2 falls short of that modern masterpiece, lacking sufficient heartfelt emotion under the bonnet to rev our engines in the way that we have come to expect from the mercurial John Lasseter and his team.

For any other studio, this high-octane spy caper would be a triumph, orchestrating some death-defying action sequences that look even more startling in digital 3D. And certainly young audiences will whoop with glee as tow truck Mater skids and screeches from one disaster to the next as the film’s turbo-charged characters circumnavigate the globe in the first ever World Grand Prix.

However, compared to Disney Pixar’s most recent features — Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up and Toy Story 3 — Lasseter and Brad Lewis’s film lacks the polish, which perhaps we have taken for granted.

Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) returns home to Radiator Springs as the four-time champion of the Piston Cup. Best friend Mater (Larry The Cable Guy) welcomes him back with open doors, as does girlfriend Sally Carrera (Bonnie Hunt).

Italian racing car Francesco Bernoulli (John Turturro) goads Lightning into participating in a newly announced championship organised by environmentalist Miles Axlerod (Eddie Izzard), who will use the grand prix to showcase his state-of-the-art biofuel, Allinol.

However, a group of rogue cars led by the diabolical Professor Zundapp (Thomas Kretschmann) is plotting to sabotage the three races in Japan, Italy and the UK.

Thankfully, secret agent Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) and rookie field spy Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer) are on the case, roping in Mater, who they mistakenly believe to be an undercover American agent.

Cars 2 is a sweet and colourful yarn about being true to yourself, as seen through the headlights of Lightning. Visuals look spectacular and action sequences have been breathlessly orchestrated to take full advantage of the 3D format.

Like all of Disney Pixar’s previous films, Cars 2 is paired with a short — Hawaiian Vacation. In this six-minute treat, the Toy Story gang help Barbie and Ken to celebrate their first holiday together by creating tropical climes in Bonnie’s bedroom.

Nick Hendricks (Jason Bateman) is an underling at a finance company in Horrible Bosses — ruled with a steely glare by Dave Harken (Kevin Spacey), who has hints at a promotion if he arrives at 6am every day. Kurt Buckman (Jason Sudeikis) loves his job at a company run by Jack Pellitt (Donald Sutherland), who treats Kurt as more of a son than his cocaine-snorting real one (Colin Farrell).

Jack suffers a heart attack and Bobby seizes control, gleefully draining the company accounts dry. Meanwhile, dental assistant Dale Arbus (Charlie Day) is sexually harassed by his boss, Dr Julia Harris (Jennifer Aniston). When jailbird Dean Jones (Jamie Foxx) plants the idea of a chain reaction of seemingly accidental deaths, the three men are intrigued.

There’s a whiff of The Hangover about Horrible Bosses in the initial set-up of three men embarking on a madcap journey of self-discovery. The cast throw themselves at the material with gusto, the villains especially.

Some of the set pieces are contrived and the characterisation is thin, particularly that of the odious Bobby. The plot is flimsy and the writers struggle to bring the murderous mayhem to a satisfying conclusion.