Hot Cars

The exciting AcceleRacers saga continues in Hot Wheels AcceleRacers, Volume 3: Breaking Point, which picks up precisely where Hot Wheels AcceleRacers 2: The Speed of Silence left off. Kurt's brother, Wylde, is captured and physically altered by the evil Gelorum--though to what end isn't clear until the final scene. Meanwhile, a couple of AcceleRacers inventor Dr. Tezla's human drivers take their personal conflict into a Neon Pipeline realm, where they race against one another for awhile but soon confront Gelorum's monstrous, car-eating Sweepers and the unstoppable Racing Drones. Luckily, muscle-bound driver Pork Chop is determined, in his own laconic way, to bring his endangered teammates back from oblivion. Unlike the previous two AcceleRacers movies, Volume 3: Breaking Point is less a self-contained adventure than an obvious link in a larger story. But it's easy to get hooked by the drama and rich, computer-animated visuals, even if one isn't familiar with the preceding tales. --Tom Keogh