Hey everyone and welcome to the latest Pixar review! Last time we covered what is possibly my favorite of the bunch, the Incredibles, and now we are going to look into what is my opinion one of their more underrated movies. Back when it came out in 2006 Cars was seen as a step down from the studios’s previous ventures (Finding Nemo, the Incredibles) despite the fact that the reviews were mostly decent, and it was a big, and leggy hit at the box office. Since then, it (or really the whole franchise) has always been looked upon as the black sheep of the studio’s output not getting a lot of respect from people on the internet, and being constantly compared to their other movies. Personally though I have never gotten why its always seen as lesser work and every time I watch I’ve grown to appreciate it even more with each viewing. Now with that out of the way lets rev our engines and cruise through the town of Radiator Springs to see what makes this movie work so well for me.
Taking place in a world populated by anthropomorphic vehicles, our story follows popular rookie race-car, Lighting McQueen, a hot shot racer who mostly cares about himself. He finds himself as one of three cars who ended up in a tie during the final race of the Piston Cup season alongside retiring veteran, Strip “the King” Weathers, and frequent cheater, Chick Hicks. The tie breaker race to determine the winner will be taking place in one week at the Los Angeles International Speedway and Lighting determined to win the Piston Cup so he can leave his current sponsors at Rust-Eze, a bumper ointment manufacturing company and join the much more glamorous Dinoco. So naturally he wants to get their as quickly as possible, yet things don’t quite go according to plan when his big rig, Mack, dozes off in the middle of highway and Lighting is left driving around lost in the middle of nowhere. Instead of finding Mack though, he speeds into a small little town called Radiator Springs where he inadvertently wrecks the road. The town judge, Doc Hudson, wants him to leave town, but it is the local lawyer, Sally, who suggests that Lighting do some community service for the town by fixing the road much to the annoyance of Lighting. So now Lighting must try to fix the road quickly so he can get to California in time for the race, but as he starts to learn more about the town, and its residents he slowly starts to gain a new understanding on life in the process.
People always seem to criticize the story for being very simple, and conventional compared to the likes of Pixar’s more heavy stuff, but I’ve honestly never seen that as a bad thing. Yes there are plenty of movies that tell a similar story (Michael J. Fox’s Doc Hollywood is one that people bring up) but I still find that the movie executes it very well and has its own unique groove to it. I also appreciate the fact that it is a more slowly paced affair (its Pixar’s longest movie at close to 2 hours) and it just flies by because I find myself having a lot of fun with these characters and what they’re up to. Its like what I like to call a “lazy river” of a movie in that takes its time and is more concerned with getting us invested in not only this world and its inhabitants but as well as the little pleasures of it as well and really dies tie into its themes on enjoying the road of life and making the most of it and not just take it for granted. Heck with that in mind I’ve also never understood why this film is always seen as a more kid centric affair compared to the other Pixar movies because not only is it a slower affair that feels like its own thing, but because it never does feel like its pandering to a specific audience. I feel that anyone can get enjoyment out of this movie and I would absolutely say that it falls into the category of a family movie more than a purely for kids offering like every other Pixar movie. It also helps that the movie has some really great messages about what winning truly means and how its not really about getting trophies (as Doc Hudson says “its just a bunch of empty cups”) and this is best exemplified by the climactic race which is not only really fun, and exciting but also really powerful in the way it ends and it is easily one of my favorite sports movie climaxes and the ending as a whole is really touching. The movie as a whole may not be as “cry your eyes out” as some of the other flicks in the studio’s catalog but it still works in more subtle ways and there are some very well some emotional moments like the aforementioned finale, and the flashback scene where we see how the town goes from being a popular tourist destination to being forgotten once the highway is built (which is perfectly set to James Taylor’s Our Town) among others. As for the comedy well I found it be really funny most of the time as there are a number of jokes that will fly over kids’s heads and it is fun seeing how the writers use the car world as source of comedy for some creative imagery. Sure there may be a couple of fart jokes here and there but even then some of those still get a good chuckle out of me and its not like its constant throughout the movie. As someone who looks at movies on their own terms, and cares more about the execution above all else, the story, and script here I feel fires on all cylinders on that account.
I’ve also always felt that everyone takes the world of the cars a bit too seriously. While it admittedly is funny seeing people’s questions on how exactly this universe works I still don’t find it to be a detriment to the film itself. Granted it may not be as fully fleshed out something like Toy Story, Monster Inc., or even a Bug’s Life but it still is an amusing concept that made way for some clever sight gags, and some great animation. Instead of putting the eyes where the headlights would be (like how it would be done for anthropomorphic cars before), the animators decided to take inspirations from the classic Disney short, “Susie the Little Blue Coupe”, where the eyes are on the windshield instead. I found that to be a great design choice as it makes the characters look appealing, and works really well. It was also neat seeing that type of design apply to the many vehicles present in the picture and it always felt that not car looked the same looking at one frame (be on the look out for some fun little Easter eggs here and there) and they do show a lot of range in terms of emotions. The movements are also pretty cool as it looks like the animators had a lot of fun emulating how a car would use its’s tires like as if they were hands which was a nice detail that I really admired. As for the backgrounds this was easily some the most beautiful looking movies Pixar made at the time (and still is to this day) and probably the most photo realistic up to that point. There is much nice scenery to take in from large canyons, to peaceful, green forests, to the small, quaint town of Radiator Springs and there are even nice, relaxing (or even intense) scenes like Lighting, and Sally’s drive, Doc’s test lap around Willie’s butte, and the when the town is all neon lit that basically exist to show off all of this and it just continues to show the amazing technical feats the studio is capable of. Also given how this is a movie that involves racing, how are the races themselves? Well they are extremely well crafted with the long opening race sequence that kicks off the film being one of my favorite openings in a movie. It’s intense, is built up very well, is perfectly set to Sheryl Crow’s “Real Gone”, very well edited, and is a lot of fun, while the final race is also great as it manages to pay off certain plot threads and is very crowd pleasing. And once again Randy Newman delivers some great music as his score is really well done and is able to capture the mood of a certain scene like it can be really nice, and quiet or in the case of the final race, really inspirational, intense, and uplifting all at the same time. I’ve also mentioned some of the songs that are present in the movie, and they all make for an excellent soundtrack with iconic stuff like “Life is a Highway” by Rascal Flatts, Chuck Berry’s “Get Your Kicks On Route 66”, and more being associated with this movie. Even if your not a fan of the movie, credit has to be given to the technical aspects and the people who worked on them.
As has been stated before many times, the writers at Pixar really like to come up with a memorable cast of characters in each of their films and this one is no different. Let’s start off by talking about the arguable poster child of this franchise, Lightning McQueen, the hot shot race car who gains a new perspective in life in his stay in Radiator Springs. He may start off as a bit of an obnoxious, cocky, hot shot in the first part of the film but that done on purpose as to make his development into a good person, and friend all the more satisfying. One subtle little scene that I’ve always liked is in the beginning when he’s on the phone with his manager who asks if he wants to invite any of his friends to a race, and Lighting having a confused can’t think of any, a quick detail that gives him a little more depth than most other characters of this nature, and I really like Owen Wilson’s performance as he was well cast in the role. But its really his relationships with the other characters that really stand out, especially when it comes to Doc Hudson played by the late Paul Newman in his last role before his death two years later. He brings a lot of gravitas to the role and is just a really great mentor character with a tragic history that made him give up racing (one that Cars 3 delves into a little bit more) which makes him my favorite character of the movie. I also really enjoyed Lighting’s love interest, Sally, as they have some really nice interactions, Bonnie Hunt gives her some fun sass, and is just a really compelling character. We also can’t talk about Cars without discussing Larry the Cable Guy’s Mater, who has gained a reputation as one of the most annoying comic reliefs there are. I on the other hand actually found him to be pretty funny and I enjoy him, and McQueen’s friendship as it is unusual pairing that works. The rest of the residents of Radiator Springs in general are a lot of fun and each have a nice personality trait like Luigi (Tony Shalhoub) and Guido (Guido Quaroni) have this amusing gag involving Ferraris, Flo (Jenifer Lewis), and Ramone (Cheech Marin) are a really cool couple, Sarge (Paul Dooley), and Filmore (George Carlin) get some of biggest laughs due to them being complete polar opposites who hang out with each other (the former being a military veteran while the latter is a peace loving hippie), and even other minor character like Sheriff (Michael Wallis), firetruck, Red (Joe Ranft who would also sadly pass away soon after), and old timer, Lizzie (Katherine Helmond) each have their moments here and there. As for some of the other supporting players well John Ratzenberger actually plays a pretty sizable role here as Mack, Richard Petty is good as “the King” imbuing him with a laidback personality, and Michael Keaton seems like he’s having a blast as the infamous cheater, Chick Hicks, and is often really funny. Oh and for those racing fans out there, there are some neat little cameos that here and there that are appreciated. In all though this a colorful bunch of characters and I’m a little surprised we haven’t gotten much in the way of spin off content for some of them (aside from those amusing Mater’s Tall Tale shorts) as judging from some research there actually is quite a bit of backstory that could be explored in a television series (wouldn’t be surprised if Disney is considering a Cars series for Disney Plus like what their doing with Monsters Inc.).
Cars to this day remains a really underappreciated, and great movie that I find really re-watchable. I’ve always been a fan of it’s well done story, relaxed groove, perfect pacing, very well handled themes, gorgeous animation, killer soundtrack, and memorable characters. It’s a nice ode to those nice small towns that we take for granted and it excels at what its going for. I never have and probably never will get the constant hate towards it (though if you’re not a fan of the movie that’s totally okay) and I really don’t think its fair to knock this one down just because it’s a more simple film compared to the rest. So overall just a darn great movie which hit all of the right notes for me. So that’s a wrap for this Pixar review and join me next time as I will be heading into the kitchen to see how the heck can a rat be able to cook?
Rating: A
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