Review 31: Cars

Cars isn't the best offering from Pixar but once the smoke clears, it'll do.

In a world populated by cars, rookie racecar Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is on his way to the Los Angeles International Speedway to compete in the tiebreaker race of the Piston Cup championship. He winds up lost in in a little town called Radiator Springs on Route 66, that had since been forgotten because the Interstate was built. He accidentally wrecks the road and is sentenced to fix it. At first he hates it but soon the town begins to grow on him. During his time he goes tractor tipping with his new best friend Tow Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) and goes on a drive with his future girlfriend Sally Carrera (Bonnie Hunt) and learns life isn't always about crossing the finish line first.

The film tells a bright and cheery story 

 

The message of Cars seems about slowing down and smelling the roses. During his time in Radiator Springs, McQueen learns that there is more to life than just trophies and fame and that every once in a while he needs slow down and enjoy life.

Cars looks great, is a lot of fun and has a sweet message but somehow lacks the spark of other Pixar films. Maybe it's because we're seeing our world filled with anthromorphic cars as opposed to seeing the world through the eyes of cars.

 

John Lasseter's animation direction is sharp, the soundtrack is brilliant, the score by Randy Newman is catchy, the character design is breathtaking (they created hundreds of cars of all different types and cars is one of my passion), the production design is brilliant, the scenery is beautiful, the car race scenes and the scenes were the cars are exilerating down the road are exiting to watch, editing is sharp, there are some great action set peice the animation is impressive, the setting is beautiful, 

 

a scene where McQueen and Mater go tractor tipping is hilarious and exiting to watch and its really good fun. Tractors serve as cows in Radiator springs

the voice cast is great Owen Wilson was a cocky and funny protagonist playing Lightning McQueen. The design for McQueen is an intriguing one; a hybrid between a stock car and a Le Mans endurance race car. Lightning's dream is to win the Piston Cup, the grand prix of American racing.

The friendship that develops between McQueen and Mater is a sweet and enduring one, they have this superb double act where Mater is clearly not the brightest crayon in the box but is loyal to him and Lightning is the straight man.

 

John Ratzenberger is hilarious as McQueen's transport Mack Super-Liner Mack (brilliant gag). Even when McQueen initially acts all arrogant, he sticks by his side through thick and through thin.

 

Michael Keaton is a lot of fun as Chicks Hicks, a green race car who resembles an 80s stock car. He's such a scumbag who's willing to cheat and harm his fellow racers to win which makes him a brilliant foil for McQueen

 

Paul Newman is powerful as Doc Hudson  Doc Hudson, it turns out, was a famous race car in his heyday. Doc sees alot of himself in Lightning McQueen which is why he initially acts hostile towards him.

 

Other citizens include Mater a Tow Truck (Larry the Cable Guy), Sally Carrera, a sexy, blue Porsche 911 (the lovely Bonnie Hunt), Fillmore, a hippy VW bus (George Carlin), Sarge, a veterna jeep (Paul Dooley), Ramone, a 59 Chevy Impala who freequently changes his colour (Cheech Marin), Flo, an aquamarine GM Motorama show car with plenty of sass (Jennifer Lewis)

4/5

The Anonymous Critic