In 2006, Pixar releaed its second film to have an entirely
non-human cast. Starring Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Larry the Cable
Guy, Tony Shalhoub, George Carlin, Cheech Marin, Richard Petty and Michael
Keaton, Cars grossed over $400
million at the box office and was nominated for Best Animated Feature and Best
Original Song. It lost to Happy Feet and
“I Need to Wake Up” from An Inconvenient
Truth.
Lightning McQueen (Wilson) is an up and coming hotshot car
race whose only concern is winning. After a three-way tie for the Piston Cup, a
tie breaker is scheduled in California. Along the way there, he gets lost and
ends up in Radiator Springs.
While Cars doesn’t
exactly reach the standards set by Toy
Story and The Incredibles, it’s
not that terrible a film.
This was the era Pixar generally didn’t go for subtle
messages. And unlike some films where sledgehammers are uncalled for, they work
here. Lightning going from an egomaniac to understanding what’s really
important is good. At the beginning when his manager asks him for the names of
20 of his friends, he can’t name them because he doesn’t have any. And at that
point he also doesn’t think he needs them.
But after realizing that life isn’t about racing to the finish line and
speeding off to the next race, he understands that taking it slow and actually
doing stupid things with friends is actually quite enjoyable.
There’s also a few pretty good jokes centered around the Cars world, such as the bugs and insects
having a VW Beetle frame. But the best two have to be when Lightning first goes
missing an there’s Jay Limo making a joke and a Hummer that’s the Arnold Schwarzenegger
stand in at Sacramento.
Most people really don’t like Cars, but even though it’s not as good as Toy Story, A Bug’s Life or
Finding Nemo, it certainly isn’t as
bad as its sequel.
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