Cars
Year: 2006
Rating: G
Length: 117 minutes / 1.95 hours
In terms of early Pixar films, I always felt Cars (2006) was a bit of a step backward for the animation company. I’ve never been much of a “car guy” and I find NASCAR racing a bit silly. Still, Pixar’s focus on the story helped make this a solid sports movie. After all, the timeless “mentor teaching a cocky up-and-comer” narrative works for a reason. And while I’d love to see other Pixar franchises get as much love as this one, I can see why it’s done so well for its target demographic.
Cars is an excellent movie for freeze-frame analysis for the number of puns and visual gags alone. Granted, there are also a lot of disturbing extrapolations if you spend a significant amount of time thinking about this universe of sentient vehicles. Still, the growth of these characters helps make this movie into something more than just a vehicle (har har) for selling toys to kids. Unfortunately, these characters can also be quite annoying. The bravado of Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is only slightly bearable when compared to the unabashed stereotypes of the other vehicles who live in Radiator Springs.
Perhaps the best compliment I can give a movie like Cars is that it made me care about the outcome of a NASCAR race. While McQueen might have been a victim of his own hubris, the villain characters were definitely worse. For an early Pixar film, the personification of vehicles still feels a little weird to me, but the advancements in CGI lighting and reflections were definitely on full display in this animated movie. In the end, regardless of my feelings about this movie, my toddler likes watching the “car movie,” and who am I to say no to her?
A classic “sports movie” framework with some Pixar charm, I give Cars 3.5 stars out of 5.
1/2
