Rated G
Running Time: 1 Hour & 57 Minutes
Cast (voice):
Owen Wilson-Lightning McQueen
Daniel Lawrence Whitney aka Larry the
Cable Guy-Mater
Bonnie Hunt-Sally Carrera
Paul Newman-Doc Hudson
John Ratzenberger-Mack
Richard Petty-Strip ‘The King’ Weathers
Michael Keaton-Chick Hicks
Cheech Marin-Ramone
Jenifer Lewis-Flo
Tony Shalhoub-Luigi
Guido Quaroni-Guido
Michael Wallis-Sheriff
Paul Dooley-Sarge
George Carlin-Fillmore
Katherine Helmond-Lizzie
Directed by John Lasseter and Joe Ranft
 |
| It doesn't quite meet the high expectations that Pixar set for themselves but "Cars" remains a fine, if overlong, animated film. |
“Cars” has always been the black sheep on
Pixar’s close-to impeccable résumé. When the animated film was released in
2006, overall reception was positive but critics agreed that it was Pixar’s
worse effort at the time. Featuring a world full of anthropomorphized cars with
no humans in sight, the concept of “Cars” was somewhat hard to swallow compared
to talking toys or animals when real-world logic was applied. After all, how
did these cars evolve? Were they born from a primordial iron-soup? What about
reproduction? Ultimately, it’s not the concept that holds “Cars” back but its
rather simplistic story as it lacks the thematic ambition audiences have come
to expect from a Pixar film. The pacing is sluggish during the film’s
midsection with too much filler material used for easy jokes and while the
studio once again raises the bar for CG animation with some gorgeously lush
visuals, the film cannot shake off its predictable, been-there, done-that feel.
Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is a hotshot rookie determined to take home the
gold in the Piston Cup championship. However, the final race in the event
results in a three-way tie between current champion Strip ‘The King’ Weathers
(Richard Petty) and Chick Hicks (Michael Keaton), an ambitious race car who’s
unafraid to resort to dirty tactics in order to gain an advantage such as
ramming fellow racers off the track. With no clear winner, a tiebreaker race is
held in one week’s time at the Los Angeles International Speedway. Lightning is
desperate to win as it will allow him to leave his current, less glamorous
sponsorship of Rust-Eze (a company specializing in rust treatment for old cars)
for the more prestigious Dinaco. Eager to get to California for a head-start on
training, Lightning pushes his big rig, Mack (John Ratzenberger), to travel all
night without rest. Exhausted, Mack eventually drifts off but is startled awake
when three reckless street racing cars force him onto the rumble strips of the
road. The resulting vibration causes the trailer door to open and a sleeping
McQueen to roll out onto incoming traffic. Lightning wakes up and tries to find
Mack in a mad dash through the highway but ends up in a small town called
Radiator Springs when he unknowingly takes a detour on Route 66. During a chase
with the town’s sheriff (Michael Wallis), Lightning inadvertently tears up the
pavement of the main road and is impounded. He is forced to show up in court
the next day and the town’s judge and doctor, Doc Hudson (Paul Newman), orders
him to leave immediately. However, local lawyer Sally Carrera (Bonnie Hunt)
convinces Hudson to have Lightning repair the road as community service. Once
it is done, he can leave Radiator Springs. Lightning is angry over this
decision and rushes to repave the road in a day but when Hudson sees the shoddy
repair work, he orders him to restart all over again. A Southern redneck named
Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) takes an immediate liking to Lightning and the two
eventually become fast friends. As he spends more time in Radiator Springs,
Lightning’s worldviews begin to change and he comes to realize that life is
more than just about winning a race.
“Cars” explores the fleeting nature of
celebrity and life but the story pales in comparison to previous Pixar films
and is unable to sustain its lengthy one hour and fifty-seven minute running time. While
these are worthwhile themes, the main issue is that they’ve already been
explored to death already with the film bearing a striking similarity to
Michael J. Fox’s 1991 romantic comedy, “Doc Hollywood.” Lightning McQueen is initially
presented as hotheaded and rash with a big ego, refusing to listen to the
advice of his pit crew and reveling in his celebrity status. He’s basically
full of himself and keeps everyone at arm’s length. Behaving like a petulant
brat, he reacts with anger when he is sentenced to community service, failing
to grasp the consequences of his actions. Slowly but surely, he comes to
realize that because of his intense focus on winning races, he has lost sight
of the little moments in life. “Cars” is also overly nostalgic of small-town
life, arguing that technological progress has caused people to become less
tight-knit and blind to what life has to offer. This is true to a certain
extent but the solution to go back to a ‘simpler time’ feels like a regression.
Yes, it is important to appreciate and not to forget the past as it serves as a
valuable lesson for the future but you cannot remain stuck and unable to move
forward.
The film tends to drag during the midsection, with a number of filler
scenes that have no real impact on the story. Late one night, Mater invites
Lightning to a nearby farm to spook the sleeping tractors and while it offers a
chuckle or two, I didn’t find it particularly funny and the whole scene comes
off as pointless. Many of the jokes are aimed more at children than adults but
there are some small touches that I appreciated, such as giant anime eyes on a
female Japanese car and welcome voice cameos from both Jay Leno and Arnold
Schwarzenegger. The numerous travel montages, while visually impressive, are
drawn out and feel like Pixar is showing off its animation prowess. In fact, a
good fifteen to twenty minutes could’ve been excised to tighten up the pacing because
the film soon begins to wear out its welcome as it meanders toward a
predictable climax. What really saves “Cars” is the CG animation and while it’s
not a significant leap in technology, the overall look is vibrant and stunning.
Lightning and Sally’s Sunday drive through the town’s desert canyons and nearby
mountains is breathtakingly gorgeous. The design of the cars themselves also
deserves praise as any doubts to the concept are gone within a matter of
minutes once you see how human-like their behavior is. Rather than putting the
eyes on the headlights, having them on the windshield allows for more
expressive emotion with the wheels used as hands and feet.
As befitting for a
Pixar release, the voice acting is top-notch. Owen Wilson easily captures
Lightning’s brash recklessness and arrogance but also manages to imbue him with
enough charm, allowing him to win over the audience once he redeems himself.
Serving as the comic relief is Larry the Cable Guy as Mater and while he is
funny with his loud, dim-witted hillbilly antics, he works best in small doses
as too much ends up gratingly annoying. Bonnie Hunt is a Porsche named Sally
and exhibits a sunny, girl-next-door personality. Paul Newman (in his final
non-documentary role) is a gruff, no-nonsense judge with a hidden past while an
unrecognizable Michael Keaton is Chick Hicks, who does such a good job in
making him unlikable with his thinly veiled bitterness at coming in second.
Also contributing is Pixar veteran John Ratzenberger, Tony Shalhoub, and Cheech
Marin (of comedy duo Cheech & Chong) with cameos from a number of NASCAR
veterans including Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mario Andretti, and
Darrell Waltrip with renowned NBC sportscaster Bob Costas as an announcer.
“Cars” was released on Blu-Ray in 2007 and re-released in April, 2011 as a
Blu-Ray/DVD combo set. The picture and audio quality are beyond reference
material. All the characters have a shiny, reflective sheen to them and the
environments have such impeccable detail with the cars unleashing dust clouds
and specks of dirt as they race along various roads. As this is a purely digital-to-digital
transfer, there are absolutely no flaws with its video presentation. Audio is
dynamic and aggressive with immersive sound effects such as the revving of an
engine or the crunch of metal as a car crashes along the side of a race track.
Dialogue is crisp as well. There are a number of special features on the disc
including two interactive audio commentaries (one with director John Lasseter
and the other from various members of the production team) which allows you to
interrupt the film to view deleted scenes and short behind-the-scenes footage.
Ported from the DVD are a number of deleted scenes and two shorts, “Mater and
the Ghostlight” and “One Man Band.” For the kids, there’s also a game dubbed
“Car Finder,” where you have to find a certain car in a particular scene in the
least amount of time for points. The rest are trailers for various Disney and
Pixar films.
Released on June 9, 2006, “Cars” received positive reviews with
74% on Rotten Tomatoes but critics noted that ‘while the story may not reach
the high standards of [Pixar’s previous work], viewers of all ages will marvel
at the technical brilliance of the animation and come away satisfied.’ Until
the release of its sequel in 2011, “Cars” was the lowest-rated Pixar film. At
the box office, the film earned a respectable $462 million worldwide against an
estimated $120 million production budget but it was the massive merchandising
potential that made it such a resounding success for Disney. Countless products
bearing the “Cars” license have earned a gargantuan $10 billion in worldwide
retail sales and were the primary driving (no pun intended) force for
green-lighting the sequel. The CG animation is a visual tour de force but
“Cars” is definitely one of Pixar’s lesser efforts due to an overlong,
meandering plot that never quite inspires or pulls at the heartstrings when
compared to the studio’s previous offerings but even so, the film is still a
cut above competing animated films.
Final Rating: 3.5 out of 5
“Well, the road didn't cut through land
like that Interstate. It moved with the land, you know? It rose, it fell, it
curved. Cars didn't drive on it to make a great time. They drove on it to have
a great time.”
Note: Make sure to watch the hilarious
clips during the end credits!
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