Cars Review

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"Cars" reviews

Movie

Cars

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2009-10-09 22:02:04

Rating

3/5

Provider

CinemaSource

Review

Pixar's latest visual stunner with a heart of gold honors our obsession with the automobile. Although it will make many nostalgic for the open road, especially the historic Route 66, the kids might get a little bored with this one.

Story

Set in a world inhabited only by motor vehicles, Cars is sort of a cross between Michael J. Fox's Doc Hollywood and NASCAR. The main hero is a hotshot rookie race car named Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson)--an obvious homage to the late fast-driving Steve McQueen--whose one goal in life is to win the Piston Cup and bask in fame and glory. Yet, on his cross-country trip to the Piston Cup Championship in California to compete against two seasoned pros (real-life legendary racer Richard Petty voices the reigning champion The King), Lightning finds himself unexpectedly detoured in the sleepy--and forgotten--Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. There he meets its colorful denizens--including Sally (Bonnie Hunt), a snazzy 2002 Porsche, who owns the local "rest" stop; Mater (Larry the Cable Guy), the town's rusty but trusty tow truck; and Doc Hudson (Paul Newman), a 1951 Hudson Hornet, who rules the town with a steady hand, er, wheel. Together, they all help the cocksure Lightning realize that there are more important things than trophies, fame and sponsorship.

Acting

If Pixar calls, you come running, so it isn't at all surprising how impressive the Cars vocal line-up is, starting with legendary screen icon Newman as the Doc. Come on, being the race car driving nut that he is, you think the 81-year-old actor would say no to voicing a 1951 Hudson Hornet who has his own mysterious past in the racing world? Hell no. The rest of the cast also seem to have a good time channeling their inner car, from Wilson's snarky speedster to Hunt's cute and sexy Porsche, a big-city lawyer who decides to get out of the fast lane. Supporting voices include Cheech Marin and Tony Shalhoub as Radiator Springs' low-riding body shop and Italian Fiat tire shop owners, respectively. Even George Carlin gets into the act as a groovy '60s VW wagon, who sells "organic" fuel. Good stuff. Of course, what Pixar flick would be complete without its comic relief? Although he's no Ellen DeGeneres as a short-term memory impaired fish, Larry the Cable Guy fills in nicely as the dim but sweet Mater, the ultimate hick tow truck.

Direction

Having been out of the directing loop since his 1999 sequel Toy Story 2, Cars marks Pixar's golden boy John Lasseter return--and this is his big love letter to the splendor that is the automobile. Of course, his demand for perfection took its toll. The animators had to come up with a new technique called "ray tracing," which allows the car stars--that are metallic and heavily contoured--to credibly reflect their environments. Even with a sophisticated network of 3,000 computers and state-of-the-art lightning-fast processors that operate up to four times faster than they did on The Incredibles, the average time to render a single frame of film was 17 hours. Still, all that time spent pays off. Cars is a real visual treat, with another firm grasp in storytelling. Sure, it's a bit of a vanity project and may shoot way over the kiddies' heads, making them squirm a little during the "slow" parts. But as one of the recently appointed top guns at Disney, Lasseter can do just about anything he wants these days--and we are going to love it, dammit.

Bottom Line

Hollywood.com rated this film 3 stars.

Movie

Cars

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2006-07-26 00:00:00

Provider

MyMovies

Review

Pixar return with for their first outing since the Oscar-winning "The Incredibles", but is this automotive experience as good as its peers(which include the likes of "Toy Story" and "Finding Nemo")?

The action centres on arrogant racecar Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson), a turbo-charged hotrod for whom winning the Piston Cup in his rookie season is everything. However an unexpected detour finds him in the small town of Radiator Springs, where he's made to work off his debt to society after accidentally destroying the road. Desperate to get to California for the final race of the season, Lightning wants to get the job done and get out - but perhaps a week in the town, with its eclectic bunch of good hearted residents, is just what this young stock car needs.

Given that just about every other Pixar movie has dealt with much easier characters (toys, bugs, humans etc.), there was always potential for trouble in trying to bring such 'fixed' vehicles to life, but fortunately director John Lasseter and his team have created a series of fun and expressive characters. The standout has to be Mater (voiced by Larry The Cable Guy), a rusty old tow truck who takes Lightning under his wing, teaching him some small town values, and taking him tractor tipping in easily the funniest segment of the movie. And let's not forget the likes of Paul Newman's grumpy Hudson Hornet, Bonnie Hunt's young and sexy Porsche, and George Carlin's spaced out VW camper van.

As we'd expect the animation is flawless, and the racing scenes in particular will take your breath away. However the film does teeter towards becoming too sweet and cuddly at times, and anyone who remembers the Michael J Fox comedy "Doc Hollywood" will be more than familiar with the plot. "Cars" then may not be Pixar's finest hour - but its still head and shoulders above anything its competitors have to offer this summer.

Movie

Cars

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2006-07-21 15:00:32

Provider

Review

So can Pixar's follow-up to The Incredibles extend their seamless run of credible and commercially successful animated features that all the family really can enjoy?

It's the simple tale of Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson), a young rookie race car whose swollen ego is in danger of costing him the title. While traveling across country to get to the final race of the season Lightning crashes into a sleepy back water called Radiator Springs, accidentally destroying the local road. McQueen is taken to court where judge Doc Hudson (Paul Newman, a real-life car enthusiast) sentences our cocky hero to a week of road repairing, where he might also learn the true meaning of friendship.

Cars was obviously a labour of love for director John Lasseter who, for once, appears to have made a movie more with himself in mind than his audience. As visually stunning as ever, script-wise this movie isn't the 'for all ages' Pixar has previously spoiled us with. Motoring enthusiasts will obviously love the attention to detail but the addition of Jeremy Clarkson - trying a little too hard to sound child-friendly as Lightning's manager - we could have done without.

While there's plenty to smile at it's probably children who will laugh most, especially rusting redneck truck Mater's (Larry The Cable Guy) slapstick antics with tractors, the equivalent to cattle in the world of Cars.

Besides the voyage of self discovery, there's also a dubious and somewhat un-ecological message surrounding the movie. The bleary-eyed theory that folk should slow down, avoid mass consumerism (er this is a Disney movie?)and motorways in favour of smaller roads to aid the economy of small towns like in the heyday of the American road doesn't quite wash; or help our dwindling natural resources for that matter.

Cars is by no means a bad movie, it'll still enchant the pants off you and certainly puts Dreamworks studio to shame. But Pixar have become victims of their own supremely high standards and Cars will probably not rank among their greatest achievements in years to come.