Cars [G]

Lightning McQueen is the rookie racing sensation, famous for boasting that he is a one-man show and needs nobody at his side. But his self-centred attitude completely changes when, on the road to a tiebreaker race, he gets lost and stranded in a tiny run-down town in the middle of nowhere. Whilst fixing the damage he’s inflicted on the town, Lightning begins to make friends with the locals and he discovers that there is more to racing and life than just winning and doing it all for yourself. 

Another heart-warming and funny little animated film from Pixar, but not their greatest achievement, it has to be said. I mean, I liked the film muchly, it’s cute has great characters, has heart-warming messages about friendship and whatnot, but ultimately I feel that Pixar have done some much cleverer things in the past. 

Lightning McQueen is the rookie racing sensation, famous for boasting that he’s a one-man show and needs nobody at his side. But his self-centred attitude completely changes when, on the road to a tiebreaker race, he get stranded and lost in a tiny, run-down town in the middle of nowhere. Whilst fixing the damage he’s inflicted on the town, Lightning begins to make friends with the locals, and he discovers that there is much more to racing and life than just winning and doing it for yourself. 

Under all the layers of crisp animation, recognisable voice talent, and subtle and clever humour, Cars does have a really nice story about change, friendship, and trust. Those sorts of stories are great in family films such as Pixar’s because the junior audience can take more away with them then just laughs and bright colours. 

On a more trivial and film-tragic note, what I liked about this film was that Pixar took a short trip down the Dreamworks road. You know how in most Dreamworks’ films they give the animated character some defining feature that reflects the actor providing the voice talent? Well, there was a moment in Cars where Pixar did that too and I have to say that it was actually kind of funny seeing how Jay Leno and Arnold Schwarzenegger would look like if they were cars. 

The animation is just as classic as that of Toy Story or Monsters Inc and there is a lot of humour that will appeal to the adults, which makes this another classic family film. Oh, and be sure you watch the little bits at the end while the credits roll; clever note on Pixar’s casting preferences. 

Featuring the voice talents of Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Larry the Cable Guy, Cheech Martin, Tony Shaloub, George Carlin, John Ratzenberger, and Michael Keaton, Cars is a cute and funny little family that’s filled with races, bright colours, humour, friendship, action, and romance. It’s not Pixar’s finest cinematic achievement, but it’s worth watching nonetheless.