Cars 3

Voices of: Owen Wilson, Cristela Alonzo, Chris Cooper, Nathan Fillion, Bonnie Hunt, Larry the Cable Guy, Armie Hammer, Tony Shalhoub, Lea DeLaria, Kerry Washington, Bob Costas, Margo Martindale, Isiah Whitlock Jr., John Ratzenberger, Cheech Marin
Directed by: Brian Fee
Rating: G
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is devastated when the new generation of race cars makes him nearly obsolete. He begins a new training regime to get back on top of the racing world.

Review:

Tim: After the stunning mediocrity of Cars 2, Pixar bounces back with a solid, entertaining Cars 3. While this movie doesn't reach the heights of the original, it fixes a lot of the problems with the last movie and delivers an enjoyable experience. I had fun watching this movie and while it'll never be among Pixar's best, it's a solid entry in their filmography.

Among the many issues with the last film, they took too much focus off Lightning McQueen and put it on Mater. That was problematic for so many reasons. I was so happy to see that was fixed here- Mater plays a very small role in the overall story and the whole movie is better for it. This is partially because Mater really isn't that interesting of a character, and partially because Larry the Cable Guy's voice get annoying when you hear it too much. This franchise was always supposed to be about Lightning and the refocus on him helps the story immensely. I also loved how this story worked to connect back to the events of the original film. The first movie was surprising due to its emotional depth and this film works to get back to that place. I liked the connections to the original movie here.

The story was a good one- one that feels especially relevant in 2017. Technology is moving at a faster and faster pace and it's easy to get left behind, to become obsolete. It was a nice touch to add those elements into the story. They work from a children's perspective, but the themes themselves are relatable to adults as well. The idea of trying to stay relevant in a constantly changing world is a powerful theme and one we'll continue to see for many years to come.

The animation is once again beautiful. Pixar has never really let us down in this regard. Even their disappointing movies (of which I believe they've had many) are still gorgeous to watch. I've always loved the bright colors and the anthropomorphic vehicles of the Cars world, and it was great fun connecting back to it here. The voice cast is solid- Owen Wilson does great work as Lightning. Larry the Cable Guy is fine in small doses, so I didn't mind Mater here. It was great hearing Chris Cooper, Nathan Fillion, and Armie Hammer. I also love that this franchise continues to bring back Bonnie Hunt (she needs to do more, though!), Tony Shalhoub, and Cheech Marin. It felt to me like this movie did a good job of closing the circle on this franchise.

It feels a little surprising to me that this is only the second completed trilogy Pixar has done (after Toy Story). Although it feels like more, this is only the 18th feature film they have done. Cars 3 won't ever be considered a classic, but it's a good movie. The thing that gives me the most hope is that oftentimes, when franchises take a nose dive (like this one did with Cars 2), the wheels seem to fall off and things get worse and worse. Pixar didn't let that happen. I have to believe they worked hard to listen to the critical response to the last film and they truly did fix a lot of the problems that sunk that film. To see this film not just slightly improve- but vastly improve- from the last one made me really, really happy. And, now that my son is 2.5 years old, he's been watching more movies with me- and he thoroughly enjoyed this film.

* Update- I watched Cars 3 with my son a second time (he's probably seen it like 5 times by now). It's funny because I always considered (and slightly dreaded) watching movies over and over with my kid. It's not what I do (too many to watch!). It'll be interesting to see if this continues. Luckily, this is a solid movie and I didn't mind watching it again with him. Thanks, Pixar!

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Cars, Cars 2, Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Wall-E