(L-r) Michael Keaton as Chick Hicks, Owen Wilson as Lightning Mcqueen, and Richard Petty as “The King” star in Disney/Pixar’s Cars, © 2006.
I don’t understand people’s fascination with vehicles, particulary cars. “Max, you don’t understand, it’s the Highwayrover 5000.” If it gets you from point A to point B and looks half decent, they’re all the same to me. I’ve also never understood the fascination with Nascar Racing, it’s a bunch of cars driving around doing the same thing hundreds of times. Boring. Why Disney and Pixar decided to do a film on cars, I don’t know. Well, they’ve done toys, monsters, bugs, superheroes, but I don’t know why they turned to cars. It would have been interesting if they went back to doing talking CGI animals and came up with an intersesting story. Considering Pixar is pretty much the only good-hearted writing Disney can rely on, it could have worked.
The cars universe is pretty much only inhabited by cars. Sure there are a few plants here and there, but even the insects are tiny little vehicles. I could not once in the entire film spot any other type of organism. The cars guzzle oil and use gas, but nothing more. Where is anything else? Are the plants made out of tiny little vehicle-like cells? Where is any kind of food chain? What happens when gas prices go up? What happens when oil is all gone? Are cars going to die off? How will they discover a new source of fuel? How do cars reproduce anyway? What came first, the car or _______ ( I don’t even know what it could be!)? When did the cars universe begin? Cars have only been around since the early 1900s! Is the universe only a hundred years old? Was there a car god or tiny-microcar organisms? These questions are really starting to bug me.
Lightning McQueen (somewhere, between a Lola and Ford GT40, Owen Wilson) is a cocky and narcistic red race car, number 95. He’s been waiting all his life to win the Priston Cup, the biggest race of the season. He’s facing 42 other cars, two of which are big challengers. Chick Hicks (1986 Buick Regal, Michael Keaton) and “The King” (Petty’s own 1970 Plymouth Superbid, Richard Petty). When Mcqueen blows a tire on the final turn of the race, King and Hicks close in and it ends in a three way tie. The tie breaker will be held in California in exactly one week. On the way, while riding in his truck, Mack (1985 Mack Superliner, John Ratzenberger) begins to doze off and is it almost knocked off the road by a group of cars who look like they belong in The Fast and The Furious films. The back of the truck opens and Mcqueen goes into the rode still asleep. After some bad highway choas, he ends up impounded for tearing up the road in Radiator Springs, a small town along Route 66 many characters consider to be hill billy hell.
While impounded he meets a rusty little southern tow truck, (I can already hear Jeff Foxworthy’s next pathetic bit happening right now), Mater (1955 Chevrolet One-Ton Wrecker Tow Truck, Larry ?????, you unfortunately know him as the cable guy). While in the town court held for sentencing for tearing up the road, a beautiful little blue Porche named Sally (2002 Porche 911, is it pronounced porsh or porsha?) helps to convince the judge to give him a harsh sentencing. He must repave the entire road he destroyed. The judge or head of the town, Doc Hudson (1951 Hudson Hornet, Paul Newman) says it should only take him about five days and once he’s finished he can go. He attempts to finish it all at once, but due to the quality, he has to try again.
This really is another solid and entertaining Disney/Pixar film. I am however, glad that Disney bought Pixar so that the two could stick together to make more films. Disney has the money and the technology, Pixar has the heart and technology. Both need to rely on each other to actually produce something likeable.
The writing by Dan Fogelman, John Lasseter, Joe Ranft, Kiel Murray, Phil Lorin, and Jorgen Klubien is quirky and car-ish and you never get car-sick of it. Why it honestly took all those writers to compose a two hour movie about cars, I have no idea. Why of all those writers, no one decided they should have a large explanation to all those questions I listed earlier, I also have no idea. The writing basically offers us another Disney life lesson and that is that it’s a team effort, and flying solo is not always the way to go. I must say though, by far, my favorite line in the whole film was when Mcqueen found out someone else won the Piston cup a long time ago, “Guys, ______ won the Piston Cup a long time ago!” and Mater replies while spitting out oil, “He did what in his cup?”
The way the film was cast was done extremely well. Especially how they oriented the type of car with the sort of personality it might go with. Sarge a military jeep is played by Paul Dooey and Fillmore a hippie VW bus by George Carlin.
The storyline is heartfelt and family oriented, but at times it got quite boring. They’re cars, there’s plenty of driving around, but where’s the adventure? Only two real locations? The stadiums and Radiator Springs? I never expected a movie about cars, so we really should be able to expect something a little more exciting.
The CGI is also flawless, it was impressive to adapt real cars into talking characters, especially while still keeping the shiny metal look. I rather enjoyed the celebrity spoofs they often threw in Arnold Schwarzenegger as a humvee and “The Jay Limo Show.”
I was also rather impressed with some of the cinematography by director John Lasseter (who also did all the other Pixar films except The Incredibles I believe) and the many lighting and technical directors show some impressive shots. Many of which show the quick and often slow sensuality of a car commercial, kicking up lots of dirt, side views of the cars, as well as right behind the front tires. Those are always impressive, especially if you don’t have that type of car, me, well, I still need to get my permit.
Rated G ( I still don’t understand how they slipped that one line past the MPAA, that’s worth quite a laugh.)
Running time 116 minutes.