Review: Cars

Everybody had their doubts that Pixar could do it yet again. No way, after Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, could they strike gold once more. How is it possible that one company keeps making great movies when so many others are making drivel like Garfield 2 (seriously, who decided the first one was so loved that a sequel was necessary? He should be taken out and shot). Well, I am pleased to report that Cars, once feared to be Pixar's Waterloo, is a fine film in the grand old tradition. It's colourful and low-brow for the kids, with plenty of hidden jokes and references for the astute adults in the audience. Don't get me wrong, this is not up to the same standards as Finding Nemo, which may go down as the finest animated film ever (take that, Beauty and the Beast!) but there's only so many times you can keep improving on greatness. It was bound to happen that eventually, one film would not be better than the last. But even the low end of the Pixar scale is usually pure genius. I apologize if I keep jumping back and forth between calling this great and not as great, but rest assured, Cars is a great movie.

It tells the story of a rookie NASCAR named Lightning McQueen, voiced with all the slacker aplomb that Owen Wilson can muster. He and his rivals, the veteran near retirement The King (Richard Petty) and the rough-riding also-ran Chick (Michael Keaton), are tied for points in the series, and the deciding race, The Piston Cup, will determine who will snag the championship, as well as the new face of the largest sponsor, Dinoco. When the race ends in a three-way tie, the kind that only happens in movies, a deciding race is scheduled in California in a week's time. Lightning (Ka-chow!) is loved by fans and cameras. Coupes scream his name and RV's blow their air horns when he drives past. But, sadly, he is a lonely guy who fires his crew chief and believes he can win races solo. The closest things he has to friends are his truck driver Mack (perennial Pixar voice John Ratzenberger) and his agent Marv (perennial agent portrayer Jeremy Piven). So when he gets lost along the drive to California, he gets really lost. He winds up causing a asphalt-load of damage in a small town called Radiator Springs. For his behavior, he is sentenced to fix the road before he can leave. During that time, he meets the inhabitants of the town (top right), including a pair of Italian tire merchants (Tony Shalhoub), a redneck tow-truck (Larry the Cable Guy), a low-riding paint job artist (Cheech Marin), a surly mechanic/judge (Paul Newman) and the requisite displaced city girl (Bonnie Hunt). He learns the value of slowing down to appreciate life, and grows to love the town's laidback appeal. But that's not all he learns, and he still has to get to California in time for the big race! How will he do it?! I ain't tellin'.

If you go to Cars, expecting it to be better than the last Pixar film, you may be a tad disappointed, but if you go see it expecting it to be better than any other animated film this year, I'm sure you won't be. The characters are colourful and cute, begging to be made into McDonald's Happy Meal toys. They basically look like Fisher-Price toys. It's a marketer's wet dream. But the backgrounds are bloody-well spectacular, and really give the sense that you stepped onto Route 66. You put these cartoonish characters onto photorealistic backgrounds, and you think it won't work, but hey, it's worked well for anime for all these years. Go see the film with the kids, and if not, go see it wearing sunglasses and a hat. Just go see it.

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