Cars
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Cars is a 2006 American computer-animated comedy-adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed and co-written by John Lasseter, it is Pixar's final independently-produced motion picture before its purchase by Disney in May 2006. Set in a world populated entirely by anthropomorphic cars and other vehicles, the film stars the voices of Owen Wilson, Paul Newman (in his final acting role), Bonnie Hunt, Larry the Cable Guy, Tony Shalhoub, Cheech Marin, Michael Wallis, George Carlin, Paul Dooley, Jenifer Lewis, Guido Quaroni, Michael Keaton, Katherine Helmond and John Ratzenberger.
Plot
While traveling to California to race against The King and Chick Hicks for the Piston Cup Championship, Lightning McQueen becomes lost after falling out of his trailer in a run down town called Radiator Springs. While there he slowly befriends the town's odd residents, including Sally, Doc Hudson, and Mater. When it comes time for him to leave for the championship is no longer his top priority.
Why It Rocks
- Very solid, and appealing animation, as well as nice visuals.
- Incredible world-building.
- Likable and funny characters like Lightning McQueen and Mater.
- Top-notch voice acting. For example, George Carlin did a good job voicing Fillmore, despite the fact he had fewer lines than in his other films.
- Well delivered life messages. In the final race where Chick wrecks The King and Lightning doesn't win the Piston Cup, he goes back to help The King finish his last race and says "It's just an empty cup".
- Proper character development. Lightning McQueen starts off as a selfish jerk who cares all about winning, until he learns that there's more to life than winning.
- Great soundtrack, with notable songs such as "Real Gone", "Life is a Highway", and "Find Yourself"
- The backstory of the downfall of Radiator Springs is a really heartbreaking scene, especially with the song, Our Town.
Bad Qualities
- The concept of a world inhabited by anthropomorphic vehicles can be really confusing.
- The film's unnecessary longer runtime (almost two hours) with loads of filler and padding.
- The storyline gets boring and is very similar (almost rips off) to the movie Doc Hollywood. In fact, the creators of this film actually got accused of plagiarism a few times.
- Cars 2 was very weak by Pixar standards.
- Lightning McQueen can be an unlikable jerk at times due to his desires for racing and winning. He fired his crew chief for no good reason and made his pit crew quit.
- Chick Hicks is surprisingly unlikeable as well,even by the standards of an antagonist.
- As The Nostalgia Critic points out in the video below, the film is a bit of a step back for Pixar, due to the premise.
Videos
External Links
Cars at the Internet Movie Database
Cars on Rotten Tomatoes
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