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Cars
Directed by: John Lasseter
Starring: Owen Wilson
Genre:
Animated
Run Time: 116 min.
Release Date:
March 2006
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
Pixar has proven its
animation metal a few times. FINDING NEMO and THE INCREDIBLES are their
most notable achievements, pulling off excellent scripts mixed with fun
animation and great star-power voices.
But the one thing that animation studios (including Pixar) have trouble
with is displaying human beings within their animation. Many times they
look plastic or stilted. The Incredibles avoided this by harkening back
to animations-of-ol’ but applying new styles. Finding Nemo didn’t have
many human faces so it wasn’t such a hurdle. With CARS, Pixar did
something very wise: they didn’t show a single human face. Personalities
were under the hood (so to speak) of the automobiles which juxtaposed
nicely with their humanity.
The story follows a cocky up-and-coming race car named Lightning McQueen
(Owen Wilson, WEDDING CRASHERS) who’s triple tie win forces a showdown
in California where the three would-be winners will face off. Chick
Hicks (Michael Keaton, FIRST DAUGHTER) and The King (racing icon Richard
Petty) are the other two contestants and they make it to California
without any problems. They are ready to win “The Piston Cup.” But
Lightning’s driver Mack (John Ratzenberger, CHEERS TV series) falls
asleep on the road and Lightning slides out the back (also while asleep)
while on “the highway.” Lightning soon wakes up and tries to find Mack,
but stumbles upon a one-cylinder town along abandoned Route 66 called
Radiator Springs. Unfortunately, Lightning also tears up the town’s road
and must do his civic duty by pulling the paving machine for the length
of the city. Stuck without any resources, Lightning grudgingly does the
job, but not before learning to slow his rpm’s and smell the proverbial
roses. He meets up with Radiator Spring’s city attorney Sally Carrera
(Bonnie Hunt, MONSTERS, INC.), a sexy little Porsche model whom he finds
himself oddly attracted to. There’s also Doc Hudson (Paul Newman, THE
STING) the town’s physician/judge who harbors a big secret; Ramone (Cheech
Marin, TIN CUP), a low-riding, paint-shop owner; Luigi (Tony Shalhoub,
GALAXY QUEST), a tire store proprietor with a love of Italian cars; and,
of course, Mater (Larry The Cable Guy), the rusted out but trustworthy
tow truck who adds the most hilarity to the film.
Cars gushes with family friendly messages but no one should hold that
against it. Animation features, by their very nature, are directed
toward younger audiences and allowing that innocence to come out in Cars
is pulled off well without becoming achingly super-sweet. But we’ve also
learned that adults enjoy these movies and Cars does an admirable job of
entertaining them, too. Most kids probably won’t know what cow-tipping
is, so might not understand the slow natured tractors that double as
cattle and are tipped over by Mater and Lightning. But adults with
experience in this area will probably laugh themselves silly.
That there are no human faces in Cars also aided it immensely.
Suspending disbelief was easy and will allow kids and parents alike a
great ride throughout.
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Image from Cars
DVD cost: $21.99
Purchase:
BestPrices.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite?
Yes.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
The rock formations in the
distance beyond Radiator Springs resemble Cadillac Ranch, and is
actually named Cadillac Range on the maps shown during montages.
Cadillac Ranch is an art exhibit consisting of 10 Cadillacs half-buried
in a line outside Amarillo, Texas, near where Route 66 once ran.
Movie Quote: "I'm
telling you, man, every third blink is slower."
Other Actors/Actresses
from Cars
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