Cars (2006)
The Cast
Owen Wilson .... Lightning McQueen
Paul Newman .... Doc Hudson
Bonnie Hunt .... Sally Carrera
Larry The Cable Guy .... Mater
Cheech Marin .... Ramone
Tony Shalhoub .... Luigi
Guido Quaroni .... Guido
Jenifer Lewis .... Flo
Paul Dooley .... Sarge
Michael Wallis .... Sheriff
George Carlin .... Filmore
Katherine Helmond .... Lizzie
John Ratzenberger .... Mack
Michael Keaton .... Chick Hicks
Richard Petty .... The King
Jeremy Piven .... Harv
After having viewed the trailer for Cars a few times, I wasn't feeling too good about Pixar's decision to stay with the Disney Empire. Sure there's the perks of being able to print your own cash and then having money fights with other Disney execs, but it still strikes me as akin to selling your soul to the Devil. Cars looked to me like nothing more than a contractual obligation movie, with a premise that was seemingly worse than Shark Tale. Sure, it looked gorgeous as is usual for Pixar (well, minus the rigoddamndiculous eyes on the windshield, but that falls into the premise), but would it be all style, no substance?
Directed and co-written by Pixar vet John Lasseter, the plot of Cars seems to follow along the lines of say, Doc Hollywood, only with cars as the people, and no naked Julie Warner. Sorry. On his way to a season-ending tie-breaker race, a rookie stock racing car named Lightning McQueen (Wilson) destroys the main street of Radiator Springs, a town that time and progress has forgotten about. Thanks to Sally Carrera (Hunt, playing a hotshot lawyer car with an engine of gold living idling in Radiator Springs), Lightning is sentenced by the town's judge, Doc Hudson (Newman), to repair the damage he caused. See? Totally Doc Hollywood right there.
The film follows the accepted "hot-headed Outsider in a small hick town" movie formula to a predictable conclusion, but there are many things to enjoy besides the storyline. The eccentric band of yokels that populate Radiator Springs are wonderfully stereotyped by the vehicles matching the actor's ethnic backgrounds. George Carlin voices an environmentally-friendly hippie van, Jenifer Lewis a jive-talking café owner, Cheech Marin a low-rider, etc. The cast are all veterans of the business, and the animators do a phenomenal job of putting the actor's personality into the vehicles. I truly believe that Larry the Cable Guy is a talking, rusted-out pick-up truck, and nothing you can say will ever convince me otherwise.
The thing that has always set Pixar apart from the other animation studios was that when they did a movie about toys, it wasn't about a world of only toys, because fuck that wouldn't make much goddamn sense now would it? Now I know what you're thinking : what seperates the dumbass premise behind Cars from the dumbass premise behind Shark Tale? To tell you the truth, not a hell of a lot. A bunch of cars going to a race track to watch a bunch of other cars race seems pretty ridiculous to me. But then again, I've never liked Track and Field sports.
The other trademark Pixarian thing was the animators' attention to detail. When Radiator Springs is all lit up with neon, you can see every buzzing sign reflected on the shiny exteriors of the cast of cars. The animation continuity is also worth remarking upon, as most movies are shot out of sequence, there's usually all sorts of minor goof-ups in every movie. The gorgeous desert scenes, the speed of the racetracks, the night driving scenes (Mack (Ratzenberger) falling asleep while driving at night made me laugh 'til I cried, 'cause I've SO BEEN THERE DUDE), the spastic dream sequences of Lightning; all entirely different environments, all captured perfectly.
The only real glaringly obvious Disney-esque approach to the film was the schilling of the soundtrack throughout far too many musical montage sequences. Definitely a case of Shameless Soundtrack Selling Syndrome. Hang your head slightly in shame Pixar. Other than the stupid premise, the pimping of the soundtrack, and the unfortunate predictability of the plotline, it's a great movie, but definitely Pixar's weakest to date. I don't want to see talking cars in a world of their own because it DOES NOT MAKE SENSE!!
3.5 / 5