Movie Review: CARS Author: Bill Ramey Friday, June 9, 2006 U.S. Release Date: June 9, 2006 Distributor: Pixar/Disney Director: John Lasseter Writing Credits: Robert L. Baird, Dan Fogelman Cast: Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Larry The Cable Guy, Michael Keaton, Bonnie Hunt, Cheech Marin, Tony Shalhoub et al. Genre: Animated Comedy MPAA Rating: PG OFFICIAL WEBSITE: CARS: The Official Movie Website TRAILERS: www.apple.com./trailers Copyright © 2006 William E. Ramey and ON-FILM.NET. All rights reserved. Somewhere on an alternate earth, all living things are some sort of motorized vehicles. People, animals, insects and the like, are cars, tractors, helicopters, and blimps -- among other things. This is the strange universe inhabited by the characters in Pixar’s latest, CARS. Like this summer’s earlier animated outing OVER THE HEDGE, CARS is a story of redemption. Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is a cocky rookie car/racer who cares about nothing but himself. While traveling to California to compete in the season’s championship race, he finds himself in Radiator Springs, a small, virtually abandoned town located on the historic Route 66. There he encounters a variety of mobile and motorized characters who help him realize that there is more to life than winning -- and caring only about one’s self. I’ve loved most of the films produced by Pixar -- in particular THE INCREDIBLES and both TOY STORY films. CARS, while entertaining, is not on the same level as those movies. In fact, I have to say that it's about on the same level, story-wise, as A BUG'S LIFE. Actually, A BUG'S LIFE is better, so take that for what you will. The biggest problem that I had with CARS was that I really didn’t care about the characters. I was sort of like, “meh” when it came to any of them -- except for Mater the tow truck (Larry The Cable Guy). I kind of got attached to him. In fact, Mater (“Tow-Mater,” get it?) was the best thing about this film. The plot was predictable as you knew that Lightening would *ahem* see the light by movie’s end. You knew that he was going to “hook up” with that hot little Porche Sally (Bonnie Hunt), Radiator Springs‘ attorney. You could see it coming that the "people" of Radiator Springs would eventually become Lightening’s crew. I can live with a film being predictable as long as it makes me care and invest in its characters. Sadly, CARS doesn’t do that very well for me. That's my caveat when it comes to films: I want to take stock in and give a damn about it's characters. On a positive note, the animation is fabulous! When Sally and Lightening go on a drive, I had to look extremely hard and decide if the scenery was real or computer generated. This has got to be Pixar’s best work to date when it comes to the animation. Some very beautiful stuff at times indeed. All in all, I found CARS enjoyable, but lacking that “something” that has made their other films (sans A BUG'S LIFE) so great. It’s excessively predictable, clichéd, and relies way too much on automotive-related puns and one-liners. Perhaps a better review comes from my five year old son Jake. Usually, he’ll sit through a flick with eyes agape and oblivious to the surroundings of the theater. That tells me that he likes it. Twenty minutes into CARS, he turned to me and said, “When is it going to be over Dad?” From the mouths of babes come the truth? JETT’S GRADE: C+ "Jett" is the founder and editor-in-chief of ON-FILM.NET and BATMAN-ON-FILM.COM.