Cars

Director:	John Lasseter
Writers:	John Lasseter
Cast:	Paul Newman, Richard Petty, Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt, Dan Whitney, John Ratzenberger, Larry the Cable Guy, Cheech Marin, George Carlin, R. Lee Emery, Tom Magliozzi, Ray Magliozzi
Released:	Friday, June 09, 2006
Length:	116 minutes
Studio:	Walt Disney Pictures
Genre:	Animation/Family
Rating:	General audiences. All ages admitted.

Synopsis

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Flick Rating

Now I must say I was very excited to see this film, and I do consider myself a very critical and huge fan of everything Pixar. So this review took a lot of thought and I don't want it to come across as anything Pixar does I will love. So with that being said I will throw out a very basic blanket to cover this movie. It was not the best Pixar movie (That will still reign with the Toy Story movies), it was not the worst (That sits with Bug's Life). Now most animation studios would be besides themselves to churn out a Bug's life anytime, so for Pixar the bar is raised way up there. You can tell even by the multitude of computer animated films I saw trailers for during this showing (How many animated talking animal movies are coming out this summer???) that Pixar is so far above most other animation studios. It truly shows on the screen.

Cars is a great little story. The little town where all the Cars live (Radiator Springs) is honestly one of the best animated fictitious places I have ever seen. As a little kid I would probably want to live there with all the cars. It's just a one of a kind setting for a bunch of great characters.

The story itself revolves around a smug race car (Lightning McQueen) who puts himself before anything, and the unplanned detour in the above mentioned place that puts a lot of his life into perspective. Throw in a big race at the end where he learns what is most important rounds out the movie. Teaching McQueen these life lessons are some of the best characters you will run into. Larry the Cable Guy almost steals the movie as "Tow Mater" the tow truck. (I must say I was never a big Larry the Cable Guy fan, but he moves up the ranks with me now!) But as most Disney movies I see I always pick a great secondary character and this one is no exception. The two cars that run the Tire Store (Voiced by Tony Shaloub) are downright hilarious! These two made the movie for me. I was in stitches whenever they were on the screen.

But I am rambling, the story, back to the story! The story was... good. Yeah it was good, not great by any means. Now what makes this movie great then? The characters! Yes this is a movie where the visuals and the great characters save the Pixar streak. Some scenes are unbelievable to look at, and these characters you honestly start to love by the end of the movie. As my wife said "I can't believe I cared so much about a Car!"And at the end of the film I wanted to watch it again immediately! (That's always a good sign! )

So to wrap it up Cars was a fun ride, it really was. Sure they stretch a couple times with the story, but it ends up working in the end. If it had a better full story you would have seen a 5 Turkey Leg rating with this, but it was close!

--Carl Nordstrom

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