Born Movie Reviews

Movie Review written by: Born Movie Reviews

RT Critics Rating: 7.4/10

Born Movie Reviews' Rating: 9/10

The truth is, talking cars have already been a thing since Chevron commercials. Their mouths move at the bottom bumper and their eyes are the lights of the vehicle. They are gimmicks, yes, but they work in advertising gasoline prices that will appeal to many others. However, the idea of making a movie where every single character is a talking car is a little too stretched. Even sillier, their eyes are now the entire windshield. Who would have thought that Cars would eventually become one of the greatest Pixar films of all time?

Cars revolves around selfish hothead race car Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson), who dreams of winning the Piston Cup Championship. After the result of a three-way tie, McQueen must travel down to California to attend the final race. However, along the way, he finds himself stranded on the ever-going highway of Route 66, and eventually runs into the broken-down town of Radiator Springs. There, he meets Mater (Larry the Cable Guy), Sally (Bonnie Hunt), and other mellow forgotten town folks who will change his perspectives in life and the things we value in memory...

Before you know it, you will forget that you are watching a film where everyone talking is a vehicle. An hour in, you will find yourself caring for the fate of the characters. The narrative is very tightly paced, with a crowd-pleasing storyline and terrific voice acting on Wilson and Larry's parts. To make it simple, McQueen and Mater are the new Pixar pair of 2006. However, even though McQueen and Mater are more commercially popular for the film, watch out for the chemistry between McQueen and Doc Hudson (Paul Newman), the owner of Radiator Springs. There is a spark between the two, similar to two figures of different generations sharing an experience.

Like all Pixar films, Cars is very colorful, with crisp animation and fast zooming visuals to appeal to the kids. The humor is there and the frame is constantly filled with high octane delight. Furthermore, like all Pixar films, Cars has a touching substance under the hood -- it is one of the themes in Pixar filmography that I value the most.

Cars brings about nostalgia, life in the old days, and the time periods where everyone in small towns knew each other like family. At the same time, this older world slowly becomes forgotten, because the universe has been progressing too fast. The speed of life is unbelievable, too fast for many people, me as an example. For a character like Lightning McQueen, he is a perfect figure to follow, being introduced to some sort of a time capsule back into the fifties. As his personality change, he experiences that there is a whole lot more to racing than just winning, and that some of the smallest things that we unnoticeably take for granted are the most blessed. This is a film with so much heart and soul, cautioning about a sense of loss while pleasing our eyes in beautiful animation and lovable characters.

In conclusion, Cars is on my top five best Pixar films of all time, and confidently sits as my number one most underrated animated film of all time. The characters are charming, the animation is stunning and colorful as always, and it drives with a theme that will last no matter what year you are watching this film in. Though many criticize the film for lacking the "push" that other films have, and that the film is described to have difficulty in appealing to our generation of viewers, John Lasseter's charmer tugged my heartstrings from beginning to end with great horsepower. You know what might help the film reach to your soul better? Watch the film at a drive-in theater. You will know what I mean. Afterwards, you can't help but sing along to "Life Is a Highway."