Sit Back and Enjoy the Ride

Rating: 9/10 (1 February 2007)

What do Richard Petty, Owen Wilson, & Paul Newman have in common? They're all in Walt Disney and Pixar's latest film 'Cars'. The story revolves around a rookie race car learning that life isn't about where you're going, but how you get there. Now I'll admit, last fall when I first heard about this movie I completely wrote it off as being utterly preposterous. Why? Simply because the idea of talking cars didn't seem entertaining in the least. It actually wasn't until the day before its release I said, wow, I think Disney's got something here. (Which only proved to be true after seeing it the next day.) John Lassester, the man who took us into the world of toys in 'Toy Story' and on a search for a young clown fish in 'Finding Nemo' has done it once again. First off, there's Lightning McQueen's (Owen Wilson) funny and irresistibly lovable new best friend, Mater. (Larry the Cable Guy) He adds to 'Cars' what Scrat the squirrel does in the 'Ice Age' films. Now don't get me wrong, many of the other characters featured in the film are plenty likable, but Mater is the glue that brings it all together. Also in 'Cars' the animation is superb. It doesn't have the same style or look the other Pixar films have. I don't really know how to describe it, but it's certainly something.
But, as almost all movies, 'Cars' does have a drawback. It's missing something. That special something only Disney and Pixar can add that made 'Toy Story' what it is, a great movie. I'm not sure why, but it's just not there. I imagine in the end 'Cars' will just fall short of having the longevity and memorability films like 'Finding Nemo', 'Monsters, Inc.' & 'Toy Story' will. Despite this, 'Cars' is still a winner and manages to be excellent. Not a classic, but excellent. I highly recommend seeing it at least once to give it a test drive.