Vroom Vroom for Pixar's blend of excitement, nostalgia and friendship.

Rating: 7/10 (6 May 2011)

As pretty much noted by everyone who has seen it, Cars is visually stunning but unable to live up to the narrative standards set by previous Pixar big hitters. But mid tier Pixar is still better than most other animation offerings from other stables. Plot simply finds arrogant race car Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) about to hit super star status, only to suffer a highway crash that leaves him stranded in a ghost town called Radiator Springs. A once thriving town, Radiator Springs is now only home to the loyal locals and very much a product of an era long since gone. Forced to stay due to community service, Lightning is desperate to leave the place he calls "Hillbilly Hell", but as he comes to know the people of the town he comes to find a new perspective on things.
Cars is made up of three segments, the beginning where we are introduced to Lightning and the other cars involved in the race circuit, the action rip-roaring and setting up the film nicely. The middle section in Radiator Springs where it becomes a coming of age-life lesson-friendships formed-piece. And the final section as we get back out on the track for more wonderful racing and the character development reaches the winning line. It's the middle (bulky) section that many have problems with, and not just the children anxiously awaiting more athletic car shenanigans, the adults too have found this something of a chore to get thru. I liked it, felt it was a nice move from Pixar to get "Shawshank" like with the characters, a nostalgia nod to yesteryear and we get to spend time in the company of Doc Hudson, voiced poignantly by legend Paul Newman.
How you find that middle section may determine how much you enjoy Cars, but rest assured that even if you find it too talky, too slow, what bookends it is pretty darn great anyway. And of course the visual treats available on every inch of the screen make it a winner as well. 7.5/10