Another form of 'existential road movie'...

Rating: 7/10 (26 October 2016)

There's something very nostalgic in and about "Cars", starting with its very concept: cars living and behaving like humans, it's a fun idea but not revolutionary. To those who might not be familiar with it, it had already been efficiently used in a Disney cartoon about road rage and a Tex Avery's cartoon about a father whose son dreamed of being race car (ironically, Avery would do a similar cartoon about planes). Now it's one thing to make short cartoons out of such gimmicks but how does that stand for a ninety-minute feature? Well, I guess not so bad when your name is John Lasseter.
Still, watching "Cars", I couldn't tell whether it was the most ludicrous or greatest idea ever, I mean, the universe where the film is set is like a human world as we know it, it has roads (obviously) but also buildings, which leads to the question, who built these buildings? But don't you dare start asking question, if you ask yourself how they make cars, you'll never know if it's on a technical level or if you're a baby car asking your parents. Which leads to the question, yes another, these cars have feelings but how do they express them? Granted Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) falls in love with Sally Carrera (Bonnie Hunt) but how will that show? I guess we'll have to accept them as asexual characters like Buzz and Jessie are lovers or Buzz and Woody friends, but at least the toys evolved in the real world.
Well, I'll stop here, the whole movie wouldn't make sense once you'd put some thought of it, because it's hard to make lives out of mechanical things and the logic of the film is limited by the story itself, but it makes the emotional achievement even more admirable, it's not meant to be "Finding Nemo" or "The Incredibles", yet it creates a unique world built on something we love as kids and love even more as adult; cars, so I guess this is why the film was successful enough at the box-office, it hit a sensitive chord. And let's not kid ourselves, from "Christine" to De Lorean, there's always been a special spot for cars in our heart, we love them and take care of them as if they are 'persons' and if anything "Cars" exploits this privileged relationship we have with cars, from the toys they were to the big engines they turned into.
And as a kid, I had plenty of toys and all from different types, if they were all like Lightning McQueen, it would have been boring but to make up my 'stories', I needed every possible model, I had the fire truck, the old car, the police car, the diversity made the pleasure and accentuate the fun of playing with them, and that's what exudes from John Lasseter's film, it's like big men using cars as props to their stories. In fact, it's like a Toy Story played by grown-ups and it works, You have the introducing and climactic racing, the chases and the adventure in a small town in the desert, that used to be one of the most visited places during the glorious days of Radiator Spings, and this is where McQueen is forced to stay until he destroys the road after being chased by the police car.
There, the cocky Flash McQueen meets a gallery of colorful characters, nothing new, the goofy tow truck (Larry the Cable Guy), the Fiat Topolino with the Italian accent, voiced by Tony Shalhoub and the old judge, voiced by Paul Newman and who has enough in common with Lightning to play the role he knows best: the mentor. When you have a former race car champion in a town, it's obvious there will be a few lessons to learn for McQueen before he can 'win' the race. When your hero says that he doesn't need anyone, you know it's a matter of time before he changes his mind, but even when we're fully aware of what's going on, the film manages to drive over these clichÃ©s in a fun and enjoyable way. It's a rather character-driven story and it takes its time to unfold its nostalgic power. I particularly liked the words of Sally about the way the subway ruined everything, and I could relate to it.
Many of my dearest childhood memories involves these long travels, and I didn't ask "are we there yet?" because I knew the places we were going to cross, but we hardly come cross these towns because of the subways. Here's another aspect that will appeal to adults while kids will enjoy the visuals and maybe the story, too. After all, "Cars", while not a masterpiece, shows you that there are more things to enjoy in cars than moving from a point A to a point B, and that's enough a point to make.