definitely not up to snuff

Rating: 7/10 (1 December 2006)

Pixar was on a roll but this one seems too focused on one group--NASCAR fans. It's cute and clever and all but the first 5 mins of cars going round and round a track lost me despite the comic asides.
The flick only really takes off when McQueen gets off the beaten path and ends up in Radiator Springs. The characters come to life then but I kept thinking the Hudson Hornet was really Paul Newman reprising Judge Roy Bean. The whole small town everyone knows each other thing has been done to death and it does work. The whole "Route 66" nostalgia was fine but, let's be honest, folks, Route 66 as a concept is pretty hokey and there is a reason that it died. It's not just due to the Interstate passing these towns by.
Anyway, the flick is fun but it's no Toy Story or Monsters, Inc. It's more in the Bug's Life vein as a great looking concept but the story lacks a lot. Pixar can't always hit a home run with every release.