Cars

Rating: 7/10 (4 April 2007)

The latest offering from Pixar is at two different ends of the scale, as it is both a disappointment and a success. Firstly, the disappointment: Pixar has taken a well worn genre (the old dog and rookie upstart routine) and instead of breaking through the barriers that constrict the genre, they have merely allowed themselves to follow its guidelines to a tee. It has thoroughly predictable characters and plot line and, at least to start with, the character of Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is annoying and cocky as hell. It's not a good start.
Yet the film still ends up being a success. Why? Well, mainly because it is Pixar  since when have they given us a bad film?  and they know how to make films that last. Cars succeeds because although it stays within its genre constrictions, it plays with them enough to stay entertained. Add in some genuinely funny jokes and the best animation and graphics yet made and it's clear why Pixar still lead the pack in the animated film stakes.
But whilst Cars is a good film, it's not quite up to Pixar's highest standards. Naturally, the animation is staggering and once again resets the bar (how many times has that phrase appeared in reviews this year?!). Yet the story telling is not as refined as you might like. For a start, at two hours long, there is some unnecessary padding that could easily be removed. Also, as mentioned, the storyline is predictable enough so that there are few surprises. This makes the film seem a little more like style over content, which is not what Pixar is about.
The voice cast are all suited to their roles  Owen Wilson does cocky young thing in his sleep, and the use of Paul Newman as grumpy ex-race car Doc Hudson is excellent. Bonnie Hunt is McQueen's love interest Sally, and does her job well, but the problem is none of them seem inspiring or inspired. They're good, and they create a comfortable atmosphere, but not a vocally thrilling one. Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) makes most of the jokes, and this adds a great deal to the otherwise straight laced story. The thrills come mostly from the visuals  the races are excellently done  and some neat touches are provided but sly alterations to real life (there are no humans in this world), such as a scene where McQueen and Mater go "tractor tipping".
The character of McQueen starts off as annoying, yet we know this is only because the more cocky he is, the greater his inevitable redemption will be. The story pans out as predicted but because of the magic of Pixar it remains thrilling throughout. So, by Pixar's standard, Cars is (hopefully) a minor glitch in their otherwise outstanding record. By the standards of the rest of the CGI films we have been given recently, it still stands at the top of the pile.
Rated: 7.5/10
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