Cars 3

Eyal Podell (story)

Jonathan E. Stewart (story)

Kiel Murray (screenplay)

Bob Peterson (screenplay)

Mike Rich (screenplay)

Chris Cooper

Bonnie Hunt

Armie Hammer

Lea DeLaria

Kerry Washington

**Cars 3** is a computer-animated sports comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is a threequel to *Cars**,* and takes place after *Cars 2**.* It once again follows Lightning who is having a midlife crisis, and sets out to prove to a new generation of racers that he is still the best racecar in the world.

## Plot

Six years after *Cars 2,* Lightning has been racing for years, and is racing with Bobby Swift and Cal Weathers. The three have high respect for one another as they trade wins during the series. The winner gets pranked for fun. While Lightning and Bobby race for the finish during a race, a next-generation racecar named Jackson Storm speeds past both of them and *he* wins. Lightning sees the replay on the Jumbotron, realizing that Storm has come from nowhere to beat him.

## Critical reception

Much like the original movie, *Cars 3* received positive reviews from critics, who praised the animation, humor, emotional story, and for being an improvement over the second film although I personally liked all three. I also enjoyed the film as much as I enjoyed the first two, praising the animation, humor, emotional story, voice acting, characters, and paying tribute to *Cars* character Doc Hudson. However, I criticized the lack of uses of Lightning saying "Kachow!", which was a quote that felt really important for him for a *Cars* movie.

#### Why I Love It

1. Great voice acting, especially from professional actors and NASCAR drivers.
2. The animation is a great step-up from the first two movies and all other previous Pixar movies.
3. The characters from the first two movies are still likable.
4. The humor that made *Cars* hilarious is still funny.
5. It pays a touching tribute to the great Doc Hudson by showing flashbacks of him throughout the movie.
6. Lots of references to *Cars 2*, such as Doc's death, his medical office being turned into a museum, Lightning's newly-installed headlights, a cameo from Jeff Gorvette, a picture of Miles Axelrod (if you notice close enough) in Sterling's office, and a TV screen showing John and Nancy, the two cars in Paris, kissing.
7. We get to see more of Mack a lot.
8. It has some of the most emotional moments in the entire *Cars* series.
9. While Mater doesn’t appear that often, he is still a major character in the story and he shares a few minutes of screen time.
10. The Florida 500 track looks amazing!
11. Great story, which combines nostalgia (which came from the original 2006 movie) and new elements, and focusing on Lightning yet again.
12. It is even better than *Cars 2*, which was actually a good movie otherwise, but this time, it focuses on Lightning again.
13. Awesome soundtrack, featuring new songs by Dan Auerbach, James Bay, and ZZ Ward & Gary Clark, Jr..
14. While it was fun seeing Mater as the protagonist in *Cars 2*, we now get to see the continuation of Lightning's side of the story (yes, the main part of the story). But if you can watch all three, you'll see that Lightning is the overall protagonist, and nothing important will be missed out.
15. So many references to the first two movies, like Doc's death, his medical office being transformed into a racing museum, Lightning's newly-installed headlights, a cameo of Jeff Gorvette, a picture of Miles Axelrod in Sterling's office and a TV screen showing John and Nancy, the two cars in Paris, kissing.
16. Amazing score by Randy Newman (composer of the first film) who came back to compose this film.
17. The new characters are awesome, like Cruz Ramirez and Smokey.

#### Cons

1. It is ridiculous that Lightning participates, yet he decides to quit in order to be Cruz's coach. Granted, it was nicely-executed, but Lightning still should have won.
2. While emotional, the scene where Lightning yells at Cruz is harsh and brutal.
3. Lightning's crash is kind of messed-up and sort of disturbing for a movie that is rated **G**. Still curiously, it reminds us of Doc Hudson's crash "back in '54".
4. Mia and Tia don't appear in this movie at all, and Van and Minny are not even anywhere to be seen. Mrs. The King (or Lynda Weathers) is also absent in the movie, and probably does not seem to exist anymore likely due to her actress, Lynda Petty's death. Not even Chuki is anywhere to be found.
5. Jackson Storm is a rather unlikable antagonist, which is pretty usual for my opinion of bad guys, but he is worse.
6. Michael Keaton did not return to reprise his role as Chick Hicks, and while Bob Peterson is a great Pixar actor, he is not quite as good at voicing Chick as Keaton is.
7. Although it did bring back characters from the first movie, it hardly mentions any of the events of the second movie, and doesn’t bring back enough characters from that film, (save for a cameo of Sir Miles Axelrod in a photo inside Sterling's office as previously mentioned);  characters like Finn McMissile, Holley Shiftwell, and Francesco Bernoulli don't even appear in this movie, all because of complaints about the second film, although I do respect the opinions of whoever's opinion is not even the same as mine judging on that movie. There, I said it. OK?
8. **Missed opportunity:** Lightning did not say his catchphrase "KACHOW!", except for trailers and read on some of the merchandise in Sterling's office.

## Trivia

* First *Cars* movie to not be directed by John Lasseter. It was instead directed by Pixar storyboard artist Brian Fee. However, John is still credited as executive producer.
* This is the only *Cars* film with several things:
	+ This is the only film in the *Cars* series to never have a main antagonist with a green outline.
	+ Only *Cars* movie without having Lightning say his famous catchphrase "KACHOW!"
	+ The only film to never have Lightning say anything related to "You know who you're talking to? This is Lightning McQueen. I can handle anything."
	+ The only *Cars* film to not come out the same year as a *Happy Feet* movie.
	+ The only *Cars* movie to never feature the Wilhelm scream.
* This is Pixar's 12th G-rated movie, after *Toy Story*, *A Bug's Life*, *Toy Story 2*, *Monsters, Inc.*, *Finding Nemo, Cars*, *Ratatouille, WALL-E, Toy Story 3, Cars 2,* and *Monsters University*.
* First *Cars*movie without Chuki, Mia, Tia, Van, Minny, or any Ferrari F430.
* The last Pixar movie to use the actual Walt Disney Pictures 2006 logo fanfare until *Turning Red* was released.

## Cast

* Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen
* Bonnie Hunt as Sally Carrera
* Larry the Cable Guy as Mater
* Cristela Alonzo as Cruz Ramirez
* Armie Hammer as Jackson Storm
* Paul Newman as Doc Hudson (archived recordings)
* Chris Cooper as Smokey
* Cheech Marin as Ramone
* Tony Shalhoub as Luigi
* Guido Quaroni as Guido
* Jenifer Lewis as Flo
* Michael Wallis as Sheriff
* Lloyd Sherr as Fillmore
* Paul Dooley as Sarge
* Katherine Helmond as Lizzie
* John Ratzenberger as Mack
* Jerome Ranft as Red, Additional Voices
* Bob Peterson as Chick Hicks, Dr. Damage
* Richard Petty as The King
* Lea DeLaria as Miss Fritter
* Bob Costas as Bob Cutlass
* Darrell Waltrip as Darrell Cartrip
* Kerry Washington as Natalie Certain
* Kyle Petty as Cal Weathers
* Humpy Wheeler as Tex
* Tom Magliozzi as Rusty Rust-eze
* Ray Magliozzi as Dusty Rust-eze
* Angel Oquendo as Bobby Swift *(uncredited)*
* Shannon Spake as Shannon Spokes
* Daniel Suárez as Danny Swervez
* Chase Elliot as Chase Racelott
* Ryan Blaney as Ryan Laney
* Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr. as Bubba Wheelhouse
* Junior Johnson as Junior Moon
* Isiah Whitlock Jr. as River Scott
* Margo Martindale as Louise Nash
* Madelaine McGraw as Maddy McGear
* Lewis Hamilton as Hamilton
* Ray Evernham as Ray Reverham
* Jeff Gordon as Jeff Gorvette
* Mike Joy as Mike Joyride
* Deidrich Bader as Brick Yardley
* Andra Day as Sweet Tea
* Jeremy Maxwell as Arvy *(uncredited)*
* Douglas Keever as Albert Hinkey *(uncredited)*