An ongoing series looking back at the feature films of Pixar Animation Studios
It's known by many that Cars was Pixar guru John Lasseter's pet project - he adored cars, and wanted to make a film about them. But to most, Cars was a misstep by Pixar; it strayed too far away from the usual winning formula of lovable characters, brilliant humour and great stories. And yet, despite being the dark horse of the Pixar filmography, Cars is one of the studio's first franchises. These days, we've got a prequel to Monsters, Inc. and upcoming sequels to Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, along with a third Cars. But in the early days of the Pixar/Disney deal (which caused the film to be delayed in 2005), Cars was a shock. It might have been due to the huge merchandising sales (heck, even I had a selection of the character diecasts), but it seems to have made a big impression with Disney. Admittedly, I loved the film on initial release (bear with me, I was only 9), but watching it here makes me realise just how off this film is. If you compare to the competition, it's about on par with How to Train Your Dragon, Happy Feet and Ice Age. It simply gets loads of rubbish thrown at it because it's a Pixar film. It does damage the film.
Let's start off with some positives. The animation is superb, with the advancements in reflections on surfaces being high in quality. Add some beautiful shots of natural America, and it does make a visually stunning film. The neon scene in the third act really gets to show off this grand animation, and it's good to see that this film was beneficial to the constant improvement of animation.
The casting is also well-chosen, with all the actors fitting their characters - you can't really see anyone else voicing them. Perhaps if the characters themselves were a lot more likable. Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) takes a long time to actually warm to, Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) is incredibly idiotic and plays on like a stereotypical hillbilly, and Sally (Bonnie Hunt) is a forced love interest who suddenly warms to McQueen. The most likable is the briefly-villainous Doc Hudson (the late Paul Newman), who has a charm with his character, and a good incentive for his initial dislike for McQueen. Yes, it paves the way for a repeat of his accident during the final race, but it leads to a great rapport which continues in the video games and acknowledged in the sequel. As for sorta-villain Chick Hicks (Michael Keaton), he is very much one-note. He's barely notable outside of the race sequences, and there he is very wooden in his role as antagonist.
The story isn't necessarily a bad one, it's just rather basic; hotshot celebrity who doesn't have any friends learns about friendship when he gets lost. It's a simple story which allows character development for the protagonist. It's rather simple, and it does work. But the constant mix of good and bad humour and some pretty basic side cars making the film drag.
Cars was considered a favourite of mine. After watching it for this review, it made me realise how naive I was. When you consider this film highlighted that the studio was 20 years old at the beginning, it doesn't help show how great the studio has been. Cars is on par to Pixar's previous average tale A Bug's Life with similar faults and positives. 5/10
Next Time: If you are what you eat, then I only want to eat the good stuff
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