McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) is an unstoppable driving machine when it comes to the Piston Cup, winning countless seasons whilst still keeping a fine comradery with his fellow racers. That is until a rookie called Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer) makes a big splash onto the field, using statistics and technology to perfect his performance and in turn shunning his competitors. With many either retiring or being fired in response to the surge in technological advancement, Lightning soon becomes one of the few traditional racers left, and even then he has fewer wins under his hood than ever before. But things truly come to a head when, in a mad dash to catch up with Storm, McQueen loses control and ends up in a similarly severe accident that his former mentor Doc Hudson (Paul Newman, here voiced using unused archive recordings from the first film). With that seemingly being the last straw for the racer's new sponsor (Nathan Fillion), Lightning has only a short period of time to prove to everyone that he's not ready to retire; proving that the classic ways that he and Doc were trained are superior to the simulators and treadmills. With unwanted support coming along for the journey in the form of Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo), McQueen must prove his worth and come to his own... unless there's another way to find happiness on the race track.
It's a welcome relief to see the franchise return to a smaller-scaled story following the overly bombastic approach taken last time, and in turn it makes the overarching storyline much more appealing. While it does also mean that there's only really one storyline for the entire 110-minute runtime, which the film struggles to fill up with despite countless high-adrenaline sequences, it's at least a somewhat charming venture which long-time viewers and fans will appreciate all the more. It's very much Lightning's story (the majority of the Radiator Springs cast, including Mater, is pushed aside for this focus), and regardless of what you think of the character you do at least feel for him as he pushes himself to become better than ever before.
As ever with Pixar, the film truly shines when it comes to the beloved animation department, as they once again prove just far they've gone as a studio and surprise you with the level of detail and realism despite being set in a world filled with anthropomorphic cars. From the specks of metal that flies across the race track during McQueen's crash to the woodland environments he trains in, the world he resides in looks incredibly realistic. It's especially noticeable when the film flashes back to scenes from the first instalment and you notice the increased detailing and shine on the characters – it personally makes me wish the studio would go back to the earlier films and remaster them in the same vein as video game companies do with their properties. Add some solid (if a tad unremarkable) direction from newcomer Brian Fee and you have a movie that looks good.
Resuming the lead role once again after being relegated to the sidelines in Cars 2, Owen Wilson delivers a great lead performance as Lightning McQueen, really showing off his dedication to the character and his desires. He can occasionally come across as a little grumpy and intolerant during the film's darker moments (a mandatory moment when he butts heads with Cruz comes to mind), but he hits his strides elsewhere. Cristela Alonzo's Cruz makes for a good foil though, and if future instalments do come out it wouldn't be surprising if she took over the series. She's likeable, dedicated, and likely will come across as a good role model for young female viewers. Armie Hammer, however, has so little an actual presence in the overall story outside of being a target for McQueen to beat – he's practically absent for a solid hour of the movie – that it's difficult to properly hate him. While he takes a lot of influence from former antagonist Chick Hicks (who returns as a TV show host, except jarringly voiced by Bob Peterson instead of Michael Keaton), he doesn't even get a majorly evil moment like Hicks attacking the King. He just makes snarky comments and drives fast.
Outside of the core cast, Larry the Cable Guy has a smaller presence but works just fine for kids to enjoy him, Bonnie Hunt provides just the right amount of support for her boyfriend, and hearing Paul Newman again nearly a decade after his death makes his appearance all the more endearing. Doc's former mentor appears in the form of a mimicking Chris Cooper, with help from a trio of former racers and makes a fine splash on the series, even if they are just fulfilling Newman's role. Meanwhile, Nathan Fillion is a mixed bag, as he can't decide whether he's friend or foe, and Lea DeLaria is so over the top as a school bus/demolition derby champion (don't ask) that she's only a tad intimidating.
Cars 3 is the true sequel to Cars, borrowing plenty of elements that made that film good to rectify the errors made in the film's first successor and pumping gas into a franchise that had quickly been left to run on fumes. Whilst the argument can still be made that this didn't need to be a franchise, let alone one that consists of a trilogy, the great animation and partially charming story make the film noteworthy enough that it may end up elevating the franchise and become less of a sour patch for the beloved studio behind them. 6/10.
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