'Cars 3' Review

Cars 3 speeds by Lightning McQueen at the tail-end of his career as a new generation of racers emerge and McQueen winds up in a crippling crash that ejects him for the season. Determined to get back in the game and decide when he's done racing, McQueen heads out to a training facility to work with trainer Cruz Ramirez in hopes of getting back out on the racetrack again.

After the unfortunate critical crash of Cars 2, fresh face Brian Fee takes the steering wheel as director of Cars 3 and reroutes back towards the racing roots of Cars. Fee focuses on an aged athlete arc to drive the story forward, making matters more adult-oriented opposed to the go-getter goofiness of Cars 2. This time around Cars 3 almost seems self-referential to audiences perspective of the Cars franchise by detailing that McQueen just isn't the racer he used to be and paralleling the consensus that Pixar may have fallen behind in the animated arena.

Cars 3 also features relatively recent additions in regards to scripting with a story treatment from Fee, Ben Queen, Eyal Podell, and Jonathon E. Stewart in addition to the screenplay penned by Kiel Murray, Bob Peterson, and Mike Rich. This team of screenwriters clearly put her ears to the ground and acknowledged common complaints about Cars 2 since they position Mater as an ancillary automotive this time around. For the matter, the events of Cars 2 were never referenced and it's almost as through it never happened (similarly to how Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales handled the stink of On Stranger Tides).

Lightning McQueen leads this tertiary lap with a desire to finish his career on his terms. McQueen was never one of Pixar's greatest characters but he's significantly more sympathetic this time around and it's incredible how much I care for the car when viewing through a different lens. I think one of Pixar's strengths is how they craft their subsequent sequels grow with the viewer. Just look to Monster University, which was released when the children who saw Monsters Inc. were headed off to college and Pixar pulled off a similar tactic for Toy Story 3 effortlessly.

The writers extract meaningful messages about mentorship, leaving a legacy, and getting older that will resonate with more mature audiences while incorporating riveting races and a daunting demolition derby for younger viewers. I was impressed with just how well Cars 3 tied in with Cars, essentially bringing McQueens' story full circle in a satisfying manner.

Pixar has always been quite adept at translating a quality story with rich thematic significance from paper to screen but it's only enhanced by the animation. The visual storytelling on display is masterful with one example being a sequence that phased out the older racers with the young, chipper cars, leaving practically only McQueen left. This sequence managed to make it seem like Lightning actually had a long winded career as opposed to the few races showcased in Cars and Cars 2. It not only sold that aspect of the story but the fact McQueen and his buddies were being edged out by rookies that's a natural occurrence with any sport.

The animation itself though was outstanding as you'd expect from Pixar with photorealistic environments and an intense color palette. While Cars 3 may take a few pit stops, I was engrossed from start-to-finish with Lightning's quest. Elsewhere, Randy Newman composes a sumptuous score, there's plenty of trademark Pixar easter eggs to look out for, and the vocal talent offers some pristine performances.

Owen Wilson discovers dramatic depth within Lightning McQueen that carries his character arc to fruition while Cristela Alonzo convincingly communicates Cruz Ramirez's spunk and determination. McQueen and Ramirez are an interesting pairing and their friendship was without a doubt one of Cars 3's highlights. Armie Hammer and Nathan Fillion each make the most of their limited screen time as Sterling and Jackson Storm but both are confined to slight two dimensional caricatures as a stingy sponsor and the hotshot rival rookie. 

Along the way Smokey, River Scott, Louise Nash, and Junior Moon are all drawn into the mix to serve as elderly advisers, voiced by Chris Cooper, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Margo Martindale, and Junior Johnson respectively. They each fill out their roles well and help fill the void Paul Newman's Doc Hudson left behind after Newman passed. Meanwhile, Larry The Cable Guy proves Mater is sufficient in small doses as the dorky tow truck moseys around with the rest of Radiator Springs' residents including Bonnie Hunt, Cheech Marin, Tony Shalhoub, Guido Quaroni, Jenifer Lewis, Paul Dooley, Michael Wallis, George Carlin, and Katherine Helmond as Sally, Ramone, Luigi, Guido, Flo, Sarge, Sheriff, Filmore, and Lizzie.

  

So were the new bells and whistles enough to bring the Cars franchise up to speed? Surprisingly, yes. Pixar really revved up their creative engine so that Cars 3 could cross the franchise finish line, qualify for trilogy consideration, and launch the anthropomorphized automobiles to record high speeds.

Film Assessment: B+