Film Reviews

Cars

• Rating:
• Director: John Lasseter, Joe Ranft.
• Starring: Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Michael Keaton, Bonnie Hunt.
• Details: US, 116mins, G.

Lightning McQueen (Wilson), a rookie car on the racing circuit, is on the verge of greatness after pushing two of the more experienced cars into a three-way tiebreaker race for the Piston Cup. While travelling to the big showdown in L.A., the self-centred Lightning loses his way and winds up in the forgotten backwater town of Radiator Springs; a place where time has stood still since the '60s. After destroying the town's main road, Lightning is forced to do some community service but the time spent in the innocent town allows him to reflect on his selfish ways. Pixar lifts the plot of Doc Hollywood and throws Cars headlong into a Thomas The Tank Engine/Days Of Thunder collision. What is impressive is that Pixar seem confident for the first time in the story itself as it doesn't rely on Hollywood in-jokes or references to other movies and Cars could be called the first 'film' the animation company have produced, as it easily be a live action movie albeit a simply plotted one. They have also upped the animation a notch, as at times it is hard to make out if the cars are not superimposed onto a live background and the race sequences give off a real sense of speed. The cars themselves are a delight, each one representing a stereotype perfectly. The downside is that Cars is low on laughs; dotted with little jokes along the way, there is nothing to guffaw about here. Another bummer is that the story drags in the middle and the dialogue is a little low in the mix in places but Cars will still entertain adults and kids alike for the duration. Delighting in its return to a less cynical, naive storytelling, Cars boasts more heart in its opening breakneck racing sequence that The Fast And The Furious has in its whole franchise.

Review by Gavin Burke