Cars
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: June 9, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
73
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 39 Critic Reviews
Positive:
29
Mixed:
9
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
All told, Cars is a knockout. Read full review
100
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Lasseter's inclusive, utterly distinctive sensibility makes Cars all that it can be. His embrace of the comic-dramatic friction between innovation and tradition infiltrates every aspect of the movie - the look, the characters, the story. Read full review
100
TimeRichard Corliss
The first great movie of the summer. Read full review
100
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Whether the movie will make you believe a shocking-orange stock car has a future with a lavender Carrera, it's more fun to follow than a televised freeway chase. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
A work of American art as classic as it is modern. Note to tourists: Leave before the very end of the credits and you'll miss some of the best and funniest roadside sights. Read full review
90
SlateMichael Agger
Who's this movie for, again? No matter: It's impossible to find more joy in the dark at the moment. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
What's surprising about this supremely engaging film is the source of its curb appeal: It has heart. Read full review
88
TV Guide MagazineEthan Alter
It's the one movie so far this summer that demands to be seen on the big screen. Read full review
88
New York PostLou Lumenick
Cars leaves the animated competition in the dust, even if it is a tad slower and more predictable than Pixar at full throttle. Read full review
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
On the most basic level, Cars is an old-fashioned fable about an egotistical, talented loner who learns humility and redeems himself by helping unfortunates. Read full review
88
PremiereEthan Alter
What the film lacks in freshness, it makes up for in great characters, fun vocal performances, and a script with some genuine emotional heft. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
What Cars teaches is how to blend brash comedy with technical astonishments so that each enhances the other. I can't imagine who wouldn't want to test-drive this one. Like the promos say, "It's got that new-movie smell." Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
There's so much to impress and delight you that the time flies by. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
Cars is a fine example of the formula, with pleasant chemistry, the patented Pixar cleverness, and the usual sweetly melancholy nostalgia courtesy of songwriter Randy Newman. Read full review
80
Washington PostStephen Hunter
The Pixar people have an extreme talent for conjuring imagery that is both soaring in its majesty but also resonant -- it's a stylization but acute enough to carry emotional meaning. Read full review
80
NewsweekDavid Ansen
As eye-popping as anything Pixar has done. But Cars inspires more admiration than elation. It dazzles even as it disappoints. This time around, John Lasseter and his codirector, the late Joe Ranft, seem more interested in dispensing Life Lessons than showing us a roaring good time. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
It might not be way up there in "The Incredibles"/"Finding Nemo"/"Toy Story" stratosphere, but the charming Cars is nevertheless a thoroughly pleasant way to mark Pixar Animation Studios' 20th anniversary. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Exciting though the car-racing scenes are, with their millions of fan-cars swaying fluidly around the stadium, it's the drives through the canyons and passes, and the quiet old ruin of a town (which recalls the abandoned mall in Miyazaki’s "Spirited Away"), that truly quicken the pulse. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
By relying too much on snappy dialogue and by adhering to the philosophy that "steel should feel like steel and glass should feel like glass," the filmmakers have bridled their imaginations and created a movie about toys that are too blubbery and not rubbery enough. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Overall, if the film is not as funny as its predecessors, that's probably part and parcel of why it doesn't seem as enchanting. Emotionally, despite the character arc, Cars doesn't resonate in the same way "The Incredibles" or "Toy Story" did. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Cars is a classic American tale firing on all cylinders and fueled by organic emotion and a lively sense of adventure. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
I wouldn't have thought that even in animation a 1951 Hudson Hornet could look simultaneously like itself and like Paul Newman, but you will witness that feat, and others, in Cars. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The movie wins you over through crack comic timing and an awareness that the point of driving isn't how fast you get there but what you see on the way. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
If Cars is something of a letdown, that is not because of the moral messages that it delivers but because of the heavy hand with which it cranks them out. Read full review
70
VarietyBrian Lowry
Periodic bursts of cleverness brighten the festivities, but they're too few and far between, and the trademark humor that appeals to adults and kids often misfires. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman
Never really quite great, it's still a good enough diversion for the family and should please adult fans of racing. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Cars is certainly watchable, and there's always some amusing bit of business happening at the edges of the frame. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Warning: Cars comes unequipped with two essential options -- charm and a good muffler. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneJessica Reaves
Whatever you do, don't leave before watching the snippets that run during the closing credits--the self-referential, tongue in cheek "outtakes" are quite possibly the funniest part of this movie--a visual stunner that seems to have misplaced its heart. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
At 116 minutes, it's a test not of speed but endurance. Read full review
60
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Cars is an elaborate concoction all right. But it feels soldered together from a scrap heap of tired ideas. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
This one is dully conventional even by family-uplift standards. The details are sweated, all right: It's a triumph of perspiration over inspiration. Read full review
60
EmpireOlly Richards
Judged against previous form, this is not Pixar firing on all cylinders, lacking the sophisticated comedy we've come to expect. Judged against fare from other studios, however, it's a triumph. Read full review
60
Village VoiceRobert Wilonsky
What ultimately redeems Cars from turning out a total lemon is its soul. Lasseter loves these animated inanimate objects as though they were kin, and it shows in every beautifully rendered frame. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
It doesn't make Cars a bad picture -- the visual inventions are worth the price of admission -- but it constitutes conduct unbecoming to a maker of magic.
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
And did I mention that it's long? It's long. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Curiously and unexpectedly, the movie brings on a suffocating feeling of constraint. It's a consequence of seeing characters with such terribly limited mobility. Read full review
40
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Both in its ingratiating vibe and bland execution, Cars is nothing if not totally, disappointingly new-age Disney. Read full review
30
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
If Cars is indicative of the kind of movie we can expect from Pixar post-Disney merger, well, there's always Miyazaki. Read full review
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