Cars

Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: June 9, 2006

7.5	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 774 Ratings

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MovieManiac83Apr 24, 2015

It’s a testament to the ludicrously high standards Pixar has set itself that Cars can be considered in any way a disappointment. It leaves the CG output of every other studio choking in its spectacularly rendered dust, yet somehow, somewhereIt’s a testament to the ludicrously high standards Pixar has set itself that Cars can be considered in any way a disappointment. It leaves the CG output of every other studio choking in its spectacularly rendered dust, yet somehow, somewhere in this well-oiled, staggeringly beautiful machine somebody has omitted a small but crucial cog. It just doesn’t quite run with the smooth hum of fun we’ve come to expect of history’s greatest animation house.

There is no question that Cars is Pixar’s greatest visual achievement. Those geniuses chez Lightyear have long recognised that the best computer animation is not obsessed with realism but detail (just look at the sinister Polar Express to see how off-putting it can be when that balance is out of whack). Everything in Cars is clearly of a bulbous, shiny cartoon world, but is so exquisitely crafted that the reflection off the hood of a speeding racer or the neon miasma bathing a midnight town is almost enough to make you openly weep in the cinema. There is not a single flaw on the face of this film; it’s like Angelina Jolie with hubcaps.

Pretty visuals are only part of what we’ve come to expect of the Pixar experience, though. As a piece of storytelling, Cars sometimes has a sluggishness that is all the more surprising considering it’s directed by animation god John Lasseter, back behind the wheel for the first time since Toy Story 2. With a core message about getting out of the fast lane and enjoying the slow scenic route, it’s a story designed for a middle-aged man, not a sugar-fuelled pre-teen for whom the fast lane is never fast enough — and like any middle-aged man, it’s carrying a little excess flab.

It starts lean and energetic. The opening, featuring cocksure racer Lightning McQueen whizzing around the track, is a breakneck action sequence that could sit happily in any live-action film. In animation, editing and pacing it is near flawless, and one of the most exciting scenes of the summer. So when a later motorway mishap lands McQueen in the derelict town of Radiator Springs, where the most spectacular auto is an emotionally unstable fire engine and a day when holidaying people-carriers pop through is considered eventful, it’s hard not to yearn for the heady roar of the race track.

It’s not that McQueen’s cohorts in the town are dull; it’s just that they’re not especially funny. With the possible exception of rustbucket tow-truck Mater, it’s unlikely you’ll remember any of them after the closing credits in the same way you do such incidental characters as Toy Story’s Rex, mini-Incredible Jack-Jack or that stoned surfer turtle from Finding Nemo. Pixar without funny is like Disney without animal sidekicks or Miyazaki without that bit you didn’t really understand but still kinda liked — it’s recognisable, but it just feels off.

In contrast with the film’s message, Radiator Springs is a nice place to hang out for a while, but you wouldn’t want to live there. Which makes it a great relief when the movie’s ending turns out to be such a humdinger. Bringing the slow and fast lanes together in glorious fashion, it makes sense of the movie’s duller sections and uses them to invest the action with emotion. It’s a finale so full of joy, imagination and technical brilliance that you forgive Lasseter the previous storytelling flaws and, teamed with what might be the greatest Pixar credits gag to date, means you’ll leave the movie on a petrol-induced high.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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mrdr4gonDec 15, 2017

"Generic kids movie" on autopilot. It's as if this film is driving itself in the same way the characters are. Predictable and fairly dumbed down throughout. Pixar have shown that they can deliver better many times over. This is just a"Generic kids movie" on autopilot. It's as if this film is driving itself in the same way the characters are. Predictable and fairly dumbed down throughout. Pixar have shown that they can deliver better many times over. This is just a soulless cash-grab.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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RandUm801eeeSep 13, 2022

Down with Mater and Sally! Throw them into the Wall-E trash compactors! They are meant to be the heart and soul of the movie, yet they only serve as a glimpse of the empty black void that is at the center of Cars (2006).

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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MikeD.Sep 10, 2006

Wow, what a disappointing bore! There was nothing clever, interesting, new or funny about this movie. (For adults - I'm sure kids will love it, however.)

0 of 1 users found this helpful

BlogDog123May 25, 2011

Cars tries desperately to be funny, but most of the jokes tend to fall flat. Also, I'm not quite sure how talking cars would be able to build the ragtag Radiator Springs anyway.

3 of 7 users found this helpful34

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GagaForGhibliMay 28, 2012

One Of The Most Uncreative Movies Of All Time!
My 5 Year Old Sister Could Of Though Of Talking Cars..
Very Very Overated! Movies Like This Make Me Mad That Noone In The USA Knows What Studio Ghibli Is.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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WayzieW.Jun 9, 2006

It's difficult to empathize with a cocky plastic red race car. The storyline is very predictible and while the twists and turns are scenic, the movie feels a bit like taking grandma for a drive -- you have to be sure to stay on the main It's difficult to empathize with a cocky plastic red race car. The storyline is very predictible and while the twists and turns are scenic, the movie feels a bit like taking grandma for a drive -- you have to be sure to stay on the main roads so as not to jostle her. It ends up being a familiar trip and halfway through you'll wish you were on a roadtrip with a cooler and more off-beat group of people.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

AtticusJ.Jun 17, 2006

Yikes. Something went horribly wrong here. The CG scenery is pretty, but that can't compensate for the rest: forced voice acting, eye-roll-inducing moralizing, lame jokes, a predictable story arc (gosh, do you suppose the hot-shot Yikes. Something went horribly wrong here. The CG scenery is pretty, but that can't compensate for the rest: forced voice acting, eye-roll-inducing moralizing, lame jokes, a predictable story arc (gosh, do you suppose the hot-shot protagonist will make friends with the small town residents and learn some obvious Life Lessons?) and characters that all have personalities lifted straight from templates in the Big Book of Cartoon Stereotypes. Pixar's The Incredibles, by contrast, proved truly engaging to watch - all that attention to the characters' eccentricities and subliminal tics - and that screenplay was smarter than the spy-thriller/superhero genres it parodied. Where has that smartness gone? If you saw the trailer for Cars and had a negative gut reaction, trust your reaction and steer clear, despite what you know of Pixar. In aiming for the mainstream here, Pixar has sacrificed a large part of what makes its movies magical and unique, and the strange thing is that nobody much seems to have noticed the problem. As for me, I winced a lot and tried as best I could to just enjoy the visuals.… Expand

3 of 5 users found this helpful

JonS.Jun 29, 2006

American Drivel at it's worst ... I think it's one of the only movies where not only myself but my children wanted to leave the cinema. Boring to say the least and might only appeal to the americans. As others have pointed out, if American Drivel at it's worst ... I think it's one of the only movies where not only myself but my children wanted to leave the cinema. Boring to say the least and might only appeal to the americans. As others have pointed out, if this is indicitave of what pixar are going to be churning out post-disney buyout then im thinking there is no hope for them.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

MarilynBSep 24, 2006

I go to movies like this to review them. The previews make it look so horrible and kiddie-like that adults and teens and t-weens didn't want to see it. Frankly, the previews showed the best parts. The movie was unfunny, un-witty

0 of 0 users found this helpful

MovieGuysMar 26, 2014

Even when I was at the age range to like this movie, I thought it was tedious, painful to watch, and very unsatisfying. Anything that you want to happen doesn't. It's like the opposite of a feel-good movie.

0 of 5 users found this helpful05

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Krzysiek1257Aug 24, 2023

Marek Marucha
Marek Marucha
Marek Marucha
Marek Marucha
Marek Marucha
Marek Marucha

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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