Review of Cars (2006) by Josh L — 03 Jun 2013

Cars is Pixar's least marketable film for their more mature adult audience by far. I mean, talking racecars? Sounds like something for you to fall asleep at while your children lap it up from start to finish.

This is half the reason it has taken me this long to even see it. It didn't help that the critical reception (at the time) was Pixar's lowest by a fair margin (although still pretty positive).

I am happy to report that lack of excitement for this movie caused me to be completely surprised by how well done it actually was. There's a lot more depth in the characters and story than I thought there would be, even if it doesn't quite reach one of their best works like "Up" or "Wall-E".

To me, this can go right alongside Ratatouille, Monsters, Inc, and other strong efforts by Pixar that just don't quite reach the upper echelon of animation. This is not a negative statement in any way.

You can't knock it out of the park every time, but a solid base hit gets things going sometimes. Cars has the laughs, heart, strong story, and absolutely gorgeous animation you expect from a Pixar production.

Don't be dissuaded by the kiddie nature of the premise. This is a fine motion picture.