Review of Cars 3 (2017) by Pipec — 18 Aug 2017

"Cars 3" wasn't tuned enough to get out from the garage.

The anthropomorphic Cars universe returns to the race after a criticized pit stop called "Cars 2". On this occasion, emblematic Lightning McQueen retakes the wheel to run into the crude law of reality: the retirement. His components don't evolve, his environment does, therefore, while the beloved car stands up against a new horde of technological newbies, must choose which direction he will take for his future: he decides when he's done.

Although it's difficult and paradoxical to say, keeping in mind the elaboration dimensions of the near magnanimous Pixar, the "Cars" franchise, despite being one of the most profitable animated proposals for the company via films and merchandising, is the lightest and less prodigious in the history of the American computer animation film studio. Have you ever wondered why Pixar releases one more installment on the family of automobiles, considering the results of its spoiled predecessor? Well, the answer is John Lasseter. With over 20 years as animator, director, producer and, in short, Pixar leader, this man is the main promoter of the saga, because, in addition to advising the different fields of making feature films, he has directed the two car films, provoking he keep a deep affection towards his universe, and who does not like it? It's such the faith in his speed world that has put his hands on fire by Brian Fee and Lightning McQueen, in the directorial debut of one and in the emotional "retirement" of the other.

Fee accepted the big vote of confidence of Pixar to appropriate the third entry into the motorized universe. The filmmaker increases the mileage of the saga, converting it into the best easygoing proposal among its predecessors, balancing doses of nostalgia with realistic and sensitive skids, basing on a mature message, which, although it does not make muddy dealing with questions of delicate importance, it inserts misogynist missives, of course, relegating the special emotional and comic impact placed on the characters and the story.

Although it falters keeping a constant pace and proposing attractive novelties in any of the narrative points, Pixar is characterized by producing ecstatic wonders in technical and/or animation fields, and this is not the exception. They don't infest exotic settings with which to profit, otherwise, exhibit once again, they return to the roots one way or another, however, get stuck neither in plain beauty of the deserts adjacent to Radiator Springs nor in the traditional race track; the feature film goes from a sumptuous training complex to a speedy journey with Mack, where landscapes are interspersed majestically. The script overtakes the flaws of the second one by far, in this movie is appealing to sentimentalism through a dramatic effect, which is led by inescapable acceptance of age, an irreparable beginning for novice new generations. It's pertinent, but the incorporation of technology feels like an excess, and although cinema is lately motivated by this, it's not a necessarily leading element. Precisely, the theme of legacy is the one that raises the final twist and the corresponding gestation from the second act, since the first half hour is decaffeinated, slow and tiring, a stretching of the daring opening monologue that emulates the portent of the first film: "I'm faster than fast", but in fact, there's a shortage of gasoline. In consideration of characters, it was thrilling to know what the screenwriters would do with the car #95, in order to he resumes the leading role after, incomprehensibly, the main attention was concentrated in the comic relief of the saga: Mate, in the same way, inexplicably, they give him a tight participation with few effective jokes but a big futility, perhaps, so that the audience would not disperse their attention from the true star. McQueen and his new flock of characters, in which is Cruz Ramirez, a coach sport car with aborted dreams about being a pro driver, they possess charisma and spark required to raise the level towards the end of the footage, their motivations and actions are more prudent, revealing a pure and human story, without decorations or possibilities of questioning perception, an undeniable feature that makes Pixar, Pixar.

"Cars 3" by Brian Fee turns on the engines of a franchise that was already parked in the garage, generating real opportunities to roar the car, textually, in upcoming years with the help of new—fixed— ideas. With regard to the (hi)story of McQueen, he has an ending as nostalgic as uncomfortable, the trouble is that doesn't succeed it with the melancholy that "Toy Story 3" achieved, reducing everything to a childlike thing, a car journey lacking impact, and although, in small extent, it's thankful, on the other hand, placed it as one of the less interesting Pixar films, as this world-class company is not only characterized by its visuals, but also by heart of its stories.