Review of Cars 3 (2017) by Chiedu M — 11 Jan 2018

So Cars has been considered one of the worst Pixar franchises, and Cars 2 has been considered one of the worst movies Pixar has made.

But why do I think of them? Well, in all honesty, I love the cars franchise. Cars came out in 2006 when I was ten years old, I grew up with Cars movies. I loved the story, the concept, and the characters. Yes, including Mater. So when he was the main focus in the second movie and the sequel had a spy-action movie edge, I thrilled off my seat. So yeah, I did think Cars 2 was better than the first. And honest I don't get why people are bewildered at the concept. It's cars coming to life how is that so hard to accept?

So the when the Cars 3 teaser came out, everyone was blown away. Was the final cars movie going to finally take a darker and serious edge to it? Remember the Cars came out over ten (surprisingly though it feels like a came out a few years ago) so all the kids that grew up with the franchise - like me - are now older, so it would make more sense to up the stakes of the final movie. So does cars three deliver?

Well, Cars 3 came out last summer, and I finally was able to watch it over the break. Coming as a Cars fan, I believe this is the best Car film out of the trilogy. But your enjoyment of this movie depends on whether or not you're a fan. If you are a fan, you'll love this movie, if you are not you will probably think this movie is at least okay.

So what do I like about this film? Well, I think it's important to talk about the story first. Lighting McQueen has been a professional race car driver for years now and he's still enjoying the job with his fellow racers. But now the new generation of cars are coming in one by one and outshining the veteran pros. Lightning McQueen is not ready to retire from racing yet and is determined to leave on his own terms. All the characters have grown since the first film. I love seeing Lightning McQueen and how much his character has grown. He's older, he's humble, he's experienced, he's more caring and mature. The new character we get meet is Cruz Ramirez and she's very interesting. She's a young new trainer of the next-gen racers and her dynamic with Lightning is great to watch and their relationship naturally evolves over the course of the movie. One thing I believe people overlook with this movie is the theme. Everyone is saying that Lightning should retire and that he's not in his prime anymore but he wants to keep racing cause he loves it and it's his career. So what do you do when you're out of her prime Everyone's telling you should move on and take a different step in your career, what do you do? This is incredibly relatable, movie stars, pop stars, athletes all have this issue. What do you do when the hits stop coming, what do you do when you can't make as many touchdowns as you could? What happens when you see the next new talent come in and he's new, fresh, and possibly better than you? Do you market yourself and make it your name a brand, do you keep doing what you love, or do you retire in glory? As a dancer, I can completely relate to that fear.

A little thing I noticed about this movie is the editing choices. There's goods use of montage edits to keep pace with the story. The animation looks more detailed than the last movie.

Going that's in a narrative, while the beginning and end of the movie have a more serious tone. It's the middle that most people have a problem with. There are a few times where it gets incredibly silly and ridiculous, where it can turn people off from the film if you are not a Cars fan. I didn't mind it because I know these are the types of actions that I expect from Cars, plus it did contribute to the narrative.

So yeah I love this movie. I honestly cannot complain about a lot. Like I said your enjoyment of this movie depends on if you're a Cars fan or not. I recommend it, at the very least if you're not a Cars fan I think there's still some elements you can enjoy with this movie.

4.8/5 Stars.