Review of Cars 3 (2017) by Zachary S — 20 Jun 2017

Right off the bat, this is an instant improvement on Cars 2, which is arguably the worst movie Pixar ever made. Lightning McQueen is back as the main character, the plot focuses on racing again and the characters this time around feel much more at home in the series. It still has a few problems that are endemic to the cars series (the world in general being confusing, the comparatively thin characters compared to other Pixar films, etc.) but overall is a much better movie than what some people may be expecting.

Focusing the plot on Lightning getting older and contemplating a forced retirement was a stroke of genius, because as a NASCAR fan, I saw shades of numerous drivers from my youth once they got on in age in him. The character of Cruz Ramirez was also a great addition and is a large part of the heart and soul of the film, particularly when she and Lightning finally see each other for who they really are about halfway through. The visuals were also fantastic and that is a department in which Pixar has improved with each subsequent movie they've released, even last year's very subpar "The Good Dinosaur".

In terms of problems with the film, I didn't like the final climactic scene all that much and felt like the two tones they went for there clashed with each other (on one hand, they were going for an 'epic' feel (a la "Rocky") but also decided to include a lot of silly humor for the littler kids, which I felt was a mistake). There was also problems with pacing, and parts of the movie felt slow while others felt a bit too rushed. 90% of all the problems I had with this film honestly occurred around the climactic race scene. Had they improved that whole part, I feel like this would've been easily the best "Cars" film of the whole franchise.

In the end, this is definitely is worth a watch. If you were already a fan of the 1st "Cars" film, you'll easily find a lot to like here. If you weren't, then this probably won't change your mind, but the story is deeper somehow here than the other two so give it a try anyway. It's still Pixar after all.