Cars
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Cast: Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Larry the Cable Guy, Cheech Marin, Michael Keaton,
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Petty.
Directed by John Lasseter.
Story: Doc Hollywood, starring cars.
Running Time: 2hrs 1 minute.
UK Certificate PG. |
A Pixar movie is always met with gleeful anticipation and Cars does not disappoint. A joy from beginning to
end, every sane person on the planet will enjoy it.
Owen Wilson stars as Lightning McQueen, an arrogant upstart on the US racing circuit who finds himself in the sleepy town
of Radiator Springs, an old-fashioned community with matching values. If you've seen Doc Hollywood, you know the plot
but, in a parallel to the plot itself, it's the journey that creates the magic. The cars themselves take the places of
people - our four-wheeled friends do everything that people usually do. It sounds like an odd idea but it works immediately,
from the very first frame, and never feels anything less than normal. Every character is incredibly detailed and perfectly
rendered, with plenty of little car-related jokes and references to keep you watching many times over. There are plenty
of cameos too, from Jeremy Clarkson playing the manager (though this is Jeremy Piven in the US version) to Michael Schumacher
(Fernando Alonso in the Spanish version!), including NASCAR hero Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Mario Andretti and
Jay Leno, voicing a car that looks spookily like the man himself!
Owen Wilson sounds a little unusual in voice-over guise, as his face is somehow consistent with his voice and we naturally
lose this benefit here, but nevertheless he does a great job. Best of all is a strange chap who goes by the name of
"Larry the Cable Guy" (apparently a famous comedian across the pond) who makes a wonderful rusty tow-truck by the name
of Mater - as he says himself, "Matuh ... lahk Terr-Matuh ... bert without the terr." Mater's mates include hilarious
Ferrari-loving duo Luigi and Guido, who run the tyre shop, and the ageing Doc Hudson, weightily voiced by the gravelly
Paul Newman, who also advised on the racing element. This is not to be underestimated, as the racing scenes do actually
make sense to a race fan, which is almost unheard of in this genre. Yes, there are liberties taken in the interests of
entertainment, but the race fan can forgive that as they've gone to the effort to include all the little accuracies that
cartoonists usually don't care about. Yes, clearly this is a labour of love and it oozes from every pore.
Quite stunning.
Cars is, without any doubt, one of the most enjoyable movies to be released all year. Imagine my surprise, then, when I
looked up some other reviews and discovered that it's getting a roasting in some corners! I am dumbstruck by this, and
cannot see any rational reason why this should be. Yes, OK, the Shreks and
Madagascar are a little more entertaining and maybe the references are a tad car-heavy for
the non-petrolheads, but nevertheless I defy anyone to not enjoy the show. It's charming, witty, gorgeous to look at and,
above all, FUN. I can only guess that Dreamworks must have paid off the reviewers and spent all day voting negatively on
various web sites - it's the only explanation I can think of. Ignore them, Cars is brilliant. If you can't laugh at the
genius tractor-tipping scene then you'll never be satisfied.
Cars is a masterpiece. Technically it's the best animation ever made and on a pure entertainment level it's
up there with the all time greats. Add in Pixar's traditional short movie at the beginning (marvellous as always) and the
brilliant credits sequence involving John Ratzenberger (Cliff from Cheers) gamely poking fun at his ubiquity in Pixar's
back library and you have a fantastic family movie that's worth six quid of ANYONE's money.
I enjoyed this film: 5/5
I think the average moviegoer will enjoy it: 5/5
Testosterone Satisfaction Rating: 1/5 - although it's very kiddie-friendly
(why no U rating?), it still has loads of cars!
To enjoy this film you should be: sane.
Cars was released in the UK on 28th July.
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