Cars 3 (2017)

Cars 3 (2017)

IMDB Rating 7.5/10 (as on 07.06.2017)

G | 1h 49min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy

Blindsided by a new generation of blazing-fast racers, the legendary Lightning McQueen is suddenly pushed out of the sport he loves. To get back in the game, he will need the help of an eager young race technician with her own plan to win, inspiration from the late Fabulous Hudson Hornet, and a few unexpected turns. Proving that #95 isn't through yet will test the heart of a champion on Piston Cup Racing's biggest stage

Director: Brian Fee

Writers: Brian Fee (original story by), Ben Queen (original story by)

Stars: Owen Wilson, Cristela Alonzo, Chris Cooper

IMDB link Here

Is Pixar Running Out of Gas?  

CHRISTOPHER ORR  

“I decide when I’m done.”

This is Lightning McQueen’s rebuttal after he suffers a horrific crash that has many in the racing world speculating that he should retire. But it also sounds a bit like a declaration of intent from Cars 3, a thoroughly unnecessary installment in a Pixar franchise that has been running on fumes ever since its debut.

The first Cars, released in 2006, may not have represented peak Pixar, but it was a better movie than it’s often given credit for being. In my admittedly small-sample-sized experience, it was a favorite with young ’uns (including my own two kids). And contrary to widespread opinion, it had a significant grownup element too: Beneath its uppity-race-car-learns-humility storyline was a thoughtful moral architecture regarding the tensions between commerce and community.

Cars 2 was a different story—literally. Abandoning the themes and humble locale of the first movie for an utterly disconnected globe-trotting spy spoof, it remains a strong candidate for Pixar’s worst movie to date.

So why a Cars 3? Well, ever since Disney acquired Pixar for $7.4 billion in 2006, the studio has shown vastly more interest in making sequels, an easier task than creating and marketing original stories. It doesn’t hurt that the merchandise for the Cars franchise is more profitable even than that of Toy Story (another three-movie series now scheduled for a fourth) among Pixar properties, with sales in excess of $10 billion. And Cars Land is an anchor attraction at Disney California Adventure Park. Corporate synergy, as they say, is a cruel mistress. (For any interested, I have a longer essay on Pixar’s decline post-Disney here.)

The good news is that Cars 3 is better than Cars 2. The bad news is that by Pixar standards it’s still not good, a lightweight and exceptionally familiar story about a written-off old guy making his Big Sports Comeback.

Cars 3 is more connected to the original Cars in spirit than the second installment was, though the old Radiator Springs crowd—even Larry the Cable Guy’s Mater—is once again pushed to the margins by newcomers. The visuals are superb, and the homilies on offer unobjectionable: on the importance of perseverance, the value of mentorship, and so on. But make no mistake. This is essentially a solid kids’ movie, lacking the emotional resonance and narrative sophistication that once characterized almost every new Pixar release.

This appears to be Pixar’s new business model and contract with the viewing public: a few second-tier sequels for every groundbreaking new film. A Cars 2 and Monster’s University followed by Inside Out. A Finding Dory and Cars 3 followed by a buzz-heavy Coco (out this November). An Incredibles 2 and Toy Story 4 followed by … well, we’ll see.

Read full review at Atlantic

'Cars 3' Is Best In Series, Miles Ahead Of First 2 Films  

Mark Hughes

The previous two Cars pictures grossed a combined $1+ billion in worldwide box office, which is itself a superb enough figure, but it's the merchandising where the real magic resides for the Cars franchise. DVD and Blu-rays sold a mind-boggling $475 million in the USA alone. Digital-HD sales push that figure toward $500 million, and then we can toss in the international sales for both titles and the rental figures worldwide, and we're talking about probably something in the neighborhood of perhaps $1 billion in revenue. And that revenue is almost pure profit, since the costs are negligible.

Cars and Cars 2 opened to $60 and $66 million, respectively. It looks as if Cars 3 will perform in the same general vicinity, on course for about $60+/- million this weekend. Since it's getting mostly positive reviews, and since I expect word of mouth to spread quickly about how this film far surpasses the first two films in quality of storytelling and depth of themes -- including expanding its appeal far more toward young female audiences in particular -- it should finish somewhere north of $450 million and could approach $500 million if it legs out enough.

It's worth seeing Cars 3 just for the visuals alone (although they're not the only reason to see it), because it's gorgeous and has more realistic background details than the CGI you see in most major live-action films. A beach scene will leave you wondering if they just added the car animation onto live footage (they didn't), for example. The voice actors seem more engaged this time than in either of the previous films in the franchise, perhaps because they have more complicated emotions and themes to work with. And the story beats offer multiple surprise turns that most viewers won't see coming, and which are delightful and -- especially in the climax -- could bring a joyful tear to your eye.

On the surface, the concept appears straightforward: Lightning McQueen's days as the top racer come to an end when new model cars (led by the smug, cruel Jackson Storm, voiced by Armie Hammer) make Lightning (voiced by Owen Wilson) and his buddies obsolete. Unable to match their speed or maneuverability, Lightning is pressured to retire, especially after he fails at the same high-tech training methods used by the newer racers. So Lightning goes on the road to train in secret, hoping a return to basics will help him discover some new way to beat Storm and the other younger generation of racers. In a nutshell, it's a standard Rocky III adaptation, complete with a beach race and a new coach using a totally different approach to training, plus recurring themes about self-doubt and defeating opponents who seem to have the advantage.

Except that's all a facade, not just for the sake of misdirection but rather for serious introspection about narratives of this sort in the first place. Because the hero of this story isn't really Lightning after all, and part of the journey is watching him slowly come to realize this fact.

The way the story plays out is intended to catch you off guard, so that you share the disconnect along with the characters, that feeling that something is off but that the truth is lurking around the next corner. You'll suspect it after the first major hint, and then later again you'll wonder if Cars 3 is seriously going to be the movie that does what you think it might do, and when the first of several reveals and reversals take place the sense of "I knew it but it's also still surprising" relief allows all of the other moments to fully resonate together and fall into place.

It's easy for critics and audiences to feel jaded and cynical about franchises and sequels, especially when a series has a reputation for seeming primarily aimed at selling merchandise to kids. But it would be a big mistake to underestimate what's really going on under the hood in Cars 3, or the important impact it could have on young viewers, not to mention how simply emotionally rewarding and entertaining the experience is even for adults.

I'll confess I wasn't personally a big fan of the first two films, other than admitting they looked fantastic. I don't begrudge a movie for squarely targeting the children demographic, as I do think too many adult reviewers and cinephiles have a blind spot when it comes to remembering children are people too and deserve films and entertainment that speaks to them and even offers them some pure escapism from time to time. But that said, films that do pander more to children are inherently going to sometimes have less to offer an adult viewer who doesn't have kids, and the first two Cars films felt rather simple and generally didn't seem to offer much for the parents in the room. Since I'm not even a parent, I had even less interest in them as a result.

But Cars 3 is different. Yes, it's still for kids, but the jokes resonate because they're pretty funny, and the lessons that will seem new and revelatory to children will stir memories and deeper understanding in the adult viewers. Because this Cars movie seems to care about something more important and more real. It seems keenly conscious of its own franchise and of a larger context in which it exists, and it seems to decide to try to help make a difference.

It sends a message about accepting people who are different, about respecting those who fought for change and progress that makes our own lives better today, and about the need to make room for those who've been shut out or made to feel unwelcome in society. And in particular, there is a loud and clear message to young women of all shapes and sizes and colors and identities that they belong, that they are valuable, that they are winners. There is even a message to the boys in the audience that it is a great thing to recognize and honor the power and value of women.

Cars 3 is the best of the series, a sumptuous visual treat with great humor, a big heart, and surprisingly strong messages about inclusion and self-worth. It makes the whole Cars franchise worthwhile, just to get us to this point.

Read full review at Forbes

Movie Rating ★★★☆☆  

This by-the-book sequel goes the distance  

Shalini Langer

Pixar’s Cars series has long been trying to play catch-up with the animation studio’s other prized racehorses. For most of its run, Cars 3 never gets off the beaten track, following the predictable course of a Hollywood film where old world meets new tech. In the movies, that story ends only one way. However, then in an inspired turn of events that will warm many a heart, Cars 3 breathes a new life into this franchise, even making what is likely to follow worth the wait.

Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is gearing up for another race, that he is a favourite to win, when a rookie leaves him literally in the dust. That rookie is Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer), a more ergonomically designed car that runs on technology rather than heart. Hammer is a clever choice to voice Storm, against Wilson’s McQueen. Both are blonde, good-looking actors in person, almost similar in appearance but vastly different in demeanour. Quite like the cars they portray here.

Stunned by Storm in race after race, McQueen goes into semi-retirement. It takes a new owner with lots of money and a simulator to coax him out, followed by the kind of self-help pep-talk that comes out of a Disney stable. It also allows the filmmakers to go the distance from the cold, sterilised interiors of a corporate to the rocky outback inhabited by the “real” car-racers.

Read full review at Indian Express

These wheels are back on track  

Deborah Cornelious

In a bid to get the Cars franchise back on track (pun intended) Pixar Animation Studios have come out with a new film in the instalment six years after its disastrous second part. Their 2017 film take a more emotional approach to its story hoping to tug those heartstrings all the way to box office success. But has it worked?

After tackling espionage and travelling the world in the second part, Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) has now become a veteran on the racetrack winning every season. Soon his age catches up to him when rookies like Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer) equipped with sophisticated technology zoom past at speeds McQueen can’t match. He’s losing his legacy with each loss. A new sponsor the smooth-talking Mr Sterling (Nathan Fillion) wants McQueen to retire and sell his image as a brand but the racer is intent on choosing his own way out. They strike a bet, if McQueen wins the Florida 500 race, he decides his own terms of retirement but if he loses, Sterling gets to put his face on every kind of product out there. Eventually McQueen is saddled with the overly enthusiastic trainer, Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo) to get him back in shape.

There’s a lot happening in Cars 3: we’ve got McQueen dealing with getting old and rusty. There’s a storyline where he misses his mentor Doc Hudson (the late Paul Newman whose unused recordings were incorporated in flashbacks). Then, there’s the rather adult concept of becoming stagnant if you’re not willing to change with the times. Plus, Ramirez’s own arc of her unrequited dream to become a racer. It takes a long time for Cars 3 to be able pull in the viewer with the whole film and every supporting character revolves around McQueen. Take for instance, Storm’s character who only exists to annoy the protagonist.

But when Cars 3 gets going in the latter half of the film, it really does burn rubber. The film which at first appears to be focused on McQueen’s comeback takes a turn for the better with him realising his new-found purpose. And in a very clever move, Pixar adds in a girl empowerment angle to the mix. They really did pull out all the stops to make this film successful, but thankfully Cars 3 never emotionally manipulates its viewers. The film is a tad long in getting to its point, and the jokes are far and few in between. For what it’s worth, parents accompanying their kids won’t be bored. It’s an adequate family friendly film bound to resonate with its audience.

Read full review at Hindu

In ‘Cars 3,’ Lightning McQueen Faces an Existential Crisis 

GLENN KENNY

The conventional reviewers’ wisdom about Pixar’s “Cars” movies is that they are colorful and engaging but hardly as breathtaking as much of the other output from that animation studio. There are some who think Pixar should aim for awe-inspiring every time, because why not? Then there are crankier critics who will point out that driverless talking cars just aren’t terribly interesting, and can be a little goofy.

“Cars 3,” directed by Brian Fee from a script by Kiel Murray, Bob Peterson and Mike Rich (the story is credited to a whole other pit crew that includes Mr. Fee), isn’t going to win any converts among those with an animus toward talking cars. But if you can roll with it, the movie is both breezy fun and a pain-free life lesson delivery vehicle.

For a while, the movie is content to poke mild fun at America’s enthusiasm for trendy self-help bromides and computer-age enhancement technology. There’s a mild paradox that this entirely digital movie waxes so nostalgic for analog-age stuff: Art Deco diners, big-knob radios, funky garages. Lightning frequently flashes back to the advice and companionship of his old mentor, Doc Hudson (voiced by the great Paul Newman in the first “Cars” movie in 2006, two years before his death, and who is again heard here). Acting on those memories, Lightning eventually persuades Cruz to get out and train with him, old-school style, at a nearby beach.

It’s here that the movie’s pedagogic mode starts, gently, to kick in. Lightning begins to realize that maybe he really is too old to be a champion on the track anymore — so what’s next? And Cruz reveals her thwarted ambition to be a racer, a dream she abandoned out of fear the first time she was told to take her shot. In a quiet but ultimately forceful way, “Cars 3” makes a case against sexism and for the joys of mentorship. Because the “Cars” franchise has been Lightning’s story, the male lead is, by that logic, the initial force moving the female-empowerment theme. That may strike some as a little patronizing. But the Cruz-Lightning dynamic eventually evolves into a genuine friendship that has a lot of appeal.

Along the way, entertaining set pieces, such as a visit to a demolition derby gone wrong, and an evening trading war stories with a group of older racecars headed by Doc Hudson’s guru, a truck named Smokey (voiced by Chris Cooper), keep the story humming quite comfortably. It all builds to a climax that’s entirely satisfying and not particularly overwhelming. And that’s fine. As someone who was nearly traumatized by “Toy Story 3” and reduced to a sniveling wreck by much of “Inside Out,” I welcome the occasional Pixar movie that doesn’t morph me into a quivering jelly mound.

And the lessons are right-on, for adults as well as children. One more thing: If you’re intimidated by the movie’s running time, note that the feature is preceded by a short, “Lou,” which is very sweet and charming, and also that, as is customary with a Pixar movie, the end credits take a while.

Read full review at New York Times