WesternAnimation How did I ever like this movie as a kid?
Man, some things in life really start to look like shit when you get older. The first "Cars" film surely does.
As a kid, I naturally found this movie enjoyable. I wasn't too big on vehicles back then, but I did enjoy racing games and I felt the movie had a vibrant, colourful look. But I was a kid. As kids, we are often too stupid to notice how crappy certain things we grow up with are. And I remember gradually liking this film less and less as I grew up, to the point where I couldn't get past the first 15 minutes without getting bored. I also started questioning why I ever liked it in the first place, eventually leaving it in my DVD cabinet and not watching it for at least five years (and, of course, I skipped the totally unnecessary Cars 2).
For some foolish reason though, I contemplated the possibility that perhaps I had been too hard on the movie during puberty, and that I'd like it a bit more as an adult. So, I found the DVD, popped it in my laptop, sat back as the film came on, and... sigh.
I'm just going to say it. Cars is a terrible movie. The whole thing is so awkward and mundane, not to mention stupid. It's a film about living cars with goofy faces. In fact, re-watching it made me finally realise something: The movie is merely a love letter from John Lasseter to himself. It's little more than a brainless vehicular orgasm, concocted because the director's car fetish blinded him to the fact that the many car-related puns and shenanigans throughout the movie are utterly lame. It's overstuffed with so many obnoxious, cartoony antics that it was dated from the get-go. I was always aware of Lasseter's passion for automobiles, but I now understand just how tepid and unlikable this movie is.
The sad thing though about Cars is this: it's actually got a few good, and wasted, highlights. The animation is always highly detailed and visually interesting, there's some rather solid voice acting in it, it has a few decent messages, and the ending is appropriately happy. However, the film's major flaws - the feeble, monotonous plot, the disposable characters, the many superfluous scenes, the twangy country music soundtrack, etc. - totally ruin it. As a movie for toddler boys, it's workable, but I can't see how anyone who liked this particular movie as a kid can still like it as an adult. It's a movie to grow out of, that's for sure.
WesternAnimation I enjoy it
I must be in the minority. I find Cars to be a good film, even if it's not excellent. Now, the Cars movies are not up there with Pixar's best. I would rank them in the bottom third of Pixar movies. But the way some talk about them, they're obviously an absolute mess, and I just don't see it.
The main issue seems to be that the animate, anthropomorphic cars are an Audience-Alienating Premise, maybe because cars don't look remotely human, but it's not for me. To me, it's not any weirder than anthropomorphic toys or robots or fish, and when I heard Cars first announced, I thought it was clever. After seeing it a few times, I see a movie that follows a pretty standard Pixar formula: the world is rich, character development, sight gags and Easter eggy puns.
I didn't cry during this movie, but the trip out to the final Piston Cup tournament and Lightning's stay in Radiator Springs reminded me of my own road trips and stays in hospitable tiny towns. I loved the wide open spaces and skies portrayed. I found the plight of Radiator Springs as a long-forgotten town due to highway development sympathizing and touching.
As for the characters, Lightning is definitely immature to start out, as many movie protagonists are. I really liked his character development and his moments of unselfishness toward the end. Mater is certainly a little annoying but the good-hearted, somewhat foolish foil character type is not nearly as insufferable as Russell from Up
.
If you compare this to other Pixar movies, it doesn't have nearly the same life lessons and emotional clout. But if you take it on its own, and you can go with the premise, you can find a still good movie by general standards.