Cars

Review by Clare Bath

Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is a rookie race car with a stop-and-smell-the-pit-crew philosophy on life. He is so driven to be the next KING of racing (voiced by real life king of racing Richard Petty) that his reckless success obsession steers him off course on the way to the big race. He tears up the road at a little desert town called Radiator Springs where he learns that if you spend your whole life in high gear, you miss a lot of opportunities to get your bearings greased.

While doing time in Radiator Springs, McQueen learns how to be a part of a community. He finds a real friend in Mater (“like Tu-Mater without the Tu” Larry the Cable Guy) and falls for sporty little Sally Carrera (Bonnie Hunt) with a firm bumper and nice headlights. Ole Doc Wilson (Paul Newman) shares some of his own tricks from the old school that make all the difference in the end.

Story wise, Cars doesn’t tread any new roads, but it is still a very fun ride for the NASCAR minded family. If you couldn’t see Talledaga Nights because you had to stay home with the youngins, this is the next best thing. It is a charming and colorful look at the race world and culture through the eyes of anthropomorphic vehicles. Special attention was placed on keeping true to the details right down to the product endorsements and the driver rivalries. The only thing missing was the beer. Fun tip: how many classic cars you can see in shape of the desert landscape? At the checkered flag, the fast, funny, and fun Pixar formula won once again.

EXTRAS

Typical of a Disney DVD, there are heaps of great extras including featurettes, a couple of animated shorts, deleted scenes and a commentary from the filmmakers.

Conclusion: Movie 80% Extras: 70%