Cars Film Review

    I think it goes without saying that Cars is just simply a great movie. While it is very different from the other movies that we have watched in class, I do not know a single person that can say something bad about the movie. It starts out with the main character, Lightning McQueen racing for the Piston Cup, when the race ends in a tie, the 3 drivers are supposed to head out to California to settle the win. On McQueens way there however, he someone falls out of the back of his truck and winds up in a little town called Radiator Springs. However, he doesn't just end up there, he destroyed a good chunk of the street on his way. The town decides that he needs to repair the street before he can leave, but McQueen had big plans he needed to attend to. While McQueen is working on getting the road finished, he ends up befriending most of the town and realizes how much he likes the place.  At first he thought everyone was weird because they were rusty or awkward, but after a while he saw the beauty in everyone, especially Sally, who is his love interest. After finishing the road it was time for him to go back, but at that point McQueen was attached to the town and it was going to be a hard departure. The media team for the Piston Cup finds out where he is and comes to get him, which is when he had to finally leave Radiator Springs, but when he was doing the race, he sees that the town had come to support. He learned many things from the town, so when one of the racers crashes out, he gives up the win to help him out and be a good person. It is a really wholesome movie and I think you just can't go wrong with Cars. 

    One thing I found interesting with this movie is that while there were very obviously no real actors, you could still tell emotion from all of the cars. Not only was it an entirely animated movie, it was animated people either. I think it is really impressive how animators and the people who draw are able to portray emotions and facial expressions in cars. One thing that we always look out for in movies is what the actora are doing and how they portray their roles, so with this one it was very different. I can still remember watching the scene with the big tractors and the one that chases McQueen and Mator for the first time and being so scared even though it is animated and just a farming vehicle. You can tell that Sally and McQueen are falling in love as well and get invested in their story line. 

    While it is obviously not real actors, they did still have real people who voiced the cars. I have never tried voice acting before nor so I really know much about it at all, but I don't think it is a very easy thing. I can't imagine juts having to read words on a page and turn it into something when you don't even really know what it is going to look like or what the situation could be. Owen Wilson, who voiced Lightning McQueen, is a very well known actor who has been in many other movies. I wonder how it was for him going from on screen acting to voiceover. I think that throughout this movie there were also many good lessons. McQueen went into Radiator Springs with his only intent being to get out, but it ended with him having new life long friends. I think the biggest lesson was at the very end of the movie when he gave up the win of the Piston Cup to help out his opponent. Most cars would probably not have done that because they want the win so bad, but during McQueen's time at Radiator Springs, he learned from Doc that racing is so much more than just winning. Doc was a car that was totaled during one of his races, and when no one cared, it really hit home with McQueen. 

    Even though this movie was animated and about Cars, I still think that it is definitely worth the watch. Many kids love the movie and I think for good reason. There are good lessons, and the plot is very entertaining. I think that Disney did a great job with the movie and it definitely deserved the other two movies that follow it.