I saw the new Pixar film ‘Cars’ last night, and despite the general panning it has received from the critics, I thought it was superb.
With Pixar you really do set your sights high. The original Toy Story broke new ground in animation and set the bar for others to jump. The second Toy Story proved the exception to the rule that a sequel can never live up to the original. Again, the standard of animation was improved upon to the point where they were ready to animate people in ‘The Incredibles’. With Cars, the character models are less animated, they are after all, cars. However, they do not have any less of a personality.
Some critics have complained that the audience is never engaged enough to care about the plight of the characters (In short, hot-shot race car gets stranded in hick town and can’t escape) however, I’d disagree. While the central character arc is fairly predictable Pixar fare: The hot-shot comes to realise that there is more to life than racing, and eventually grows to love the town he is ‘trapped’ in and the residents. There are several other narratives running through the film, with themes such as how the town of Radiator Springs, once a thriving community, falls into a ghost town as a new Bypass is built.
Character-wise, again, it is what we’ve come to expect: The young, good looking hot shot, the love interest who seems out of place in the small town, the crochety old man with a hidden past, the goofy sidekick, the hippy VW camper, the militaristic jeep…
But it is because we are in familiar territory that makes the film so enjoyable. There are no big twists in the plot, but as this isn’t “The Usual Suspects”, does it really matter? It is a fun film, with a simple story and amusing characters that provides genuine escapism for a couple of hours. But I defy anyone not to be even slightly moved when the historical montage of Radiator Springs is shown.
The jokes do not come as thick and fast as in say, Toy Story or Monsters Inc. but again, there are some for the adults and some for the children. (Although from the giggles in our screening, I imagine more children understood the joke about the ‘Piston Cup’ than the BBFC would have liked.
Pixar, being Pixar bring a huge amount of detail that brings the town of Radiator Springs to life. From the ‘Diner’ Petrol station that looks like an engine block to the shapes in the rocks that look like cars, to the reference to Cadillac Ranch, where a group of rocks in the background look like the tail fins of the Cadillacs in the famous art piece.
Again, as we have come to expect from Pixar, the animation is stunning. The cars may not be as agile as The Incredibles, but what they lack in flexibility, they make up for in detail. Apparently a single frame of Cars took 17 hours to render. If there was any one thing to encourage me to make the switch to HD-TV and the next generation of DVD, it would be to see the detail in Cars.
More than any other Pixar film though, the music really takes centre stage. From the opening rocky Sheryl Crow track (which wouldn’t look out of place on a ZZ Top album) to the Rock & Roll playing in the 1950′s style Radiator Springs, to the uptempo version of ‘Route 66′, this is a driving soundtrack. I had to purchase the album (something I rarely do for soundtrack albums) and although I was driving through the town, closing my eyes at a red traffic light, I could easily have been cruising through the American midwest.
Finally, it wouldn’t be a pixar film without a smattering of ‘star’ voices. Owen Wilson is perfectly cast as the young, cocky Lightning McQueen. Paul Newman was good as the grouchy Doc Hudson, but Michael Keaton was unrecognisable and unmemorable as bad guy Chick. Long-Time Pixar voice artist John Ratzenberger again makes an appearance, a joke that is played on during the closing credits.
Racing legends also make cameo appearances, including Michael Schumacher, Mario Andretti and Richard Petty.
Overall, a good night at the cinema, much more fulfilling than the disappointing Pirates of the Carribean 2.