“I saw this out of a sense of obligation and loyalty to my man Mickey Mouse. Cars 2 was such a bummer (at least for the high standards of Pixar) that it was hard to get enthusiastic about this movie. The last thing I expected was for this movie to be so emotional. Wow, the feels.
When we catch up with our four wheeled friends, Lightning McQueen is still on top of the racing world, but not for long. The new generation of racing cars is invading the track and kicking all the old timers into retirement. McQueen teams up with a new facility and new trainer, Cruz Ramirez, and all the latest technology those kids are using these days. If he wins the next big race, he can prove he’s not obsolete.
So why the feels? There were two parts of the story that got me. One had to do with Cruz trying to earn her place in the racing world. Especially on the (w)heels of Wonder Woman, that storyline felt empowering and beautiful.
But the one that really got me was the Doc Hudson stuff. As you may recall, Doc Hudson was voiced in the first Cars by Paul Newman in what would be his final film. Using previously unused recordings from that first film, they were able to bring back Doc in a really moving and appropriate way. Newman is actually a very special actor for me because his work in Cool Hand Luke makes me think of my Daddy. So there were layers of feels there, but it tugged straight to my heart.
The kids will love the movie just fine. The adults may or may not. But this big kid in an adult world had a good time. Cars may still be at the bottom of the Pixar totem pole, but that pole still sits high above any other animation studio out there.
Cars 3 – \m/ \m/ \m/”