Cars: A Fun Ride

I saw Cars this weekend. It really takes a lot to get me out of the house and at the movies (the last film I saw at the theater was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which I absolutely hated), so I really had high hopes for this movie. When I walked out of the theater, I thought that it was cute, if not quite up to Pixar's A Bug's Life standards (which perhaps set the bar unfairly high). The difference between the two films was simple: story and characterization. However, neither of those relative shortcomings should stop anyone who wants an easy summer film that won't disappoint to buy a ticket for Cars. The movie is most definitely enjoyable, and a much better bet than something like X3.

The characters were actually quite cute (not surprising, since this is a Pixar film), and you had some back story for each character so you could get the motivation, although the development (yes, I realize discussing character development in an animated film could be viewed as somewhat ridiculous) was a little lacking. You have the hero, a cocky race car who needs to wake up and realize there is more to life than coming in first; the love interest, an adorable Porsche Carrera who gave up life in the fast lane for the cars she met in a small town; the grizzled veteran, a former race car who was treated poorly in the racing circuit and remains bitter; and the villain, a race car who will do anything to be more than second-best. One-dimensional? Sure. But, again, it's an animated film. Normally, I wouldn't have been disappointed at all, were I not such a fan of A Bug's Life, which gave us many more characters with distinct personalities and had a pretty well-formed hero in Flik, the clumsy inventor ant who wanted to impress the princess.

The story was much like the characterization: cute, easy to watch, but not very brain-straining. There's a race coming up, the brash race car ends up stuck in a small town and learns how to care about others. But, in the end, the story isn't the driving force of the movie. Not that this should have been a shock to anyone who bought a ticket. Because, again, it's an animated film.

And the animation, as always, was great. The race scenes were excellent, the cars' movements (when racing as well as when talking to each other) were quite detailed and the color was superb. All of this was even better on the big screen than it would have been at home--the film used DLP digital cinema technology, and although I'm not quite sure how that differs from other films, it looked really good on the screen.

So you're left with a movie that looks great, has cute characters and a sweet story. What's not to like? Just don't go in expecting A Bug's Life and you will have an enjoyable movie experience.