Cars 3 is directed by Brian Fee and is the newest film in Disney/Pixar’s library. It continues the story of Lightning McQueen, the hotshot race car who isn’t that great anymore. A new race car named Jackson Storm is on the rise, and McQueen wants to prove that he is still the best racer in the world. I’m a big fan of Pixar’s films, as I watched them a lot when I was younger. I’m currently doing a review series for all of the films, and you can check it out here. As much as I love the studio’s work, their films have really gone downhill in quality. However, I left the theater highly satisfied with Cars 3. Maybe it was because my standards weren’t set so high. So, here’s my review of the film.

Honestly, I didn’t really know what to expect going into the film in terms of story. I saw the teaser trailer a few months back, and obviously, that was pretty vague. When I finished watching, I can say for certain that nobody will be majorly impressed with the main plot. It’s not messy or anything, but it’s something we’ve all seen before (no spoilers). However, I do think that the Cars franchise has redeemed itself. While I’m not sure if there will be any future installments, I would actually like to see the story continued in another sequel.

I do really enjoy the characters in this installment as well. Lightning McQueen has never been Pixar’s best character. He’s always been quite bland. In Cars 3, he actually manages to be compelling and funny, which is a hard achievement to earn, considering the franchise has been around for more than a decade now. The real star of the show is Cruz Ramirez, voiced by Cristela Alonzo. Cruz is a very interesting, funny, and well-developed character, and most certainly one of the best parts about this film. I won’t spoil anything, but the ending leaves it open for her story to be continued, and I hope it is.

There’s a lot less Mater in this film, a but there’s still a bit, and that’s never good. Mater is by far the worst Pixar character ever, and I’m sure there are fans out there, every scene with him is a struggle to get through.

Jackson Storm (voiced by Armie Hammer) isn’t really a noteworthy addition to Pixar’s roster. He shows up in a lot of the trailers and posters, but to my surprise, he isn’t in the film all that much. I’m sure he’ll be memorable in some aspects, but I couldn’t invest in his character because there just wasn’t enough to invest in.

I absolutely adore the animation in this film. Do you all remember The Good Dinosaur? Yeah, the environments in that film are pretty much tied with the environments in this one. I’m going to give this one to Cars 3 because even though the characters are still cartoony, the models of the cars look very realistic. It’s highly evident the amount of time that went into designing the characters, and it paid off.

THE VERDICT

Cars 3 isn’t the most memorable film in Pixar’s library. It has some issues, mainly regarding the characters, but I heavily enjoyed it. The animation is stunning, the action is really good, and the pacing is very consistent. I’m going to give Cars 3 a B+.

Cars 3 stars Owen Wilson, Cristela Alonzo, Armie Hammer, Larry the Cable Guy, Bonnie Hunt, Cheech Marin, Michael Wallis, Paul Dooley. Directed by Brian Fee.