Pixar hit the scene with the fantastic Toy story that still holds up to recent CGI movies. Toy story looked great (and still does) but why toy story was successful is simple : it's a great film. Animation aside, the narrative, the lines, the characters all make for a top film. Thats what Pixar does so well, they start with the story and the animation is secondary. After churning out more great films (Monsters Inc, TS2, Incredibles) in 2006 pixar released Cars, another classic....right? has to be doesn't it?...No.
First off, the animation is FANTASTIC, and the film looks bright and appealing. However looks aren't everything. You have the usual "toy seller" character of Lightning McQueen , the character-less stereotype of dumb side kick in form of Mater and the love interest Sally Carrera . A moral message is tacked on in form of "big business = death of small towns" which really does seem tacked. It is used only to achieve narrative resolution for main character Lightning McQueen ("bring him down to earth")
However my main issue is what is lacking rather than what is there. Thats the human element. I found it hard to buy into cars living in their own world, and taking away the humans took away chance for interesting scenes (airport scene TS2, Nemo in dentist office) of humans getting in the way of the car's lives. Also the lack of human made it feel more of a kids movie. I wanted nothing more than at the end for the camera to pan out to reveal a kid playing with a toy car set, but didn't happen.
All in all, it may be the best looking Pixar movie, its the loudest and the races were well animated and high energy. However lack of humans and tacked on moral narrative lets it down.
(i will say though i am looking forward to Ratatouille, roll on october)
