A Review of Cars

I was extremely lucky enough today to go to a preview screening of Cars. I am going to give a review (No Spoilers I might add), for you all as to prepare you for the exciting event that is Cars.

Now before I start I would like to send my sincerest thanks to Alison, Gary and the folks at Buena Vista International is Australia for setting me up with the tickets. I am very thankful because you made me the most happiest person in the world today.

Now to the review…

The trailers, teaser trailers, tv spots, exclusive clips, etc. for Cars don’t even come close, in my opinion, to what the film is really like. Even other peoples reviews can’t cut it. To understand what I am saying you’ll have to see the film. Cars would have to be the best film I have seen since The Incredibles. That’s right, way back in November 2004. John Lasseter and Pixar have absolutely outdone themselves on this film.

The story is great. No muckining around, no dilly dallying, its fast paced and the ways Lightning McQueen develops is very well done. The movie is also very very funny! The audience around me, as well as myself, all laughed throughout the entire film. And people have been very right when they have said that this is the most emotional of all the Pixar films. I must agree. There are some very sad sequences. Emotional in a number of ways for myself. As a Pixar fan I was saddened by the loss of Joe Ranft. To hear his voice in the movie as Red was quite touching. Also to see his name as Co-Director was very nice, as well as the tribute to him during the credits showing all the characters he has played in Pixar films.

The camera angles during the race scenes are stunning and that is the beauty of animation, you can create those amazing camera angles that you can’t do in a live action film. Hearing the roars of the crowds and the revs of the engines was such a rush during the race scenes. The lighting, colouring and texturing of everything from the trees and mud to the shine on the cars body was absolutely stunning and all very realistic. Taking a glance at some scenes i.e. during the Sally and McQueen taking a drive scene, I thought I was looking at a photograph. And that was not a bad thing. Seeing McQueen glide around corners was so much fun to look at.

To put a lot of your minds at rest, the film , although it does have a strong racing theme, was not like watching a movie about racing. I am not a fan of racing for one. But the racing scenes were just thrilling to watch. Don’t let the fact that your not a racing fan put you off. The film has a lot of heart. When John Lasseter first said to his wife Nancy that he was going to finally make his ‘Cars’ movie, she said to him that 99.5% of the world are not racing fans. And John Lasseter has made sure everyone will love this film. Racing fans will pick up on certain inside jokes like the voice of Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Pixar fans will love looking for the Pizza Planet Truck as well as other Pixar references. One clue, For The Birds/Power Line. (BTW, I can confirm the presence of the Pizza Planet Truck and you can see him quite clearly. I still wish I could find it in The Incredibles.)

Now I’m going to give you a heads up here. Stay to the very end of the credits. For one, the credits are very fun to watch. And also at the start of them there is an extremely funny scene with Mack. And two there is a clip at the end.

If I could I would give this film a 6/5, but I can’t so I am going to have to give it a 5/5. And this is not because i’m a huge Pixar geek. It’s because this is a genuinely excellent film. I can almost guarantee you will love it. Be sure to be first in line on June 09 for you folks in the U.S. and the June 08 for those of you in N.Z. and Australia. It’s an event not to be missed.

I’d like to put out a huge congratulations to John Lasseter, Darla K. Anderson and the rest of the Pixar team who worked long and hard over this film to bring it to us. Well done and I am sure everyone will absolutely love it. CONGRATULATIONS!

Now I am sure there will be some of you wondering about the Ratatouille teaser trailer. I did see it and it was very funny. Unfortunetly I could not pick up on who was playing any of the characters. And to me, the chef didn’t sound much like Brad Garrett mainly because I have never heard Brad Garrett put on a thick french accent. Bring on the cast list Disney and Pixar.

One Mand Band….Very cute and very funny! Congratulations to Mark Andrews, Andrew Jiminez, Brad Bird, Osnat Shurer and the rest of the folks over at Pixar who worked on this excellent short film. Well done! I loved it and so did it seem everyone else in the audience.

And that my friends is all I have to say for now.
Bring on June 08/09 so I can see it again!! YAY!