After a plethra of dissapointing animated trailers, I've really been scared to see any CG film at all this summer. With one of the voices in Doogal publically admitting the movie's awfulness, and the summer film Barnyard that stars a transgendered cow (he has utters...) I could only hope and pray for the best. Fortunately for me, and for Disney, Over the Hedge was not the only funny, entertaining CG film of the year.
Cars, from director/writers John Lasseter (a Disney favorite) and first time director Joe Ranft (a voice in nearly every Pixar movie who unfortunately passed away last year,) brought together an all-star cast and the great animators of Disney to create a really great film. A side note: an "In Memory" montage dedicated to Ranft, who voices Red and Peterbuilt in Cars, is oddly placed after an absolutely hysterical group of John Ratzenberger clips, who voices Mack in Cars and many other Pixar film, so beware. The unsuspecting movie goer will find themselves laughing half-way through the memorium.
This film is about, as is obvious from the title, cars; not just regular cars, but cars that act as people would. One of the most brilliant aspects of this film is to watch the different adaptation animators made so that audiences actually saw these cars as people, and not just inanimate vehicles. Their manuerisms fit together so perfectly that I completely forgot that these characters were anything out of the ordinary. In Cars, super-star rookie race car, Lightning McQueen, voiced by crooked-nosed pretty boy, Owen Wilson, finds himself lost in the middle of nowhere, also known as Radiator Springs. There, after tearing up the center of town and being sentenced to fix the roads before he leaves, McQueen meets the quirky members of this has-been Rt. 66 town and in the end, learns a very valuable Disney-type lesson.
Learning that Larry the Cable Guy, the Blue Colar headliner, was "gitin' 'er done" in this new film made me cringe a little. After the unsuccess of his own movie, I was terrified to see what this loveable hick could bring to a family film. I was, surprisingly, surprised. Larry actually carried this movie comedically with his character Mater ("as in Tow Mater." Say it outloud a few times, you'll get it.) His gotta-love-the-dumb-guy charm and his wit made his scenes a crowd favorite. All his jokes were innocently clean, as well, making this film very family-friendly.
Many other talents were involved in Cars, including acting legend Paul Newman, who played the old, wise car, Doc Hudson, Monk star Tony Shalhoub, as Luigi doing what he does best- an accent (remember Wings?) Low Rider Cheech Marin as Ramone, naughty comedy legend George Carlin as the hippie VW bus, Filmore, and Batman (or Beetlejuice) himself, Michael Keaton as McQueen's top competition, Chick Hicks. Each character took on the personality of the type of person you'd normally see driving the vehicle they were (I'm kind of a Filmore who drives a Sarge.) Ramone, who's talents' voice is unmistakeable, always had a new paint job on his car, Mater was a rusty old pick-up, and Sarge (played by Paul Dooley) was an army-clad sensible, American Jeep. My absolute favorite part of the film was Sarge's SUV Boot Camp (since I own a mud-splattered Wrangler myself.)
The biggest dissapointment, however, which seems to be a theme with the latest animated movies, is the big name female comedians with absolutely no part whatsoever. Bonnie Hunt, who I admire very much as a very funny actress, plays Sally Carrera, a sporty New York car that found herself owning the local motel (made out of traffic cones.) Her part could have been played by anyone, and it would not have effected the movie at all. She had no funny lines (or at least no memorable funny lines) and no substance at all. It's a trend with Disney movies that the comic relief is always a guy, and the females' (besides the great villanesses,) job is to be the pretty love interest of the leading character. This is very similar to my arguement with Over the Hedge and the lack of a part given to improv comedian Catherine O'Hara. There was another female voice in Cars, a smaller part played by Jenifer Lewis (one of Whoopie's back up singers in Sister Act,) Ramone's girlfriend, Flo. She did have a slightly funny part, but it was definately much smaller than Hunt's.
The story, like many a Disney tale, is overall very heartwarming. I was amazed how attached I was to these characters by the end of the film. The audience goes on a journey with the characters, and even though it is very typical Disney (SPOILER: it ends happily, and everybody learns something) there was much to enjoy and be enthralled in. Although the story is great, the movie is fun, and the animation is fantastic, the film would most likely have lost audiences without the brilliant (if by accident only) simplistic wit of Larry's character, Mater. This is a movie that had me and my friends rolling in tears with laughter, and is appropriate for all ages. If for no other reason, see this film to see the most mind bogglingly incredible CG movie (animation wise) to date. I would definately recommend this to everyone.
Overall Grade: A-
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