Get ready for Cars 3 with fun, behind-the-scenes facts and check out our salute to the Pixar side characters who don't need a lot of screen time to make a huge impact.
Star race car Lightning McQueen and his pal Mater head overseas to compete in the World Grand Prix race. But the road to the championship becomes rocky as Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage.
Directors:
John Lasseter,
Brad Lewis
Stars:
Owen Wilson,
Larry the Cable Guy,
Michael Caine
The friendly but forgetful blue tang fish, Dory, begins a search for her long-lost parents, and everyone learns a few things about the real meaning of family along the way.
Continuing his "legendary adventures of awesomeness", Po must face two hugely epic, but different threats: one supernatural and the other a little closer to his home.
Directors:
Alessandro Carloni,
Jennifer Yuh Nelson
When Sid's attempt to adopt three dinosaur eggs gets him abducted by their real mother to an underground lost world, his friends attempt to rescue him.
Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman are still fighting to get home to their beloved Big Apple. Their journey takes them through Europe where they find the perfect cover: a traveling circus, which they reinvent - Madagascar style.
When Gru, the world's most super-bad turned super-dad has been recruited by a team of officials to stop lethal muscle and a host of Gru's own, He has to fight back with new gadgetry, cars, and more minion madness.
Spoiled by their upbringing and unaware of what wildlife really is, four animals from the New York Central Zoo escape, unwittingly assisted by four absconding penguins, and find themselves in Madagascar.
Manny, Diego, and Sid embark upon another adventure after their continent is set adrift. Using an iceberg as a ship, they encounter sea creatures and battle pirates as they explore a new world.
Blindsided by a new generation of blazing-fast racers, the legendary Lightning McQueen is suddenly pushed out of the sport he loves. To get back in the game, he will need the help of an eager young race technician with her own plan to win, inspiration from the late Fabulous Hudson Hornet, and a few unexpected turns. Proving that #95 isn't through yet will test the heart of a champion on Piston Cup Racing's biggest stage!Written by
Pixar
Tom Magliozzi died in 2014. Instead of hiring a sound-alike, filmmakers reviewed old transcripts from Car Talk to find lines that would serve Rusty. Car Talk was a weekly NPR radio show hosted by Tom and Ray Magliozzi, where they were known as "Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers." "Don't drive like my brother" was their catchphrase at the end of the show. See more »
Goofs
Natalie Certain says that every week, veteran racers retire or get fired to make room for the next generation racers. However, the season was almost over when more next generation racers started to push out the stock cars, so veteran racers leaving every week is impossible. See more »
Quotes
Daniel Swervez:
[to McQueen]
Name's Danny, bro.
See more »
Crazy Credits
In a post-credits scene, Mater has trouble with his smartphone when he tries answering a call. See more »
Alternate Versions
The 3D version bears a different version of the Pixar logo than the 2D version, with the Pixar lamp hopping toward the camera instead of coming in from the right side. See more »
2 out of 5 stars (has some good moments, but is overall bad)
Anyone who knows me knows that I love Pixar. They have provided my generation with animated classics finding heart, humor, and emotion in ideas that seem poised to fail. However, Pixar's track record as of late has been very hit-and-miss, alternating between tear-inducing masterpieces like "Inside Out" and serviceable fair like "Brave". Every film studio has a few hiccups, but Pixar used to be the outlier, the company my generation could depend on for grade-A entertainment, and, if anything, allow us now 20-somethings to watch an animated movie and not have to lower our standards "because it's for kids."
"Cars 3" wants desperately to be one of the great Pixar movies: At points it delivers honest truths about the cruel nature of the racing industry and has a great number of laughs, but the film is less than the sum of its parts. For every emotional moment, witty line, or thrilling race sequence, there is a lazy joke or painful bit of writing. The film is caught between being a more realistic dramedy dealing with mature themes, or just settle with entertaining young children (which, in my theater, it completely failed to do). I've definitely seen worse children's films, but "Cars 3" hurt me more because it had promise.
We once again follow Lightening McQueen (Voiced by a bored-sounding Owen Wilson) at the top of his game, with pals Mater (Voiced by Larry the Cable Guy), Sally (Voiced by Bonnie Hunt), and all the other side "caracters" by his side. However, Lightening's racing career is threatened by rising hotshot Jackson Storm (Voiced by Armie Hammer), who causes him to wreck during a big race and take time out to change his game plan at a tech-heavy training center. Unfortunately, Lightening is paired with ultra fangirl Cruz, who is as good at training as I am at Calculus, forcing him to work harder than ever, and possibly realize that he's reached the end of the road.
I have never loved this franchise. "Cars" was fine if unremarkable, and "Cars 2" was total kiddishness. "Cars 3" falls somewhere in the middle, with unexpected drama and moments of poignancy, but also having the overly childish humor. I thoroughly enjoyed the racing sequences in this film, and there are several moments of witty banter that made me laugh out loud, but those elements failed to coalesce into an entertaining whole for me. The film wants to emulate "Toy Story 3", which was more of a dark prison drama than a family comedy, but the difference between the two franchises is that "Toy Story" entertained children AND adults, while "Cars" primarily entertains kids. Kids who loved the first two films in this series will love this one too, but those of us who never understood the appeal of this series will gain very little from this one.
"Cars 3" has occasional funny lines, good racing sequences, and unexpectedly poignant drama, but childish humor once again kills any dramatic weight that could have existed otherwise.
Rated G
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2 out of 5 stars (has some good moments, but is overall bad)
Anyone who knows me knows that I love Pixar. They have provided my generation with animated classics finding heart, humor, and emotion in ideas that seem poised to fail. However, Pixar's track record as of late has been very hit-and-miss, alternating between tear-inducing masterpieces like "Inside Out" and serviceable fair like "Brave". Every film studio has a few hiccups, but Pixar used to be the outlier, the company my generation could depend on for grade-A entertainment, and, if anything, allow us now 20-somethings to watch an animated movie and not have to lower our standards "because it's for kids."
"Cars 3" wants desperately to be one of the great Pixar movies: At points it delivers honest truths about the cruel nature of the racing industry and has a great number of laughs, but the film is less than the sum of its parts. For every emotional moment, witty line, or thrilling race sequence, there is a lazy joke or painful bit of writing. The film is caught between being a more realistic dramedy dealing with mature themes, or just settle with entertaining young children (which, in my theater, it completely failed to do). I've definitely seen worse children's films, but "Cars 3" hurt me more because it had promise.
We once again follow Lightening McQueen (Voiced by a bored-sounding Owen Wilson) at the top of his game, with pals Mater (Voiced by Larry the Cable Guy), Sally (Voiced by Bonnie Hunt), and all the other side "caracters" by his side. However, Lightening's racing career is threatened by rising hotshot Jackson Storm (Voiced by Armie Hammer), who causes him to wreck during a big race and take time out to change his game plan at a tech-heavy training center. Unfortunately, Lightening is paired with ultra fangirl Cruz, who is as good at training as I am at Calculus, forcing him to work harder than ever, and possibly realize that he's reached the end of the road.
I have never loved this franchise. "Cars" was fine if unremarkable, and "Cars 2" was total kiddishness. "Cars 3" falls somewhere in the middle, with unexpected drama and moments of poignancy, but also having the overly childish humor. I thoroughly enjoyed the racing sequences in this film, and there are several moments of witty banter that made me laugh out loud, but those elements failed to coalesce into an entertaining whole for me. The film wants to emulate "Toy Story 3", which was more of a dark prison drama than a family comedy, but the difference between the two franchises is that "Toy Story" entertained children AND adults, while "Cars" primarily entertains kids. Kids who loved the first two films in this series will love this one too, but those of us who never understood the appeal of this series will gain very little from this one.
"Cars 3" has occasional funny lines, good racing sequences, and unexpectedly poignant drama, but childish humor once again kills any dramatic weight that could have existed otherwise.
Rated G