Cars 3 (2017)

I think most people will agree that making Cars 2 into a spy movie was a bit of an odd direction to go in making a Cars sequel. There was nothing particularly wrong with it, but it was boring. The storyline was weak and it was obvious that the main reason in making the film was to sell toys. With this new installment, Disney and Pixar are washing their hands of that film and bringing back what made the first film good.

Cars has always been an odd film in the Disney/Pixar canon. The first film succeeded in the box office but never gained as much popularity as previous Pixar films before it. The second film did not fare well with critic or audiences. When news of a third Cars film was coming most people did not seem to care. In fact several of my friends on Facebook said they would be skipping this film altogether. It does have its fanbase, but overall the franchise is one people don't see a point in existing.

This film once again focuses on racing. Lightning McQueen is now an aging race car and begins losing to his younger opponents. With pressures mounting on him to retire, he knows he has to win in order to prove himself. He begins training and meets a young car with former dreams of becoming a racer. She mentors him as much as he mentors her. There are many moments in which the movie reminisces on Doc Hudson and his relationship with Lightning.

While it is nice that this film focuses more on what worked in the first film, I still do not see why these characters need to be explored. This film is a huge improvement from its predecessor it is still a little too long. The film can spread the message it is trying to send while being shortened considerably.

When the film opens up Lightening McQueen (Owen Wilson) is still the best race car there is. This changes suddenly when newcomer Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer) appears on the scene. He easily beats Lightning his first time competing against him and continues to do so in all the subsequent races. The older generation of race cars are either retiring or are being fired by their sponsors. Lightning is not ready to retire and his new sponsor has him train with Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonso). Knowing he has to step up his game he also seeks guidance from Smokey (Chris Cooper) the car that trained Doc Hudson.

Most the original Cars from the first film are relegated to small roles and hardly appear in the film. The main focuses are Lightning, Cruz and all the other new cars met along the way. The new characters are likable and the voice acting is strong. Still it seems a little odd to have the original characters mainly on the sidelines.

No, there is still not really in point for this film's existence, but at least there was a lot of heart and effort put into the film. Even the animation in the second film felt sloppy, but not in this one. The animation is vibrant and colorful. There is a lot of effort put into all the little details of this world.

As with all Disney films nowadays there is a short film before the feature film. Lou is the story of lost and found items at a school and the bully who grows from those items. It is cute, but not particularly memorable.

Cars 3 is what it is. It is most certainly not a bad film, but it is still not one of the greatest films in the Pixar lineup. There is a lot more heart in this one and it does have a good message. It does its job in keeping the audience entertained.  I don't know if this will be the final Cars film. There are many franchises which have stated they are done only to continue making films. The audience won't necessarily want a fourth film, but after this venture I don't think they'll completely ignore it either.