Lightning McQueen, a hotshot rookie race car driven to succeed, discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line, when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured in the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. On route across the country to the big Piston Cup Championship in California to compete against two seasoned pros, McQueen gets to know the town's offbeat characters--including Sally, a snazzy 2002 Porsche, Doc Hudson, a 1951 Hudson Hornet with a mysterious past, and Mater, a rusty but trusty tow truck, who help him realize that there are more important things than trophies, fame and sponsorship.

Cars had and has a lot going for it but at the same time it also let a lot go wrong and instead of being great like most of the previous Pixar films the movie was merely good and very cute. I think when you set the bar so high like Pixar has done it almost becomes impossible to match your own standards and if any part of your movie is somewhat of a let down the entire movie can be a let down. I smiled a lot during the movie and was very entertained during the movie but I never really had those moments where I was outright laughing or busting a gut, most of the jokes just had me smiling and that was about it. All the Pixar elements were there, the movie animation wise and visually was spectacular, no one can touch Pixar when it comes to computer animation that much is obvious. The movie was cute, it was fun, it was entertaining, it worked both on an adult level and a kids level but the movie had two let downs first the story and then the casting, so a movie that could have been great was only fun and cute but still worth watching.

The first problem like mentioned before was the story which was more of a premise than an actual story. This led to the movie having those irritating moments where you know your main character is going to learn his life lesson and everyone is going to live happily ever after, sorry call me cynical but that is way to heavy handed for me. We know from the get go the young hot shot punk is going to learn the values of friendship and its not whether you win or lose but how you play the game, I just didn’t expect to have it crammed down my throat so much. The Pixar movies have always dealt with family and the importance of this one is about friendship and winning and losing, so I shouldn’t be so cynical about movie with heartfelt messages for today’s youth, I just wish there had been more to the story is all.

The second problem and the biggest problem of course was the casting. Want to know how to turn a movie that could potentially have been great into just a good movie, very very very poor casting. I don't know what they were thinking when they signed Owen Wilson someone who hasn't been thought of as funny in a good five years to the lead role. He wasn’t funny in the movie either, it was all the side characters and the sight gags that were funny. The comes Larry the Cable Guy, while Owen Wilson may have once been thought of as funny, I can’t imagine how anybody ever thought of Larry as anything more than obnoxious and the worst parts of our society. His patently stupid character fit the movie at times but at other times it was like fingernails on a chalkboard, annoying and useless. If I were to rate Cars in the world of Pixar it would take 4th, still head and shoulders above the competition from other studios but not the stellar Pixar film like Toy Story or the Incredibles, so go enjoy, smile a little, laugh a bit and enjoy the visuals.

Grade: B