Cars

Cars ***

Cars deserves to be seen on the large screen, if only for it's stunning animation. It certainly does boggle the mind how it's done, and Pixar has created a film more beautiful than Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, which I always thought was impossible. However, it's not as magical a story as the previous Pixar films, it's still charming, cute, and whimsical, and better family fare than some of the recent animation films of late-which have all been dull, poorly animated, and cheaply made. Cars isn't something special like I wanted it to be, but it still blows all other animation out of the water.

It's also rather predictable. Cocky, racecar Lightning McQueen gets lost, and ends up in the town of Radiator Springs. A legend in it's own time, the Springs was a landmark stop on the classic Route 66, until an Interstate highway was built that saves cars ten minutes of driving. McQueen ends up ruining a road in the center of town, and can't leave until he fixes it, which he doesn't want to do because he needs to get to California in a week for a big race to win the infamous "Piston Cup." And then he falls in love, makes some friends, yada yada yada. . .

There are no humans at all here. It appears that the United States, in the near future, has been taken over by giant, talking cars. Everything is a car. . . hell even the little bugs have wheels on them. I'm sure much of the humor will go over the little ones head, but some of the jokes will go under the older ones head. And they won't catch the message, you know, the one about how we have to appriciate the old, instead of constantly trying to change things. It obviously applies to today, like when you take a walk down the streets of Manhattan and instead of seeing old, classic buildings, you see the large, and painfully expensive, condos. As usual, Pixar has crafted a story that will appeal to kids as much as adults, which is important in the animation game. And while it is their weakest film to date, it demands to be seen for the stunning animation alone. There's not doubt in my mind that Pixar really can do no wrong.