Cars (2006)

"These white wall tires, they say look at me, here I am, Love me.", 25 June 2006

It was inevitable. The string of winners churned out by Pixar and Disney had to end sometime. And it ends with Cars. That's not to say there aren't moments in the film to enjoy. The beginning and ending of the film are great. As long as the action is centered on the racetrack, Cars is good and entertaining. Unfortunately, there's that whole middle hour or so where things get incredibly dull. After the slam-bang start, the next hour is talk, talk, and more talk. I took my three year-old to see the movie and both he and I were squirming about half way through. I had to bribe him to get him to stay through the finish. The problem with much of the film is that it's so predictable. There are no surprises anywhere in the bland and tired script.

I'll give the makers of the film credit for one thing – Cars looks good. There was a time when I thought Toy Story was the be all, end all of computer animation. I couldn't have been more wrong. Cars looks far better in comparison.

Finally, one of the great things about the Disney films of the past is how well they have withstood the test of time. I wonder if some of these newer Pixar films will do the same. For example, Cars features Darrell Waltrip doing the same lame shtick he uses when broadcasting a race of television. How well is " Boogity Boogity Boogity! Let's go racin'!" going to stand-up?

5/10