Regardless, Cars was the first Pixar movie I didn’t see in theatres, and after The Incredibles I wouldn’t see another in the cinema until I started reviewing movies. So it’s safe to say for a while Cars killed my interest in Pixar, and I hadn’t even seen it. Now that I have seen it, I don’t have any particular regrets about not doing so in 2006.
In a bizarre world of anthropomorphic cars, Lightning McQueen is a young racer determined to win the prized Piston Cup. He ties with two other cars, and it’s decided to have the tiebreaker take place in Los Angeles. En route however, he gets lost and winds up in a small town called Radiator Springs off Route 66, where due to some road damage he caused, he’s forced to stay and fulfil community service. While there of course, he begins to learn not to be selfish and to find comfort in the humbler aspects of life, particularly in that romanticized part of the country.
Cars feels like an early Pixar movie, made when the studio was still trying to find itself despite the fact it’s post-Finding Nemo and post-The Incredibles. And I think that’s largely attributed to writer-director John Lasseter. This is his first movie for Pixar since Toy Story 2, and it seems like while the rest of the studio had evolved since then, he hadn’t. Here we have a return to the gimmicky set-up of the early Pixar films, with the main idea just being that the characters are anthropomorphic cars. And it’s really weird -naturally sparking a lot of questions and problems with the films’ world. Where are the humans? Why do the places and objects look the same? How do cars reproduce? How do they function without digits? Why can some cars ride inside other cars??? It comes off as little more than a cheap ploy to sell toys. Cars is by far the most marketable Disney property, the reason why it’s somehow managed to get two sequels, and it makes it all the more hilarious how the movie has an anti-commercial theme, satirizing product placements and selling out, while the movie itself does exactly those things. Now in fairness, I don’t think when Lasseter came up with talking cars he was necessarily thinking of it as a merchandising gold mine -the inanimate objects being personified just seems to be his thing (Michael Eisner was the one thinking about money). But the multitude of car brands and types, combined with the popularity of Hot Wheels and other such toys gives the impression of a marketing gimmick. Even the poster shamelessly delights in all the different model characters you can collect in your next McDonalds Happy Meal or Toys ‘R Us.
None of this is rectified by the story, which is very bland. It’s pretty much exactly the same plot as Doc Hollywood, to an almost criminal degree. It also reminds me of Doc Martin (and this movie features Doc Hudson, what’s with all the Docs?) a U.K. series about a London surgeon who becomes the GP of a pretty village on the Cornish coast. Because of this, there’s no originality in Lightning’s character arc and thus he never earns your investment. The movie’s so cliché-ridden I actually cherish the moments it diverges from them. The second and third races are perfect examples of this: first when it looks like Doc will beat Lightning in a one-on-one race, but instead uses the moment to teach him a lesson; and second when in the climax everything appears to lead up to Lightning winning the big race, only he doesn’t in favour of helping the third injured racer. Neither of these scenes go anywhere that unexpected, they just don’t choose the first trope available. In addition to this, the movie is too long, expending a couple pointless scenes on trying to create a friendship between Lightning and Mater, or delegating time to a sock hop, or the reveal Doc contacted the paparazzi to get Lightning out, only for him to have miraculously turned around by his next scene.
Lightning, in addition to having a poor character arc, is quite an unlikeable protagonist. His selfish attitude and egoism is intentional of course, but it’s way too hammered in by him declaring he’s a “one man show” or that he hates rusty cars. And unlikeable heroes can work if they’re entertaining, but with the uncharismatic Owen Wilson voicing him, you never get that. He’s mostly just an asshole until he’s not; and by then he’s just dull. Though I’d probably prefer dullness over the obnoxiousness that is Mater, a redneck stereotype with massively annoying dialogue. As you may be able to guess, I was never much a fan of Larry the Cable Guy, or those couple years when Hollywood seemed to decide he was comedy royalty (comedy royalty is in this movie in the depressing casting of George Carlin as a VW who’s a hippie -because this movie is full of original jokes). Bonnie Hunt is okay as Sally, a former lawyer who made Radiator Springs home. But Hunt can only do so much with another mostly uninspired character, who only exists to be a romantic interest and means of turning Lightning’s perspective around. The best part of the movie is Paul Newman, in part because he’s Paul Newman, but also because Doc Hudson is the only character I was ever really interested in. The once hot-shot racer who left that world behind after a bad experience being confronted by it again is compelling. What’s his story? How did he end up in Radiator Springs? The scenes with him I never minded, as standard as they may be. The rest of the cast are stereotypes without much personality. There’s an Italian car voiced by Tony Shalhoub, a Mexican car voiced by Cheech Marin, a military Jeep voiced by Paul Dooley, and an old T-Model Ford voiced by Katherine Helmond (and was that Richard Kind as a tourist?). In another sad casting choice, Michael Keaton voices Lightning’s racing rival, who the film tries hard to make even less likeable than Lightning, and Jeremy Piven is Lightning’s unseen manager Harv (according to wikipedia voiced by Jeremy Clarkson in the U.K., which makes so much more sense). However I am glad this movie gave John Ratzenberger a larger role as the transport truck Mack. The movie is dedicated to Joe Ranft, who worked on the story, voiced the fire-truck, and who passed away in 2005. It’s a shame that Cars was also Newman’s final movie and one of Carlin’s.
One thing I do appreciate about Cars is what it’s trying to do with its message. There’s a heavy theme about appreciating the old and worn, and small community values and humility, which Pixar hadn’t directly addressed yet. And there are moments where it almost works. You can tell Lasseter put a lot of heart into this film. Another major theme is natural beauty. One of the few sequences I genuinely like is Lightning and Sally’s drive along Route 66 taking in the gorgeous scenery around them. The animation here, as with a lot of the landscape scenes, is very nice to look at. Lasseter’s original impetus for the film was based on wanting to make a movie about Route 66 after a family vacation. This sequence alone feels like what he wanted to achieve. There’s a real veneration of the natural beauty of this part of the country, and the cheapening of it by construction of the Interstate. You can almost see Lasseter trying to achieve a Miyazaki level of reverence here. But there’s a big problem inherent. Featuring greenhouse gas-emitting, earth polluting, industrially produced cars as your characters completely defeats the purpose of such a nature-loving theme.
Apart from a handful of decent jokes, one of which is the John Ratzenberger fourth wall bit in the end credits, the comedy isn’t any good (unless Mater’s anal assaults on Lightning were genuinely meant to be funny). In fact, some of the comedy is a little pandering: like when it shows a bunch of celebrities as cars because Pixar thinks that alone is funny, or giant cone-houses that Lightning has to explain the joke behind. This movie brings back Randy Newman for the score. He writes one mediocre-at-best song, “Our Town”, and the rest are a soundtrack of popular artists. This is the first Pixar movie to use unoriginal songs, such as Chuck Berry’s “Route 66” (obviously), Tom Cochrane’s “Life is a Highway” -here performed by Rascall Flatts, and most surprisingly the irritatingly catchy doo-wop hit “Sh-Boom” by The Chords.
It’s ironic that Cars fails for ultimately the same reason that made The Incredibles succeed. Brad Bird had little interference on that film, Pixar let him do what he wanted. Similarly, they had no reins on John Lasseter, banking on the fact two of his prior three films had been received very well by critics and audiences. And as far as Pixar was concerned, it paid off again. It was a box office success and though not praised as universally as their last few films, enough critics still liked it. For me it falls short. Perhaps if I wasn’t going in knowing this would result in an undeserved franchise with sequels, even many fans of this film don’t like, I’d consider it okay. But even then I’d have to reconcile the numerous issues working against the fewer good points. Cars still in general just don’t interest me, and this film gives me the same reaction I’d have at an auto-show. I still can’t quite get past the stupid set-up even if it has earnest elements. It’s Pixar’s first big disappointment since A Bug’s Life, but I have hope. Brad Bird is back to save us next week.
Both Knick-Knack and the wire-hanging birds from For the Birds had cameos in Cars. That’s nice. As for the short released with this one, I’m glad to see Pixar returning to their subdued speciality after Boundin’. One Man Band is about two unsuccessful one-man-band street performers in Renaissance Italy who vie over a gold coin from a little girl who would otherwise toss it in a fountain. They compete in elaborate ways to try and impress her until they accidentally cause her to lose her coin down a sewer grate. Angry, she forces them to lend her an instrument and plays it herself, earning a large bag of gold for her great performance. She teases the two with a pair of coins, before tossing them into the highest level of the fountain. This short is really funny, terrifically animated, and quite well-scored by Michael Giacchino. I love the reactions of each of the three characters, especially the girl at the end with her unexpected musical brilliance. That final joke and the lead-up to it is hilarious and wonderfully satisfying. It’s pretty inventive with the musicians’ band machines, their physical comedy and the story is perfectly paced. Also the absence of dialogue really helps the mood and the comedic timing. There’s not really a whole lot else to say. I loved One Man Band -it’s probably my favourite Pixar short so far!
Next Week: Ratatouille (2007)
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