REVIEW: Cars 3By Quinn OxleyJune 16, 2017Every fair critique of a film comes from appropriate expectations. Batman is the world’s greatest detective and a dusky dealer of vigilante justice, so it makes sense that Batman and Robin - the movie which features the major Bat bulge and the Bat credit card- is considered one of the worst films of all time. That understood, since it would be completely acceptable to expect that Cars 3 would be a smoldering dumpster fire, the third installment into this very strange and arguably unnecessary franchise was actually a decent surprise.

Okay. It’s no Finding Nemo. But it’s not Cars 2, either. For what it is, it’s actually very poignant.

It’s still a Cars movie. The story moves a bit too quickly and awkwardly; the dialogue is cheesy and bloated; it’s still Owen Wilson and Larry the Cable Guy; and they’re still anthropomorphic cars. All of this is to be expected, though, so it doesn’t majorly hinder the viewing experience.

Surprisingly, Cars 3 takes on some very interesting and appropriate thematic arcs, ultimately bow-tying into a pretty satisfactory and unconventional conclusion.

Also in the plus column: Mater resumes his role as best friend. Disney duly took note of people’s distaste for him as the protagonist.

Don’t go in expecting Inside Out. Watch Cars 2 again, and then see this one. It’ll be so much better.

Rating: 6/10

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