Warning: There are some minor spoilers ahead for "Cars 3."
Disney and Pixar fans will be relieved to know that "Cars 3" is a big improvement over the last film in the franchise.
Of course, that isn't any real achievement. "Cars 2," an inadvertent spy film with Larry the Cable Guy's tow truck Mater character in Tokyo, is widely considered to be the studio's worst film.
"Cars 3" isn't Pixar at it's best. This is no "Wall-E" or "Up," but it's not "The Good Dinosaur" either. Pixar delivers a pretty straight-forward, predictable, and safe followup that brings the franchise back to its racing roots.
If you've seen any of the trailers, you know the basic gist of the movie. 11 years after the first "Cars," Lightning McQueen's (Owen Wilson) racing days are screeching to a halt. After years of winning, he and other fellow racers are quickly being shoved out of the game only to be replaced by younger, high-tech cars. The new Lightning McQueen is a sleek, brash, and vain rookie by the name of Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer) who takes to mocking number 95.
After an accident on the track makes him consider the possibility of retirement, he teams up with a younger trainer, Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo), who once had aspirations of being a great racer.
She insists on using high-tech gear ranging from car treadmills and a racing simulator to help McQueen adapt to the newer racers. But the racing legend ends up teaching her a few tricks of his own, insisting that statistics and diagnostic tests can only go so far. Sometimes you have to get out on the open road and get your tires — or entire car — dirty in order to really embrace and love the sport.
It's out on the open road where the film really feels fun. The two get into some mischief at a demolition derby where they run into a fiery school bus, Miss Fritter, (played by "Orange is the New Black" actress Lea DeLaria) before hightailing it down memory lane to get some racing tips from a few pals of McQueen's old mentor, Doc Hudson (the late Paul Newman).
Larry the Cable Guy is back as McQueen's pal Mater as well, but he's sidelined to limited appearances throughout for comedic relief. After the last film where Mater was front and center, that's probably for the best.
It's definitely a bit deeper than the first film as McQueen comes to terms with his own mortality and ponders his legacy to the sport — I know, pretty deep stuff for a movie about cars. But "Cars 3" becomes a bit stuffed with constant reminders of Doc Hudson.
The film tries to recapture some of the magic of the 2006 original by inserting flashbacks of McQueen's fond memories of the legendary racer, but they feel a bit shoehorned in for emotional weight. The film relies almost too heavily on Hudson and it probably would have worked better if he popped up in one or two flashbacks, but not constantly throughout the film.
Hudson's appearances in the film are the most frustrating because the audience never gets any added closure to the character's mysterious death. Yes, Hudson was killed from the franchise offscreen after Newman passed away in real life, but kids don't know that. We're just supposed to assume he went off to some big car parking lot in the sky, but it's never said aloud. It's stranger when you realize no one ever talks about any other cars dying in the "Cars" universe.
But try not to think too much about the logistics of the actual "Cars" world while watching a movie about animated vehicles or you may fall into a pit full of other questions like, "Where do car children come from?"
Ultimately, "Cars 3" just feels like Pixar was playing it safe to bounce back from reviews of its 2011 sequel and potentially pave the way for another generation of Cars movies.
"Cars 3" hopes to walk you down memory lane, but it never tugs at your heartstrings the way the first film did. It's not that all of the ingredients aren't there. It's just that Pixar has delivered a similar story so many times now that the emotional beats don't hit with the same punch as they did before. They simply don't feel as genuine.
While Pixar continues to make gorgeous films, there's no scene that stands out quite like the one of Lightning and gal pal Sally driving through the country in the first movie. There's not even a catchy enough song like "Life is a Highway."
One of the film's biggest disappointments is that it plays out exactly how you imagine. It's clear there's no way Lightning McQueen is ever going to be as fast as the newer, sleeker, high-tech cars. He just has to accept that and find a way to be happy with it. And when you see a special trick move occur late in the film, you know that's going to be seen again later as "the move" that helps get a character out of a tight space.
If you're looking for an enjoyable outing with the family for Father's day, "Cars 3" should leave both parents and kids satisfied. And stay after the credits for the smallest of post-credits scenes. It doesn't tease any future sequels since it's more of an additional tag to an earlier scene. If you're not a big Mater fan, you won't feel bad skipping out.
But with the studio's current focus on several sequels to big hits ("The Incredibles 2" and "Toy Story 4"), Pixar may have more in common than it realizes with McQueen. Its golden years appear to be over.
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