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I was surprised to see Cars listed as one of the ones that people generally hate. I’m a little biased because my son absolutely adored that movie, and I have fo
by freetime2 3y ago
I was surprised to see Cars listed as one of the ones that people generally hate. I’m a little biased because my son absolutely adored that movie, and I have fond memories of him taking his Lightning McQueen toy around with him everywhere. But over many repeated watchings both my wife and I agreed it was a quality production.
It has a good cast with Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt, Paul Newman, and even Larry the Cable Guy puts in a pretty decent performance. The minor characters are charming, too (including George Carlin and Cheech Marin).
The story is fairly timeless and reminiscent of Doc Hollywood. I don’t know how they manage to make it work so well with anthropomorphic cars, but somehow they do. The main character has a good arc, and there’s a good amount of nostalgia. I don’t think I ever cried, but I definitely felt something - which is more than I can say for the Cars sequels.
Would I go and watch it now without kids? No. But Pixar put out a movie that entertained kids and adults alike. Earned $462 million at the box office. Made an absolute killing in merchandise sales (and I thought the toys were pretty high quality, especially the die cast Tomica cars here in Japan). I have a lot of respect for what they were able to do with Cars. Not so much for the sequels, though.
They also call Monsters University a mediocre sequel, but I tend to prefer it over Monsters Inc. Pretty much for the same reasons as Cars - good cast, timeless story reminiscent of Revenge of the Nerds, and my kids loved it.
- agumonkey 3y agoNever watched Monsters Univ. but Monsters Inc. left me somehow speechless. There's a subtle yet relentless crescendo in that screenplay that robbed my brain until the last second.
- coldpie 3y agoGive it a watch! I think University is very slightly more enjoyable to watch, possibly because the universe is already established from the first movie so it can move a little faster. But yeah, both are absolutely stellar films.
- epiccoleman 3y agoI'm astonished by this opinion, I think Monsters Inc. is a wildly better movie. University is fine but frankly nothing special - although the plot points involving Mike realizing he's just not scary, and the ultimate resolution where he realizes he makes an awesome director/manager for Sulley, is a pretty good moral.
- coldpie 3y agoHaha! It's been a while since I've seen either. My recollection is University was just nonstop good jokes, while Inc rolls a bit slower. I certainly wouldn't argue with someone who prefers Inc, though! Both are fantastic :)
- diogenescynic 3y agoI have a three year old and I can barely stand watching the Monsters University movie but Monsters Inc is easy to rewatch.
- c_crank 3y agoIn the same way the author says that people would hate Up without the first ten minutes, I think a lot more people would enjoy Cars if the first ten minutes were removed. The opening is really heavy on the advertising and low on the story beats and themes compared to the rest of the movie.
- CoolestBeans 3y agoCars is often hated because kids absolutely adored it, Disney is wringing as much profit out of that IP as possible, and I think the part of that movie that is for adults is not as upfront and center as it is for Pixar's previous work. The obvious message of the movie "winning isn't everything" seems like childish moral pablum. But like many Pixar films of that era, the principal message is a more adult idea: that satisfaction in life is not attained by traditional metrics of success. Competition has its place but the rich experiences in life are not necessarily where the spotlight is. Maybe that too seems like a "well duh" lesson for kids but man there's a lot of adults who don't get that out there.