Merrick here (still looking for the perfect tag line...)
There has been a great deal of positive buzz for Pixar's CARS since its recent screening at ShoWest.
Sherlock Jr sent in a different take on the film. He says it's a handsome movie, but has some issues he hopes can be addressed before the final cut is released.
As I mentioned before, I'm on the fence about whether or not this movie will actually work. Talking cars shouldn't be any harder to swallow than talking toys or talking fish. But this whole shebang feels a bit...forced...to me, and I can’t quite put my finger on it.
Maybe it’s because toys and fish have a certain magical quality to them that cars simply don’t have. It’s easy for us to imagine toys and fish having lives and adventures of their own, whereas cars…are just cars…to a vast majority of people. They don’t engender any particular wonder. I don’t know…just thinking out loud.
Here’s what Sherlock Jr had to say…
CARS is stunning to look at and reaches new heights on a technological level. But by the very fact that it is about cars rather than toys, cute furry creatures or pretty fish, it also isn't as emotionally involving as previous Pixar films.
Part of the fault is with the opening of the film. We have just seen a wonderful Chuck Jones-like teaser for RATATOUIE and the sentimental and funny ONE MAN'S BAND. Then on comes an incredibly loud, jarring and in some ways scary, lengthy opening sequence at a car race. It is all noise, fast-hard racing metal vehicles zooming over and around us. The image of a huge race track stadium filled with cheering fans...all cars...is beautiful and brought smiles. But the sequence seemed to create a distance from many viewers as character development was yet to come.
When we do meet the heroes and villains they are engaging and we start to get into it. The trek across the Southwest features nature's rugged beauty in contrast to man's slick creations rushing along the interstate and ignoring the scenery. When our hero Lightning McQueen gets lost, is arrested for speeding and is rescued by the vehicles that inhabit the near-ghost town of Radiator Springs, we finally become involved. The invention here is magnificent and often very funny.
This is what Pixar does best, developing characters that enchant and surprise us. The audience sympathizes with these small town motor vehicles more than McQueen because they are honest and genuine whereas Lightning is cocky. But he learns his lessons about friendship, family and the other things in life that matter besides just winning the big race. His punishment for speeding is to help repair the broken up street of the town forgotten by tourists when the interstate bypassed this one-time popular stop on Route 66. But this is where the film's other problem occurs. Our visit to Radiator Springs in waaaay tooo looong. The audience was restless. I heard people whisper, "Just get the asphalt repaired already."
This middle section needs to be tightened. The 3rd act, when the town comes back to life with dozens of wonderful neon signs lighting up is magical and the highlight, before the final big race.
I kept wondering how they could leave out a drive-in movie theater in this homage to everything about automobiles but I was finally rewarded and understood why its introduction was left to the final part of the film.
The film is full of visual delights and almost hidden "in jokes." The entire end credit sequences have surprises and mini film tributes to past Pixar features with a car theme added. Audiences will stay keep their seat belts on until the lights come up as something happens as the very last second of celluloid passes through the projector.
I spoke with numerous exhibitors who liked it a lot but also stated repeatedly that it was too long and got really bogged down in Radiator Springs. The comment about shortening that segment was said by almost everyone.
The film will be improved by judicious editing.
In his live introduction, John Lasseter told how the film was inspired by his own family road trip. He was also proud of the film being "G" rated. It is solidly in that category now that fart jokes are acceptable for general audiences. Still, several parents of young children were worried their kids might be scared by the violently loud audio-visual assault of the opening race.
Expect CARS to be a big hit regardless as the core Pixar audience will be there and the added bonus of every car fan in the world. But as it is now, there may be some mixed critical reaction and repeat business might not be as strong as past Pixar efforts. I also won't be surprised if some environmentalists challenge the movie for not finding a way to offer a message about our over-dependence on cars and fuel.
