Back in 2006 when Cars first came out, I was taking a class at my alma mater on Pixar in the arts. One of my final assignments before I graduated was a critique of the film in terms of artistic and theatrical merits. I came to the conclusion that, while visually expanding the skills of the Pixar team, the movie was less than powerful as a story. Sure, there was the basic story of the main character on the high road to stardom finally stopping to smell the roses and the old, wise man who convinced him to slow down, but unlike most Pixar movies, there was nothing "more." Sure, I grew to respect it more over the years, but it never hit me in the way many other Pixar films did.
Fast foward to 2017. We will ignore Cars 2 (2011) because it was just a disaster. But, what about Cars 3? I went into the movie with low expectations after the Cars 2 fiasco. But, my kids wanted to see it, and it would be fun for nostalgia's sake. What I found though was nothing short of a Pixar masterpiece. A movie that pushes the boundaries by incorporating realistic-looking scenery for the first time in a Pixar feature film. A movie that, on the surface, is about an older racer who crashes and wants to keep up with the newer generation of racers, but also a movie with surprising feminist themes. I won't give away spoilers, but I was so happy to have taken my children to see it. It's fun for adults, but more importantly, it's a feminist movie that my preschooler daughter can understand and that my 2 boys are more than willing to watch time and time again.
If you have children, take them to see this one. You won't be disappointed.
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