
Lightning McQueen is about to win the race by several car lengths, when 'The King' is wrecked badly by Hicks. However during the race he denies tire changes from his pit crew, requesting only gas Lightning McQueen is running in the race to win the 2005 Piston Cup, with the incentive that the winner would be a great candidate for Dinoco's new mascot - their old mascot, Strip Weathers, is retiring. However, he is also something of a perfectionist, and will not cease to get something done right even if it wasn't in his best interest to indulge in it in the first place, as seen when he was tasked by the townscars to fix the road that he himself destroyed when he first arrived at their place. Lightning McQueen is selfish, arrogant, and over-confident as he believes that he can win the Piston Cup on his own without help from any pit crews or coach. He is voiced by Owen Wilson in both films. In Cars, McQueen is a rookie racer, tied with Chick Hicks and The King for the points lead in the Piston Cup stock car racing circuit. One more thing: If you’re intimidated by the movie’s running time, note that the feature is preceded by a short, “Lou,” which is very sweet and charming, and also that, as is customary with a Pixar movie, the end credits take a while.Lightning McQueen is the protagonist of the Disney/Pixar 2006feature film Cars, and the deuteragonist in its 2011 sequel.Ĭlick here to watch his videos /playlist?list=PLRy6kr0DftbdTeiqeATRXRXrKCDulW3lZ
#LIGHTNING MCQUEEN CAR MOVIE#
As someone who was nearly traumatized by “Toy Story 3” and reduced to a sniveling wreck by much of “Inside Out,” I welcome the occasional Pixar movie that doesn’t morph me into a quivering jelly mound.Īnd the lessons are right-on, for adults as well as children. It all builds to a climax that’s entirely satisfying and not particularly overwhelming. But the Cruz-Lightning dynamic eventually evolves into a genuine friendship that has a lot of appeal.Īlong the way, entertaining set pieces, such as a visit to a demolition derby gone wrong, and an evening trading war stories with a group of older racecars headed by Doc Hudson’s guru, a truck named Smokey (voiced by Chris Cooper), keep the story humming quite comfortably. That may strike some as a little patronizing. Because the “Cars” franchise has been Lightning’s story, the male lead is, by that logic, the initial force moving the female-empowerment theme. In a quiet but ultimately forceful way, “Cars 3” makes a case against sexism and for the joys of mentorship. Lightning begins to realize that maybe he really is too old to be a champion on the track anymore - so what’s next? And Cruz reveals her thwarted ambition to be a racer, a dream she abandoned out of fear the first time she was told to take her shot. It’s here that the movie’s pedagogic mode starts, gently, to kick in. Acting on those memories, Lightning eventually persuades Cruz to get out and train with him, old-school style, at a nearby beach. Lightning frequently flashes back to the advice and companionship of his old mentor, Doc Hudson (voiced by the great Paul Newman in the first “Cars” movie in 2006, two years before his death, and who is again heard here). There’s a mild paradox that this entirely digital movie waxes so nostalgic for analog-age stuff: Art Deco diners, big-knob radios, funky garages.

This brash rookie, who is voiced with apt smarm by Armie Hammer, oozes, “I can’t believe I get to race Lightning McQueen in his farewell season.” Lightning notes that it’s not his farewell season and … well, you get the idea.įor a while, the movie is content to poke mild fun at America’s enthusiasm for trendy self-help bromides and computer-age enhancement technology. Except he doesn’t win - he’s beaten by a new, sleek, black-with-purple-highlights racer by the name of Jackson Storm.
#LIGHTNING MCQUEEN CAR ZIP#
It begins predictably, with the cheerful, cherry red Lightning McQueen (voiced with the usual winning pep by Owen Wilson) about to zip across another finish line in first place.

But if you can roll with it, the movie is both breezy fun and a pain-free life lesson delivery vehicle. Fee), isn’t going to win any converts among those with an animus toward talking cars. “Cars 3,” directed by Brian Fee from a script by Kiel Murray, Bob Peterson and Mike Rich (the story is credited to a whole other pit crew that includes Mr. There are some who think Pixar should aim for awe-inspiring every time, because why not? Then there are crankier critics who will point out that driverless talking cars just aren’t terribly interesting, and can be a little goofy. The conventional reviewers’ wisdom about Pixar’s “Cars” movies is that they are colorful and engaging but hardly as breathtaking as much of the other output from that animation studio.
