Why all the hate for Cars?

[Red_Barchetta]

@crazyjoe

Seriously?

I said it in jest. I’m sorry if you took that literally, as I thought my “practically” was sufficient. At any rate. StrassiaGuest summed up most of the similarities quite well.

[crazyjoe]

@Strassia

It isn’t really a shot for shot remake, but is a lot more than a movie with a similar theme:
An opening montage showing what a hot shot the lead is followed by a scene showing how dissatisfied he is and setting up a need to get cross country in a hurry. Then after a scenic drive including comedic hazards, the lead messes up a small town and pisses off a judge without it really being his fault. Then he is sentenced to community service in the town where he is mentored by someone from an earlier generation(who takes an instant dislike to him to begin with) and falls in love with the most sophisticated person in the town(who also takes an initial dislike to him). He comes to love the town and the townfolk come to love him. He is sent on his way to California and glory but needs the help of the curmudgeonly older mentor to get what he came for. In the end he realizes that he belongs in that small town after all.

A scenic drive? A mentor (I mean, in the whole movie he never even listened to Doc Hudson once, and was ousted before the relationship actually had a chance to develop). That’s stretching it a bit, but I definitely agree that there are a ton of similarities between the two movies. However, most of these tropes are tried and true ideas, and it is not all that unexpected for someone to string several of them together to make very similar movies more than once. Hell, how many times have we seen the “grizzled old cop gets a new partner” movie?

I have a 2 year old and have watched this movie way more than I would have chosen to.  It is not that bad, but besides the fact that it follows a predictable story line and the world makes no logical sense (there are car babies at the big race and the cars can run out of gas and the only thing that stops are their wheels, etc.) neither of which are really big issues for in a movie for kids, there is one big thing I dislike about this movie.  I don't like the current trend of stunt casting voices in these movies.  Pixar has been better than many, but of the Pixar movies this one is the worst.  In a cartoon about cars, I would prefer not to recognize the voices and have the face interfere with what I am seeing.  If the voice actor can not fully inhabit the character, they should not be a voice actor.  I would never claim that Tim Allen was a better actor than Tom Hanks, but he did a better job in Toy Story.  It takes me out an animated movie when I can "see" the actor behind the character.  In this movie Tony Shaloub and Michael Keaton did a great job, but Owen Wilson, Cheech Maron, and Paul Newman all took me out of the movie.  Even Larry the Cable Guy was doing ok until he had to throw in his "git-r-done" at the race track.  Before that I was buying him as a character.  After that, I all saw was the stand up comedian.  

How funny, I also have a 2 year old and see this movie a lot. I actually enjoy some of the stuntcasting, particularly since most of them are involved in racing/auto culture in some way. The CarTalk guys, the Nascar announcers, Andretti, Schumacher, Petty, Newman…they all have ties to the car culture, and I think it’s neat to see them all involved in this fairly light movie. I have fun spotting the more adult references, like when the twins flash their “Headlights” at McQueen, or the small “beetles” flying around at the Wheel Well Motel.

I definitely agree that it lacks the depth of Finding Nemo, or the Incredibles, but I have no problem appreciating it for what it is.

[crazyjoe]

@Argent_Towers

No, it is not a car movie, made for car people. It is a “classic American car” movie made for “classic American car” people. I’m a car person; I just prefer European and Japanese cars.

They put a throwaway in there for guys like you…when the FnF wanabe cars toyed with Mack during the drive to California, most of those were little japanese numbers, with the exception of “Snot Rod.”

[cmkeller]

I love Cars, although as an avid road-tripper, I an thrilled, thrilled, thrilled that we have interstates that do not require me to use one-lane “highways” with speed-trap towns every dozen miles. So thumbs-down for the nostalgia, but major thumbs-up for the scenery - I could watch over and over and over again just the part where Rascal Flatts sings “Life is a Highway” over Mack’s driving Lightning to California - and the theme - that having class is more important than, and will ultimately get you father in life than, winning - hits a high note with me as well. One of my sons is so ultra-competitive, it’s next to impossible to get him to give in on any point in order to be nice to someone. The lesson that Lightning McQueen learns in the movie is one I keep trying to get across to him, and it’s nice to see a movie that echoes it.

[LC_Strawhouse]

It felt like a glorified commercial (with inside jokes sprinkled throughout), intended to get kids hooked on Nascar. I have no interest in Nascar at all.

[DrDeth]

I had a very unscientific poll tonight, with all 6 dudes voting Cars as the worst Pixar and TS2 as next (one was dithering which of the two was the worst, two had not seen all of them, but had seen Cars). Incredibles was the fave.

[JThunder]

Personally, I cannot wrap my mind around the concept of “the worst Pixar movie.” Some of them may be more flawed that others, but in my book, they’re all pretty darned good.

[running_coach]

@JThunder

Personally, I cannot wrap my mind around the concept of “the worst Pixar movie.” Some of them may be more flawed that others, but in my book, they’re all pretty darned good.

10th in a list of the top ten animated films ever made ( ) is still rather good.

[HeadNinja]

@Argent_Towers

MrDibble - how about Armour, a movie about suits of armour in a museum that come alive at night?

Your pitch is too long. It’s Cars Meets Night At the Museum!

I would be first in line with my eight year old. It would pull at least 250 million in domestic gross. And can you imagine how suits of armor would do in merchandising? The Halloween costumes alone would pull in twenty five million in revenue. Throw in a couple of princess dresses and you are looking at an even fifty. Get thee to Hollywood.

[blondebear]

@DrDeth

I had a very unscientific poll tonight, with all 6 dudes voting Cars as the worst Pixar…

Dude here. I voted Cars #3.

[blondebear]

Oops, I thought you were referring to the other thread.

[control-z]

I liked the movie and loved the scenery, so much so that I got the Blu-Ray version. I still think the eyes of the car characters should have been the headlights, not the windshield.

[MaxTheVool]

Cars is definitely my least favorite Pixar movie, for some of the reasons mentioned here, although not all. How the cars exist at all and what the rules are of their universe, I was able to suspend disbelief for. But I was definitely irritated by the sentimentality of the message. Yes, small towns died. But more or less precisely that same sort of thing has been happening for centuries… one type of town/business/whatever is economically viable, and a bunch of culture grows up around it, and then things change. And not only did the route 66 towns themselves replace something previous, but also there are real, sentiment-worthy benefits to having interstates, like grandmothers who get to visit their grandchildren more often, etc.

But the real problem is just that they left out the funny. The film is certainly well made and everything, and far from a BAD movie on any objective scale, but it just isn’t entertaining enough. It doesn’t have enough jokes/fun moments/cool bits/whatever.

[FoieGrasIsEvil]

@Snickers

Love Cars. Love love love it. It’s not my favorite (that would be Monsters, Inc., I think), but it’s up there. Certainly above Wall-E or Ratatouille.

It’s a car movie, made for car people. And clearly, not a ton of people are car people. But for those who are, it’s perfect. I grew up watching open wheel racing (CART, not NASCAR), and the racing scenes are letter perfect with lots of touches that, did you not know racing, you’d never miss. But for those who do know racing, they’re essential. Couple that with the nostalgia and loss themes and Paul Newman, and bingo bango - awesome.

Love Cars.

I am with you. I liked Cars quite a bit but still think that Monsters, Inc is my favorite Pixar flick. Probably because Billy Crystal is brilliant in that movie.

My favorite scene from Cars is right after Lightning has fixed the road and all the cars go cruising to the tune of “Sh-Boom” with all the neon lights, etc. Awesome.

[Cyberhwk]

@olivesmarch4th

It took me a while to get into the storyline, but the whole Route 66 concept was very moving. When they showed the montage of the cars preparing for the opening of Route 66 and all their hopeful faces as the anticipated new visitors (which never showed), I burst into tears. I couldn’t help it. They did a really good job of painting that tragedy.

I hate Larry the Cable Guy and don’t know a damn thing about cars other than I need to shell out another $25 every 5,000 miles according to the little book.

…and I’m glad I wasn’t the only one. Their heartbreak over the situation and grief over the eminent death of their town was palpable. And damn that James Taylor!!!

[Miller]

Put me down as another who didn’t care for it. I’m not a big car guy, and I don’t have a lot of nostalgia for the Route 66 era. On the other hand, I’m not much for gourmet dining, but I loved Ratatouille, so I don’t think that explains everything.

I had trouble getting past the setting, too. I’m not sure why, because really, you can poke a lot of the same sort of logical holes in most Pixar movies. It’s just easier to do with Cars, because it gives you something to do while you’re waiting for the damn thing to end. My favorite was the VW van with the little license plate chin beard. A person walking around sporting a serial number brings up a lot of really bad connotations, if you follow my meaning. Especially when it’s on a Volkswagon!

Lovely scenery, though. Easily the best part of the movie.

[AndrewL]

It started with the preview trailers for me. The visual appearance and animation of the talking cars was, to me, just too freaky and off-putting. I don’t know why I have no trouble accepting the appearance of premise of talking toys, fish, or rats, yet find the talking cars both disturbing and to raise far too many questions. I also found the main characters to all be really, really annoying at least as portrayed in the previews, and that didn’t change from what I saw of the movie.

It doesn’t help that I’m missing all of the nostalgia and fandom themes in the movie. I’m not a car guy, have no route 66 nostalgia, and am not a fan of nascar. That doesn’t leave much for me to like in the movie.