Post by Rolent Tex on Jun 24, 2017 2:42:57 GMT -5
Didn't see an older thread so guess I'll start one. Took the family to see it Wednesday. It wasn't as dark a the original trailers made it look but I did think it was a million times better than Cars 2 and had a lot more heart than that one did. Although I still have to shake my head at one of the complaints my wife came across...
(followed by me spoiling most of the movie...because I have a feeling a lot here won't catch it in theaters anyways)
All in all I think it did a good job capping the trilogy. Then again, I thought the same about Toy Story 3 so I guess if it banks I shouldn't be shocked if they do another.
(followed by me spoiling most of the movie...because I have a feeling a lot here won't catch it in theaters anyways)
{Spoiler}{Spoiler}...because OMFG they replaced a male character in Lightning McQueen and replaced him with a female oh noes! That's not even what happened. People need to knock that shit off.
The story starts with things as they have been when Jackson Storm takes the racing world by *cough*storm*cough* and starts racking up an insane amount of wins. Slowly race cars following Storm's lead enter the races and the old style race cars slowly retire until basically Lightning is left. He's so obsessed with beating Storm that he pushes himself in the last race of the season, blows a tire and wrecks out.
After some soul searching (including flashbacks with unused lines from Cars 1 with Paul Newman as Doc, Lightning decides to return. He informs his sponsors at Rusteze and they tell him to come to their new state of the art training center. He wonders how they could afford it. Turns out they sold the company to Sterling (Nathan Fillion). He claims he's a big Lightning fan but turns out he's more interested in turning him into a brand then him actually racing. After seeing how poorly his training goes with Cruz Ramirez, he wants him to retire. Lightning begs for one more race and if he wins, he decides to hang it up. If he loses, he'll retire and shill whatever Sterling wants him to.
Lightning drags Cruz to old school tracks which ends up with them in the middle of a demolition derby that Cruz accidentally wins. An annoyed Lightning treats her badly which leads us to finding out she didn't grow up wanting to be a trainer. She grew up watching Lightning race and wanted to be a racer. No one believed in her including her family and when she finally got her chance to race, she lost faith in herself, gave up on her dream and became a trainer.
After making up, the two, Luigi and Guido travel to find Doc's trainer Smokey...if he's even still alive. Turns out he is and Lightning tells him he needs his help and doesn't want to end up like Doc did after leaving racing. Doc didn't talk to Smokey for 50 years after he left until letters started rolling in. Smokey shows Lightning the wall of letters including lots of photos of Lightning's races. Turns out Doc loved being his trainer and was proud of him. In the last training that Smokey and Doc's old friends put him through, Cruz (role playing as Storm) beat Lightning in a race which made him question his chances to win.
Fast forward to the race. Smokey helps Lightning as his pit chief. Sterling gets angry at Cruz and demands she return to the training center. Lightning realizes he can't beat Storm and tells Smokey he needs Cruz back at the race immediately. They call her back and Mater backs Sterling off. Lightning pulls in for a pit stop. Guido goes to change Lightning's tires, but he stops him and tells him to put them on Cruz. It turns out that it doesn't matter which car finishes the race, just if the number is the same. After Ramon gives her a quick paint job she enters the race after Lightning talks her into it.
Lightning ends up taking over as her pit crew chief after Smokey turned it over to him. She slowly worked her way up into the top 5 when Storm hit the brakes and got into her head. He got her to doubt herself and she started to lose ground. Lightning told her that he only did that because she's the one that got into his head. Before Storm knows it, Cruz is drifting behind him taunting him. This angers Storm which causes him to slam Cruz into the wall to try and wreck her out. She remembered a story that Smokey told them about how Doc dealt with a cocky rookie back in the day in the same scenario. Cruz copies the trick and flips off the wall over Storm and speeds ahead to win the race. They announce Cruz and Lightning as co-winners which means Lightning won his bet with Sterling an a technicality.
Tex brings on Cruz as a member of Dinoco's racing team and then buys Rusteze from Sterling allowing Lightning to race as long as he wishes. The movie ends with everyone gathered to watch Lightning and Cruz have a friendly race. Cruz in her Dinoco colors and Lightning with a new paint job in honor of his new mentor ship of Cruz...a Doc style "Fabulous Lightning McQueen" paint job.
The story starts with things as they have been when Jackson Storm takes the racing world by *cough*storm*cough* and starts racking up an insane amount of wins. Slowly race cars following Storm's lead enter the races and the old style race cars slowly retire until basically Lightning is left. He's so obsessed with beating Storm that he pushes himself in the last race of the season, blows a tire and wrecks out.
After some soul searching (including flashbacks with unused lines from Cars 1 with Paul Newman as Doc, Lightning decides to return. He informs his sponsors at Rusteze and they tell him to come to their new state of the art training center. He wonders how they could afford it. Turns out they sold the company to Sterling (Nathan Fillion). He claims he's a big Lightning fan but turns out he's more interested in turning him into a brand then him actually racing. After seeing how poorly his training goes with Cruz Ramirez, he wants him to retire. Lightning begs for one more race and if he wins, he decides to hang it up. If he loses, he'll retire and shill whatever Sterling wants him to.
Lightning drags Cruz to old school tracks which ends up with them in the middle of a demolition derby that Cruz accidentally wins. An annoyed Lightning treats her badly which leads us to finding out she didn't grow up wanting to be a trainer. She grew up watching Lightning race and wanted to be a racer. No one believed in her including her family and when she finally got her chance to race, she lost faith in herself, gave up on her dream and became a trainer.
After making up, the two, Luigi and Guido travel to find Doc's trainer Smokey...if he's even still alive. Turns out he is and Lightning tells him he needs his help and doesn't want to end up like Doc did after leaving racing. Doc didn't talk to Smokey for 50 years after he left until letters started rolling in. Smokey shows Lightning the wall of letters including lots of photos of Lightning's races. Turns out Doc loved being his trainer and was proud of him. In the last training that Smokey and Doc's old friends put him through, Cruz (role playing as Storm) beat Lightning in a race which made him question his chances to win.
Fast forward to the race. Smokey helps Lightning as his pit chief. Sterling gets angry at Cruz and demands she return to the training center. Lightning realizes he can't beat Storm and tells Smokey he needs Cruz back at the race immediately. They call her back and Mater backs Sterling off. Lightning pulls in for a pit stop. Guido goes to change Lightning's tires, but he stops him and tells him to put them on Cruz. It turns out that it doesn't matter which car finishes the race, just if the number is the same. After Ramon gives her a quick paint job she enters the race after Lightning talks her into it.
Lightning ends up taking over as her pit crew chief after Smokey turned it over to him. She slowly worked her way up into the top 5 when Storm hit the brakes and got into her head. He got her to doubt herself and she started to lose ground. Lightning told her that he only did that because she's the one that got into his head. Before Storm knows it, Cruz is drifting behind him taunting him. This angers Storm which causes him to slam Cruz into the wall to try and wreck her out. She remembered a story that Smokey told them about how Doc dealt with a cocky rookie back in the day in the same scenario. Cruz copies the trick and flips off the wall over Storm and speeds ahead to win the race. They announce Cruz and Lightning as co-winners which means Lightning won his bet with Sterling an a technicality.
Tex brings on Cruz as a member of Dinoco's racing team and then buys Rusteze from Sterling allowing Lightning to race as long as he wishes. The movie ends with everyone gathered to watch Lightning and Cruz have a friendly race. Cruz in her Dinoco colors and Lightning with a new paint job in honor of his new mentor ship of Cruz...a Doc style "Fabulous Lightning McQueen" paint job.
All in all I think it did a good job capping the trilogy. Then again, I thought the same about Toy Story 3 so I guess if it banks I shouldn't be shocked if they do another.