Lightning Queen has a lot of miles on the clock — but don’t rule the old pro out of the race just yet
Lightning McQueen is back on the big screen in Disney-Pixar’s Cars Three, but he’s not a rookie anymore. Blindsided by a fresh generation of blazing-fast racers, the champ finds himself all of a sudden shoved out of the sport he loves. Cars three features the voices of Owen Wilson, Cristela Alonzo, Armie Hammer and Kerry Washington
Director Brian Fee
Starring Owen Wilson, Cristela Alonzo, Chris Cooper
Running time one hundred nine minutes
Verdict Classic model, total tank
FOR a hot-shot race car, Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) has an awful lot of miles on the clock.
After ten gruelling years on the circuit, it’s little wonder that he’s showcasing signs of wear and rip.
Pixar’s screenwriters address their leading man’s challenges directly in this highly-polished three-quel, which runs like a well-maintained classic.
But there’s no disguising the fact that as a franchise, Cars Three has reached the end of its road.
When the film opens, our ageing hero is blindsided by a technologically-advanced prompt car named Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer) who trains on a simulator and races like, well, a machine.
Lightning McQueen comebacks in Cars three but is showcasing predictable signs of age. Picture: Disney-Pixar
Determined to get back in the game, McQueen employs the services of an irrepressible youthful trainer named Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo).
After denting more than his pride in a sobering encounter with the fresh technology, McQueen goes rogue — training Ramirez about the finer points of off-track racing along the way.
His methods are old school and so is the storytelling, which is what ultimately saves Cars Three.
The relationship inbetween the fading legend and Ramirez echoes that of McQueen and his grizzled mentor Doc Hudson, played by the late Paul Newman and recalled here in flashback.
The difference, and it’s an organic one, relates to gender.
Unlike her cocky, supercharged offsider, the one thing Ramirez lacks is self-belief.
Their relationship develops naturally, at an unhurried rhythm. And it has all the requisite elements for a satisfying pay-off.
Jackson Storm (voiced by Armie Hammer) is the next generation that is menacing Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson). Picture: Disney-Pixar
There are cameo appearances by Mater (Larry the Cable Stud), Sally (Bonnie Hunt), Luigi (Tony Shalhoub) and the rest of the McQueen’s wonderfully dysfunctional gang back at Radiator Springs.
And a joy sequence in which McQueen turns up to race, incognito, at a rundown track called Thunder Hollow — only to detect that it’s been turned into a demolition derby predominated by a devastating school bus named Miss Fritter (Lea DeLaria.)
The dust cup tavern at which Doc’s crusty repair truck (Chris Cooper) and fellow racers relive their past glories is a individual favourite — albeit I am not sure how junior audiences will feel about the old-timers’ reminiscences.
Returning to the iconic, backroads nostalgia of the original film, Cars Trio puts the flashy, unpopular middle film squarely in its rear vision mirror.
The route the filmmakers take might be familiar, but after gunning it, they take the corners like pros.
Cars three is now showcasing (opens June 22).
Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is down but not out in Cars Three.