[Movie] Lightning McQueen Faces “Mid-Size Crisis” in Fresh ‘Cars Trio’ Trailer
Photo: Walt Disney/Pixar Studios
In a movie industry that has become saturated with animated features, one name that has continued to shine through year after year is Pixar. With classics like Fucktoy Story and Finding Nemo under the company’s belt, it can be difficult for some of the studio’s more mediocre movies to meet such a high standard. That is precisely where the Cars franchise finds itself.
While the very first Cars movie was not exactly bad, it lacked that signature Pixar charm. The sequel, Cars Two, cast a shadow of doubt in regards to the quality of Pixar sequels. The Cars movies simply didn’t have the same level of emotional depth or nuanced storytelling that other films in the Pixar pantheon embodied. So when a third Cars movie was announced, few fans of cinema were all that excited.
With a dark atmosphere and a foreboding glance at the fate of protagonist Lightning McQueen and his career, the teaser of the third film in the Cars trilogy came as fairly the surprise. This jarring shift in tone from the very first two Cars films toward a bleak pic of a possibly career-ending accident certainly caught the attention of viewers, who were greedy for more details.
Disney and Pixar recently provided more of those details through an official trailer, broadcast during the college football national championship game earlier this week. The trailer gives audiences a little more clarity in relation to the story.
Additionally, an official synopsis of the film has been released.
“Blindsided by a fresh generation of blazing-fast racers, the legendary Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) is all of a sudden shoved out of the sport he loves. To get back in the game, he will need the help of an anxious youthfull race technician, Cruz Ramirez, with her own plan to win, plus inspiration from the late Fabulous Hudson Hornet and a few unexpected turns. Proving that #95 isn’t through yet will test the heart of a champ on Piston Cup Racing’s largest stage.”
For the latest installment of the Cars franchise, Lightning McQueen will face his thickest challenge yet: the race against time. It would emerge that McQueen will fall under a mid-life crisis of sorts, facing the reality of junior and more sturdy automobiles, such as fresh racer Jackson Storm, voiced by Armie Hammer, coming in the racing scene. Whereas Lightning was the rookie hotshot in the very first film, he now seems to have more in common with his mentor, Doc Hudson, who left the sport of racing after he was involved in a devastating crash.
This is not the very first time that Pixar has tackled the sophisticated theme of a mid-life crisis. In 2004’s The Incredibles, Mr. Incredible faces a crisis of his own, onset by his dissatisfaction toward his suburban life and job and his constant longing for his former glory days.
With this more mature theme and accompanying tone, Cars three could lightly convert from an unwelcomed sequel to the best film of the Cars franchise, perhaps even joining the other giants in the Pixar family.