Shiny and slight, Cars 3 has approximately 600 racing scenes and 200 training montages. Or maybe it’s vice versa. They all—like the colors once a race gets underway—tend to blur together. This makes Cars 3, in which an aging Lightning McQueen must contend with a new generation of high-tech challengers, the first Pixar movie to feel tedious. It’s also rare for the studio in that it seems only interested in speaking to kids, with little of the comedic sophistication or thematic resonance that appeals to grownups. There is undeniable animated artistry in the details here, especially the landscapes, but it’s in service of an assembly-line product.
