CarsMovie Reviews

Poster art for "Cars."

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Avg. Critic Score: 73 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
5 OK for kids 5+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 91
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    A work of American art as classic as it is modern. Note to tourists: Leave before the very end of the credits and you'll miss some of the best and funniest roadside sights. Read full review

  • 90
    Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan

    What's surprising about this supremely engaging film is the source of its curb appeal: It has heart. Read full review

  • 88
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    What Cars teaches is how to blend brash comedy with technical astonishments so that each enhances the other. I can't imagine who wouldn't want to test-drive this one. Like the promos say, "It's got that new-movie smell." Read full review

  • 80
    Washington Post | Stephen Hunter

    The Pixar people have an extreme talent for conjuring imagery that is both soaring in its majesty but also resonant -- it's a stylization but acute enough to carry emotional meaning. Read full review

  • 80
    The Hollywood Reporter | Michael Rechtshaffen

    It might not be way up there in "The Incredibles"/"Finding Nemo"/"Toy Story" stratosphere, but the charming Cars is nevertheless a thoroughly pleasant way to mark Pixar Animation Studios' 20th anniversary. Read full review

  • 75
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Cars is a classic American tale firing on all cylinders and fueled by organic emotion and a lively sense of adventure. Read full review

  • 75
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    I wouldn't have thought that even in animation a 1951 Hudson Hornet could look simultaneously like itself and like Paul Newman, but you will witness that feat, and others, in Cars. Read full review

  • 70
    Variety | Brian Lowry

    Periodic bursts of cleverness brighten the festivities, but they're too few and far between, and the trademark humor that appeals to adults and kids often misfires. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    Curiously and unexpectedly, the movie brings on a suffocating feeling of constraint. It's a consequence of seeing characters with such terribly limited mobility. Read full review

  • 40
    The New York Times | Manohla Dargis

    Both in its ingratiating vibe and bland execution, Cars is nothing if not totally, disappointingly new-age Disney. Read full review

View more reviews for Cars on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 5+ Pixar comedy is full of four-wheeled fun.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that the car characters do some pretty raucous racing, careening off walls, trees, and each other. A group of The Fast and the Furious-style vehicles briefly threaten another car. Cars argue with one another, lose their tempers, and look sad or lonely. There's some innocent flirtation between boy and girl cars. Some mild language -- at least one use of "hell." At 116 minutes, it's on the long side for animation and may be too much for some really little kids. But stick around for the closing credits!
  • Families can talk about the relationship between the old cars and the newer ones. They have different values. How does the film set up a choice between the current era (selfishness, commercial and celebrity culture run rampant) and a more ethical-seeming past (Doc embodies patience, skill, and dedication to community)?
  • How does Lightning learn to appreciate and also, conveniently, enhance that simpler life?
The good stuff
  • message true3 Positive messages: Characters learn to appreciate one another's differences.; some race and ethnic stereotypes.
  • rolemodels true3 Positive role models: Lightening learns the importance of appreciating the differences in everyone.
What to watch for
  • violence false0 Violence and scariness: Car falls off his transport truck, briefly faces "gang" of cars; rip-roaring chase through small town leaves road torn up.
  • sex false0 Sexy stuff: Chaste flirting between boy and girl cars.
  • language false0 Language: Use of the word "hell."
  • consumerism false4 Consumerism: An enormous amount of merchandise associated with Cars, including toys, food products, and consumer goods. Within the movie Goodyear tires and NASCAR are featured.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false0 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Not an issue
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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