New to On Demand: Cars 3

Cars 3 © 2017 Disney/Pixar All Rights Reserved

New to On Demand: Cars 3

Everything changes over time. Coca-Cola became New Coke and then went back to being Coca-Cola again. DVD became Blu-ray, and we moved from standard definition to high definition. In most cases, change is a good thing as innovation leads the way. But in the film Cars 3, what happens when the competitors in the Piston Cup racing series seem to have moved beyond Lightning McQueen?

McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) is looking to wrap up another stunning race against two of his best friends when a fresh-faced new car explodes through the pack. Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer) is the first of a new breed of cars that is sleeker and faster and can do things that McQueen and his fellow competitors can’t. One by one, these newer and slicker models come to the track and eliminate the old guard. As the season comes to an end, McQueen will have to decide if he has what it takes to keep up the fight against the well-trained opponents he is now facing.

It will take reinventing himself and training like he never has before on modern equipment to get the speed he needs to stay competitive — and McQueen is up for the challenge. He will be trained by Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo) and will have to search through his past to find his future.

Life is a highway again for No. 95, and he just might have one last chance to be great.

The Cars franchise has been a bumpy ride, to say the least. When Cars hit theaters, it provided a great trip through the world of motorsports and life in general. When we traveled to Cars 2 and its journey into the Grand Prix world, the film and the franchise felt a bit lost and unsure of where it was headed. With Cars 3, we are back to good old-fashioned racing, training and friends.

Some of the classic characters return, including Lightning, Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) and Sally (Bonnie Hunt), but there are plenty of new additions to the cast who help us fly into the future. Alonzo and Hammer are key, but there is also a cool part for Chris Cooper as the voice of Smokey.

Visually this is a stunning film. The detail that goes into every aspect of the animation in Cars 3 is quite amazing. Crash sequences, training on the beach and everywhere in between race past in amazing clarity.

The underlying theme of the movie delivers a strong and powerful message about the power we all hold in shaping the next generation. We can change the way things are done. And yes, as you would expect, Mater gets a bit of a curtain call after the credits, so don’t get up too fast.

Cars 3 wasn’t a perfect film, but we get the characters we love and a beautiful-looking addition to the franchise. Rev the engines and reach for the checkered flag — it’s good to have Lightning McQueen back on track.

Cars 3 is available On Demand beginning Nov. 7. Check your cable system for availability