Am I Speed? - The Cars Trilogy Ending - Analysis and Remake

What could have been the greatest closure to one of the greatest animated sequences of all time, fell short because of its aimless ambition, weak character development, and excessive use of cliche/cheap storytelling techniques, that may perhaps have worked for its audience, but would ultimately hurt those true fans that saw McQueen come up back in 06'.

From old Radiator Springs, to Europe, to Thomasville, to Florida, and finally to Radiator Springs, again. Lighting McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) gave us some of the best moments with his rookie beginnings and moving ambition. Taking us through the story of his first love; Sally (voiced by Bonnie Hunt). His extraordinary friendship with Matter (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy), who then unexpectedly takes us with him on a high-level secret mission that somehow ends with him and McQueen meeting the Queen in the second movie. So how could it be that after two all-time great movies the third ended up nerfing the whole trilogy? Let’s see, but first, let’s refresh:

While Cars tells the story of a young-ambitious McQueen looking to eat up the world with his speed and great charisma only to learn the cost of his unmeasured ambition and cockiness with the best and only medicine: humility and belonging; by finding his own family and his coach; Doc Hudson (voiced by Paul Newman).

The first Cars succeeds because of how it flawlessly and successfully follows the hero-narrative structure with an unusual world-building and great script. We are close and intimate to Lighting from the moment the movie begins. We’re thrown into the most intimate darkness as he's reciting his motivational speech before his race; just as we also get dirty with him when he gets to pave the streets of Radiator Springs after his reckless behaviour, to finally pushing through, and winning. Not the Cup; but virtue itself. A glorifying and deserved win that continues to inspires us to this day.

When suddenly, Cars 2, opted to spin the narrative and give the spotlight to our beloved Matter. A bold risk, that very well could’ve been an absolute box-office failure and a critique catastrophe, ended up being another great movie because of the script’s conviction on the character, and the character’s charming personality. While still giving light to McQueen, the movie explores a parallel plot around the automobile mafia behind the scenes of the international racing competition that McQueen is participating in. While also introducing new great characters like Francesco Virgolini (voiced by John Turturro), Holley Shiftwell (voiced by Emily Mortimer), and Finn McMissile (voiced by Micheal Cane). Meanwhile Lighting is almost fully absent throughout the film focusing on the race, Matter, is working undercover along professional secret service agents to keep his friend from danger by catching the bad guys.

Nevertheless, it’s McQueen’s bad manners again that incite the rising action and trigger the climax by hurting Matter, ultimately reinforcing our connection to the character and setting up a perfect development and resolution at the end. The argument is: that this only worked because of our previous introduction and inevitable connection to the character of Matter in the previous film. But most importantly: the conviction of the screenplay to unfold around one character, while keeping an exciting and authentic parallel plot. Which is precisely what Cars 3 did wrong…

Cars 3 gravitates around nostalgia. Telling the story of a soon to be washed up Lighting McQueen at the end of his career and his inability to let go of his passion. As the new-comers arrive to wipe out the veterans, McQueen resists by trying to adapt his current racing regime and techniques to the present. His impotence to stay atop with his new competitors lead to his first and fatal crash. The silent slow-motion shot is devastating to watch; nevertheless, used to early.

The crash forces McQueen to take a step back from racing for a few months before hearing the news that his team; Rusteez, decided to sell the company only to help McQueen level up and continue racing against Storm (voiced by Armie Hammer); the new champ. It is then that we meet Sterling (voiced by Nathan Fillion); his supposedly all-time fan and new manager; and Cruz Ramirez (voiced by Cristela Alonso), McQueen’s new personal trainer. Despite the luxurious training centre and loquaciously positive attitude from Cruz, the training is not working.

Sterling’s realization of McQueen’s downfall reveals his true intentions to make Lighting a product after his retirement. The seven-time Piston Cup winner refuses to retire by asking for one last shot at the tittle in Florida. It is then that McQueen decides to go back to the basics by taking his training to the beach Doc used to race at. The obstacle? Cruz, whom despite forced humour, admiration to our protagonist, and intense enthusiasm, we can’t seem to like.

Cruz ends up frustrating McQueen because of her inexperience on the track. However, despite failure, Lighting pushes through, and Cruz ends up trusting McQueen’s training strategies, when suddenly they both end up in Thunder Hollow’s dirt-track, a small-town-race in the middle of nowhere that ends up being a monstrous mud-suicidal rally that miraculously, and only with McQueen’s help, Cruz ends up winning, when suddenly Lighting's identity is revealed, causing a national scandal. The win ends up infuriating McQueen making him think he’s wasting his time and ultimately suggesting he’s better off without her. It is her idol himself who reassures her of her biggest insecurity just after her first win. The pain of her idol destroying not only her dream, but her characteristic enthusiasm.

So yes… it’s McQueen’s bad sportsmanship again that ends up triggering the climax of the film, leading Cruz to be the frontrunner of the story in the third act. McQueen is forced to apologize before they later go to Thomasville in search of a possibly dead; possibly living ‘Smokey’; Doc Hudson’s old coach. They quickly find him among other great old race cars. McQueen asks for their help and mentorship to prepare for the race. Smokey and Lighting share a moment of nostalgia when Smokey shows to McQueen Doc’s old postals he used to send him, acting as the final detonator to his motivation before the race. When suddenly, and quite tragically, in the last run before the race, McQueen fails once again to reach the sufficient speed to beat Storm. This breaks McQueen’s heart, affecting his mindset and confidence, nevertheless, he shows up.

The ending of the film:

The final race taking place in the futuristic circuit of Florida has the whole country watching. The sequence has some good moments, good quotes, and good editing rhythm. However; despite perhaps working and capitalizing with its respective audience, the constant use of unnecessary flashbacks, common editing techniques, and generic dialogue; these diminish, in my opinion, what this ending could have been.

McQueen arrives at the packed arena of Florida. We don’t get one last iconic motivational speech, instead, the living legend is received by Jeff, another veteran racer telling McQueen to “win one for us old guys”. A disillusioned lighting McQueen is received by Sally before Storm mocks Cruz.

As the race is about to begin a young aficionado cheers from the top of his lungs for Lighting McQueen. I must say: this scene touched a deep spot in my heart. The sudden entrance of Smokey as his coach was not surprising. And just after the race begins Cruz is kicked out by Sterling because of the company's hierarchy, urging her to leave because she is “just a trainer.” McQueen obviously overhears the conversation through the mic, just before a stampede unleashes, triggering the veteran’s decision to let go of his “last chance”, to ‘unexpectedly’ give Cruz her big shot.

At first daunted by the immense crowd, Cruz is tense and way behind. When suddenly McQueen gets in the mic, and tells her a few hints from their training last week. Of course, after hearing “she’s a fluffy cloud” she flawlessly passes and zig zags through the best Nascar race cars of the country, slowly building her way to the top.

When finally, and heroically…, she finds herself a few places behind Storm. When the reigning champ notices, he pulls back to get in her head suggesting “[she] will never be one of us.” Cruz is hurt and slows down, but is soon brought back in the race by her new coach, telling her the reason Storm is playing mind games is because he “sees something in [her] that [she] don’t even see in [herself]" and that "[she] made [McQueen] believe it, now [she's'] gotta believe it too.” Just a few seconds later she gets herself right behind the champion’s tail. Storm pushes her against the side-rail before she - on her first race, in the biggest stage, against the best drivers - launches herself in the air doing a 360º side-flip to pass the champ.

Right after her unexpected, mystically underdog-heroic win, Sterling reveals his true personality - who would’ve thought! - before they announce McQueen is also the official winner of the race because he started it, and therefore gets to chose the fate of his future. But not before Tex, the owner of Dinaco, signs Cruz as their new driver, and right after they reveal he decided to purchase Rusteeze as well to help out McQueen!

The movie ends with the new look of Cruz as Dinoco’s new race-car in the good old Radiator Springs Canyon, surrounded with all the original characters, but not before Lighting shows off one last time, styling Doc Hudson’s colours and look before the screen goes black.

Now, I don’t believe Cars 3 is a bad movie; nor I think it’s easy to give closure to a sequel of this magnitude; or as a matter of fact to any sequel at all. The movie has incredible moments all over the film; like the heartbreaking crash of McQueen; Sally’s bold monologue; the reunion of all the characters in Radiator Springs, and even the encounter with Smokey while looking back at Hudson’s career amid the ending of McQueen’s.

So what did Cars 3 did wrong? And why was the end not sufficient?

Cars 3 fails in my opinion as closure and sequel; firstly because of it’s aimless ambition trying to tell and grapple everything using excruciatingly forced techniques of nostalgia, excessive use of flashbacks, and deliberately bringing new generic characters while also forcing the return of the old ones (Chick Hicks, The King, Doc) which were closed wounds because of their exclusion on the second movie.

Sterling, Storm, but specifically Cruz Ramirez, aim; yet fail to take the story on a new route. A route that was bound to be good - by bringing a character with the opposite traits and virtues as McQueen - and then cornering the veteran to train her instead while getting him to accept is time to move on. They try to do this focusing half of the film building up hope for McQueen’s glorious return, but then failing by giving us little to no screen-time of the new characters for us to meet, and make a solid judgement and develop a connection with them. Weak - and unfortunately cheap - character development on a good storyline that got in the way of an all-time great protagonist.

My ending to the trilogy:

— The greatest ending scenario for me would have meant fully committing to the story of Cruz. By creating a more affable character and giving her the necessary time to develop. Making her the protagonist from the beginning and having her be an insider to both McQueen’s rise, and inevitable downfall by firstly telling us her own story as an aspiring race-car who ended up being just a trainer. In juxtaposition to her idol’s; which would have made the ending more rewarding and ultimately more inspiring. At the end of the day, that’s what I believe Cars is all about: Overcoming & Humility.

Witnessing Cruz complete and surpass her own obstacles that challenge her opposing persona in comparison to McQueen’s, while also keeping the appearance of ‘El Rayo’ well awaited; yet evidently successful on the big picture, embracing instead the nostalgic and mysterious successes of McQueen; considering where we left off on the second film. Hence the crash would’ve been more painful having us not know with exactitude the state of our hero, but instead letting it unfold in the beginning of the third act, having Lighting discover Cruz after his accident, and further-on having to confront the challenge of letting go of his career, by finding a new one: coaching.

I believe the opening of a new opposing character whose story is unfolding on the same world as our old hero, would’ve not only created a bridge between two generations of fans, but would’ve even led to a possible fourth sequel! And for the old fans, the nostalgia was not be placed around Doc; whose wound had healed. Instead, to unfold the melancholy around a more experienced, yet unknown McQueen, who has grown with us, yet has still so much more to offer since we know only the surface to him in this hypothetical present. It would be like getting to know the character again after they grew, just like us; the audience, we grew as well.

Growing a connection with Cruz by understanding her roots and shortcomings, while glorifying the career of our previous hero, to finally have McQueen have his last learning curve as a teacher to an insecure starter with completely opposite qualities to his own. That. That would've been great. The ultimate resolution going full circle.

Conclusion:

To conclude, the argument is to say I believe focusing the screenplay around one character and a subplot would’ve been more exciting given were we left off. Introducing and loving Cruz by juxtaposing it to the first movie having a completely different story, virtues of her own, and perhaps even a side plot - instead of using excessive nostalgia to create a weak momentum of emotion by having us not know the new characters. Uniting two generations through the same storyline while giving us the possibility of another glimpse at Cruz's story and her entourage with Lighting McQueen’s, having her to prove: She is speed, as well.

Few last words, to my childhood hero; Lighting McQueen, #95.

Despite any ending they give you,

you will always be speed.

Written by Tonino

*This article is posted with learning purposes only. Written by an eagerly passionate film student in the pursuit of growth and knowledge within the critique world in order to better understand motion pictures. Every critique is constructive and appreciated.*