By NATE NEWCOMER ’28
Updated 11:50 a.m. EDT, 2 Oct 2026
“Speed…I am speed.”
If you’re the age I am, there’s a solid chance these four words strike a deep chord within you. Lightning McQueen’s opening speech cements his legacy as one of the greatest characters in animation history and introduces one of the greatest movies of the 21st century. But why is Cars so good? I could answer, “because cars are cool” and call it a day there, but that doesn’t make for a compelling review. Rather, Cars stands out for a few reasons: its animation, its characters, its soundtrack and its ending.
First, the animation is spectacular and still holds up twenty years later; the characters are expressive, the texturing is great (you can even see the difference in paint between McQueen and Sally!), and the backdrops are incredible, especially the race stands and the mountains of Radiator Springs. Speaking of which, Radiator Springs has an appealing old-timey look and feel to it, something accentuated even more with its literal glow-up later in the film. The cinematography is also amazing, particularly during the races, but the scene of McQueen catching Doc doing laps for the first time is a standout.
The characters are similarly fantastic. The star of the show, Lightning McQueen, is cool, confident and skilled but arrogant, something the opening scene excellently demonstrates. McQueen begins as a jerk, shown through the way he treats his pit crew and the old cars at Rust-Eze. Twice his own selfishness costs him the Piston Cup; his refusal to make a pit stop causes him to forfeit certain victory, and his refusal to let Mack sleep results in his getting stranded in Radiator Springs—and it is here we meet the ensemble cast that helps him grow as a character.
Each main ensemble member teaches McQueen an important lesson. Through Mater, McQueen learns the value of friendship which helps him overcome his ableism and respect the old rusty cars too (he also drops some great lines— “He did what in his cup?”). Sally helps McQueen appreciate Radiator Springs and all the cars that live in it, and her drive with McQueen and the following flashback to Radiator Spring’s glory days are together some of the best scenes in the movie. Finally, Doc Hudson teaches McQueen how to humble himself and later how to race, two things that pay off extremely well in the finale (he even learns to overcome some selfishness of his own). Each of the characters are well-written, well-performed and play a crucial role in McQueen’s journey.
Another huge strength of Cars is its soundtrack. While movies like (it pains me to say it) Guardians of the Galaxy toss songs arbitrarily into different scenes, Cars utilizes its soundtrack much more intentionally; the opening “Real Gone” sets the movie’s tone excellently, “Our Town,” provides the emotional backdrop to Sally’s Radiator Springs flashback and most notably, “Life is a Highway” is the perfect backing track to the gorgeously animated road trip montage. The original score is phenomenal too; personal favorites of mine play during Doc’s laps and during the final race. These songs take near-perfect scenes and elevate them even higher.
The final scene and ending of Cars is, in my humble opinion, one of the best to ever grace the silver screen. It is a series of fantastic payoffs; the real pit crew being the friends he made along the way, backwards driving from Mater, Guido’s legendary pit stop, Doc’s advice of turning left to turn right and most crucially, the payoff to the journey McQueen has been on throughout the entire movie. When “The King” suffers a debilitating crash, McQueen finally realizes that there are things more important than the Piston Cup he has been pursuing up to this point. He sacrifices his rookie victory to help his fellow racer finish his final race, not wanting him to endure what Doc went through decades earlier. Merely a week ago, McQueen wouldn’t have been caught dead giving up his rookie season Piston Cup for anyone or anything else. But thanks to everything that the cars at Radiator Springs poured into him, he ultimately realizes that it’s “just an empty cup” and that his friends matter more to him than racing.
In conclusion, Cars is an excellent movie because cars are cool. And Lightning McQueen is super cool. But beyond that, Cars uses a combination of great animation, great characters, great music and a perfect ending to give us one of the greatest animated movies of all time.
Kachow! ★
