Will Pixar’s ‘Cars 3’ Redeem The Franchise?

Pixar’s latest animated feature Cars 3 will hits theaters this weekend – and though it’s almost guaranteed to do well at the box offices considering it’s lack of competition this doesn’t guarantee that the movie will be pleasing to fans or critics. The Cars franchise has seen a lot of popularity throughout the last decade since the original movies 2006 release – however fans may be skeptical of this movie after the flop that was Cars 2.

Cars 3 Is Already More Popular With Critics than Cars 2

Where the first movie was rich in creativity and story, something that fans have come to expect from Pixar thanks to hit animated films like Toy Story and The Incredibles, the sequel to Cars was not as well received. The second installment in the Cars franchise was not nearly as satisfying, falling flat with story and it sort of seemed like another sequel being churned out simply based off the popularity and success of the first film. All this ended up earning Cars 2 a measly 39 percent from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and only 50 percent from fans.

Compared to the 74 percent from critics and 79 percent from fans that the original movie scored, this drop led many fans to feel like Pixar should have let the story end there. Of course, when you have characters as popular as Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) and Mater (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy) everyone should have known that Cars 3 was going to happen sooner or later. Luckily, so far, this third installment in the franchise appears to being much more pleasing to critics with a 63 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes before it even hit theaters.

Will This Be Enough To Redeem The Franchise?

These positive reviews, along with an epic trailer that suggests the story will, in a way, come full circle, is giving fans hope that this will be a much better continuation for our favorite race car and his friends. The story appears to show Lightning McQueen finding out that his days in racing star are coming to an end now that more advanced and younger race cars are hitting the track. A young female race car who is a fan of McQueen appears to be trying to help Lightning win his last race – but reviews of the movie say that he ends up being more of a mentor to her in the same way that Doc was to him in the original movie.

While the chances of this film outperforming the original are unlikely, it is already proving to be much more satisfying than the second movie as far as story goes. However, the real question remains – will it be pleasing to the fans of the series? Even more importantly, is this going to be the final installment if it is successful with both critics and fans, or will Pixar and Disney see dollar signs and attempt to keep it running through a fourth movie in a few years?

Those who fell in love with the first Cars movie and were disappointed with the second, do you plan to hit up theaters for this latest installment? Do you think this movie takes it to far after all the mini-series and spin-offs that have already come from the franchise, or are you excited to see Lightning McQueen back in action? Tell us in the comments!

[Featured Image by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images]