Cars 3: Review

Cars 3 holds the (dis)honor of being the first movie in 2017 where I genuinely struggled to stay awake. For basically the entire runtime I was on the lookout for two things:
1) Something either exhilarating or engrossing to grasp onto.
2) A reason for this movie's existence.
And I didn't find either of those things. It's a really polished and good looking movie and if there's anything in it that is worth praising, it's Randy Newman's score. But none of that helped this final chapter overcome just how meandering and bland it really is. It's like a lesser version of every Rocky sequel except it's really just made to produce toys. Admittedly, this is a film that was made primarily for children but part of Pixar's whole coveted brand is that they make films that appeal equally to both children and adults on different levels. It most certainly doesn't help that this particular entry in the franchise deals with rather adult themes like aging and legacy but it only becomes more frustrating when it is constantly bogged down with absurdly childish and unfunny humor. One of the greatest mysteries in the world of cinema is how a film like Cars managed to spawn an entire trilogy and an even worse spin-off series. (4.5/10)