There were some early newsbreaks about how Cars was recieving lukewarm reviews from critics, but let's gain some perspective here. A mediocre Pixar movie -- if there can be said to be such a thing -- tends to be a dozen times better than what passes for "good" from the Hollywood mill. Cars is great. Is it perfect? No, but it's flaws are so easily overlooked for the undeniable magic Pixar is able to achieve.

The cynic in me makes me believe that the entertainment press, so eager to take down a winner, wanted to pounce on Pixar especially after the big Disney deal that went down last year. And then there's the even more parasitic-sublevel of entertainment press -- the press that reports on the press, that is proportionately bloodthirsty as it is irrelevant.

The biggest flaw the movie can be accused of is that it's over-long. There's a stretch in the middle that lasts longer than it should, and the movie loses momentum. But the last acts are so exhilarating and so rewarding that you forgive the slow stretch. You leave the theater feeling good, happy about the time and care you've invested in the characters, and that the artists at Pixar spent in creating this work of art.

And the slow stretch is done to build character. Now, when's the last time a summer movie could be faulted for spending too much time building character? Compare to, oh, Chicken Little, where so much energy was invested in awful jokes that tried so desperately to be timely and hip. Cars has the kind of flaw you can live with.

I won't get into too many details, other than say that the movie is adorable, that the Pixar magic that makes you care for ordinarily inanimate objects is there, and it has charm to spare. Where does it rank among Pixar's past works?

In my opinion...

1) Toy Story 2
2) The Incredibles
3) Toy Story
4) Cars
5) Finding Nemo
6) Monsters, Inc.
7) A Bug's Life

ph