--- title: "Cars 3" year: 2017 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/cars-3" fi1m_id: "cars-3" imdb_id: "tt3606752" tmdb_id: 260514 wikidata_id: "Q21079862" fi1m_score: 58 critics_score: 60 critics_reviews: 24 published: "2026-09-24T20:15:47.192619+00:00" updated: "2026-09-24T20:15:48.086627+00:00" region: "BE" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Cars 3 (2017) Directed by Brian Fee · 1h 42m · Animation, Drama, Family, Adventure ## Identity Cars 3 - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/cars-3 - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** cars-3 - **IMDb ID:** tt3606752 - **TMDB ID:** 260514 - **Wikidata ID:** Q21079862 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3606752/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/260514, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21079862 **Fi1m score: 58** · Critics 60 from 24 reviews *In a sentence:* Lightning McQueen learns to grow old gracefully, which is more than anyone has asked of the franchise > Brian Fee’s sequel returns the series to racing after the spy caper of *Cars 2*, and it is kind, handsome and dull in about equal parts. Cristela Alonzo’s Cruz Ramirez is the reason to stay; the training montages are the reason you may drift off. ## Synopsis Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) has been winning Piston Cup races for years when a new kind of racer arrives on the circuit. Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer) is sleek, black, built on data rather than instinct, and faster than anyone has been. Rookies like him start filling the grid, and the veterans Lightning grew up racing are retired or quietly dropped. Pushing to keep up, Lightning crashes badly in the last race of the season. After months brooding in Radiator Springs with Sally Carrera (Bonnie Hunt) and Mater (Larry the Cable Guy), he reports to the new Rust-eze training centre, all glass and white walls, where the owner, Sterling (Nathan Fillion), and a young trainer, Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo), put him on a simulator and a treadmill and treat him as the senior citizen he is starting to look like. ## Review Brian Fee’s *Cars 3* returns the series to motor racing after the spy caper of *Cars 2*. Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is old. A younger, faster car called Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer) has arrived, the veterans are being shown the door, and after a crash Lightning has to decide whether he wants one more season or a graceful exit. The script by Bob Peterson, Kiel Murray and Mike Rich takes that unusual idea seriously. The result is kind, handsome and dull, and it comes to life only when a new character is on screen. Kim White, Michael Sparber and Jeremy Lasky shoot the races as if from a camera car: the tarmac shivers with heat, tyre smoke hangs in the floodlights, and the paintwork picks up the crowd’s reflections so cleanly that we briefly forgot the cars had eyes. A training sequence on a beach, sand kicking up gold behind the wheels, is lovely to look at. Jay Shuster and William Cone design Storm as a black wedge with cold blue lights and give the new Rust-eze centre the glass, white walls and humming simulators of an expensive gym, so that Radiator Springs, all neon and rust, looks like the past when we cut back to it. Cristela Alonzo’s Cruz Ramirez is the reason to stay. She is a trainer who talks in motivational slogans, calls Lightning her senior project and treats him like a man being eased towards a bungalow, and Alonzo plays the brightness as armour rather than as a joke. When the film finally lets her say what she wants, the scene is the best-written in it. Armie Hammer’s Storm is a voice and a paint job, given the same taunt in three phrasings. Nathan Fillion’s Sterling, the new owner with a merchandise plan for Lightning’s retirement, is the one place the film smiles at its own business model, briefly. Then there is Doc Hudson. Paul Newman voiced Doc in *Cars* (2006), and the film brings the character back in memory using recordings of Newman that went unused the first time. The idea sounds ghoulish on paper, and we went in braced. It is not. Hearing that gravel, that dry patience, over footage of an old racer coaching a young one, got at us more than we expected, and Chris Cooper’s Smokey, a mechanic who knew Doc, takes over the coaching with the right lack of fuss. It is the one stretch of the film with weight, and it is over in a few minutes. The middle is where the trouble is. Jason Hudak’s cut moves from training montage to training montage, simulator to beach to dirt, each one apparently teaching Lightning something the last did not. We were bored, plainly, for about twenty minutes, and then irritated that a studio this good at pacing had not noticed. A demolition derby at a mud track, presided over by Lea DeLaria’s school bus Miss Fritter, wakes the film up for exactly as long as it lasts. Kerry Washington’s Natalie Certain, a statistician in the commentary box beside Bob Costas’s Bob Cutlass, is a good idea used only to recite percentages. Randy Newman’s score is guitar and strings, warm and unhurried, with one mournful cue after the crash that does more than the dialogue around it; the rest is pleasant and gone by the time you reach the car park. The jokes do not land. A film with a U certificate need not be funny for adults, but the first *Cars* was, and this one has a habit of setting up a gag and then explaining it. By the studio’s standards this sits where the series has always sat, near the bottom: a clear step up from *Cars 2* and a step down from the first film. The last act has one idea we will not describe. It is the best idea in the film, it arrives with twenty minutes to go, and the film rushes it. It runs 102 minutes, it will not frighten anyone, and the children will be fine. It is a film about knowing when to stop, from a series that has yet to work out how. *Fi1m score 58, published 24 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics agree this is a clear improvement on Cars 2, largely because it gets back on the track. The praise clusters around two things: Cruz Ramirez, whom several reviews call the most engaging character the series has had, and the racing itself, which even the doubters find handsomely animated. There is also warmth for the story of a champion ageing out of his sport, which reviewers find more thoughtful than the franchise had led them to expect. The reservations are about the storytelling. Many find it safe and formulaic, with a middle that drifts and jokes that miss, and most place it well below Pixar’s best. The spread is wide. IndieWire calls it the strongest of the three, while The Guardian finds it running on empty and Screen Daily thinks the series is finished. One sequence divides them: the tribute to Doc Hudson built from Paul Newman’s old recordings moves Deadline and strikes Screen Daily as ghoulish. ## Straight answers **Is Cars 3 worth watching?** *Cars 3* is worth watching only if you have children who like the series or a fondness for the first film, and we scored it 58. It is kind, handsome and dull in about equal parts, and Cristela Alonzo's Cruz Ramirez is the best thing in it. The training montages in the middle are where you may drift off. **How long is Cars 3, and what is it rated?** *Cars 3* runs 1h 42m. It is an animation and drama film. **Where can I watch Cars 3 in Belgium?** *Cars 3* is streaming on Disney+ in Belgium, and it is also available to rent from Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video and meJane from €3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How does Cars 3 compare to Rocky Balboa?** *Cars 3* tells the same ageing-champion story as [*Rocky Balboa*](https://film.one/film/rocky-balboa) but with a talking car where Stallone's widower should be, and the older film is the better of the two. *Rocky Balboa* is smaller, sadder and its first hour is the best in that series since 1976. Choose *Cars 3* for a family evening; choose *Rocky Balboa* if you want to feel something. **What should I watch after Cars 3?** After *Cars 3*, try [*Rocky Balboa*](https://film.one/film/rocky-balboa) (2006, Fi1m 68): The same ageing-champion story with a human being in it, and a better ending. Then [*Rush*](https://film.one/film/rush) (2013, Fi1m 82): Ron Howard’s Hunt and Lauda rivalry, for when the children have gone to bed; and [*Ratatouille*](https://film.one/film/ratatouille) (2007, Fi1m 91): Pixar with an actual argument about talent and who is allowed to have it. ### Reviews we read (24) - **IndieWire**, Eric Kohn (B+): Kohn considers this the strongest entry in the franchise, a welcome improvement with more mature themes. He praises Cruz Ramirez’s ambition and the film’s emotionally rich, visually intense racing sequences, while noting an aimless middle and a weak finish. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/cars-3-review-pixar-owen-wilson-1201841080/) - **Little White Lies**, Elena Lazic (3/4/3): Lazic finds the film imperfect but ultimately moving, praising its classic storytelling and bittersweet conclusion. She singles out the unexpected realization at the end as a particularly beautiful Pixar moment. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/cars-3) - **Radio Times**, Terry Staunton (4/5): The review says the film gets the franchise back on track after the previous film’s spy spoof. It praises the renewed focus on motor racing and Pixar’s attention to visual and verbal detail. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-0jw0jj/cars-3/) - **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (75/100, inferred): Turan finds the film a warmly sentimental, easygoing success that keeps the franchise rolling. He praises its emotional heft and the way its story explores mentorship and changing realities. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-cars-3-review-20170615-story.html) - **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman (70/100, inferred): Gleiberman finds the sequel warm, touching, and satisfying, though too formulaic to feel like inspired Pixar artistry. He praises its polished animation and affection for the series, while faulting Cruz Ramirez for being insufficiently distinctive. [Read](https://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/cars-3-review-owen-wilson-1202462054/) - **RogerEbert.com** (64/100, inferred): The page is inaccessible, so the critic’s verdict cannot be verified. No specific praise or complaint is available from the supplied text. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/cars-3-2017) - **The New York Times** (64/100, inferred): The article text is inaccessible, so the critic’s verdict cannot be determined. No praise or complaint from the review is available to identify. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/14/movies/cars-3-review.html) - **Empire**, James White (60/100, inferred): White finds the film an effective course correction after the second Cars, though it falls short of vintage Pixar. He praises Cruz Ramirez and the story’s clash between old-school determination and new technology, while noting that heart and invention remain somewhat lacking. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/cars-3-review/) - **Evening Standard**, Charlotte O'Sullivan (3/5): O'Sullivan finds the film lazy, though she says it has bright spots. She praises Cruz Ramirez and the gorgeous-looking adventures she shares with Lightning McQueen. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/cars-3-review-disengage-brain-and-enjoy-the-ride-a3681876.html) - **Time Out**, Ellie Walker-Arnott (3/5): The critic calls it a passable entry in Pixar’s least-loved franchise. The review’s brief verdict singles out the franchise’s weaker standing as the main drawback. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/cars-3) - **Total Film**, Neil Smith (3/5): The critic finds Cars 3 polished and improved over its predecessor, but ultimately disposable and far below Pixar’s best. They praise its return to Lightning McQueen and racing, along with a thoughtful look at champions aging out of competition. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/cars-3-review/) - **Slant Magazine**, Keith Watson (2/4): The critic finds Cars 3 the least objectionable film in the series but says it falls short of Pixar’s emotional heights. The review praises Cruz as a welcome, well-developed character and appreciates the film’s energetic racing. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/cars-3/) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Michael Rechtshaffen (50/100, inferred): The review finds Cars 3 a welcome return after the previous film, but says its leisurely pacing leaves it short of full momentum. It praises the engaging new character Cruz and the film’s striking visuals, while noting its tender tribute to Paul Newman. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/cars-3-review-1012246/) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (30/100, inferred): Bradshaw finds the film amiable and well-intentioned but ultimately running on empty. He particularly faults its loss of imaginative spark and contrived handling of Lightning McQueen's changing fortunes. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jul/13/cars-3-review-a-franchise-thats-running-out-of-road) - **Screen Daily**, Tim Grierson (20/100, inferred): Grierson delivers a negative verdict, suggesting the franchise has run out of gas. He singles out the use of Paul Newman out-takes to revive a character as especially ghoulish. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/cars-3-review/5118949.article) - **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (80/100, inferred): Hammond finds that the franchise has successfully returned to form, with a story that handles aging and change well. He especially praises the touching sequence honoring Doc Hudson and Paul Newman. [Read](https://deadline.com/2017/06/cars-3-review-pixar-sequel-owen-wilson-video-1202112913/) - **Collider**, Matt Goldberg (B-): Goldberg finds the film a mature, adequate improvement over Cars 2, but ultimately safe and uninspired. He praises its mentorship and collaboration themes, while faulting it for lacking the ambition of Pixar’s strongest films. [Read](https://collider.com/cars-3-review/) - **Consequence**, Dominick Suzanne-Mayer (70/100, inferred): The critic finds Cars 3 an enjoyable, kindhearted return to the first film’s simpler spirit, though it lacks Pixar’s grander ambition. He especially praises the photorealistic racing and richly detailed environments. [Read](https://consequence.net/2017/06/film-review-cars-3/) - **Polygon**, Julia Alexander (70/100, inferred): The critic finds Cars 3 an enjoyable, thoughtful return to the franchise’s racing roots, though it is messy and its jokes often fall flat. Cruz stands out as the most compelling character, and the review wishes the film had spent more time with her. [Read](https://www.polygon.com/2017/6/13/15789284/cars-3-review/) - **Den of Geek**, Simon Brew (3/5): Brew finds the film entertaining and visually superb, but frustratingly safe and driven by merchandise priorities. He singles out the stunning visuals and exciting racing, while faulting the weak villain and uninspired storytelling. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/cars-3-review-2/) - **Paste**, Tim Grierson (5.0): Grierson finds the film mediocre and disposable, criticizing its corporate feel and weak storytelling. He praises its visual wonder and cutesy humor, while noting its grace notes about loss and stepping aside. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/cars-3/cars-3) - **/Film**, Josh Spiegel (5/10): Spiegel finds the film a clear improvement over Cars 2 but weaker than the original, with a story that takes too long to find its direction. He praises Cristela Alonzo’s nuanced, energetic performance and Cruz’s character, while faulting the film for sidelining her perspective. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/551583/cars-3-review/) - **HeyUGuys** (50/100, inferred): The critic finds the film serviceable but neither terrible nor terrific, and sees it as a familiar entry with some surprises. They praise its solid story while faulting the increasingly incoherent premise of the Cars universe. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/cars-3-review/) - **The Wrap**, Alonso Duralde (40/100, inferred): The critic finds the sequel visually striking and efficiently plotted, but ultimately harmless and unstimulating. They single out its photo-realistic animation for praise, while criticizing the unremarkable script and jokes. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/cars-3-review-owen-wilson-cristela-alonzo-pixar/) ## Details - **Director:** Brian Fee - **Director:** Brian Fee - **Screenplay:** Bob Peterson, Kiel Murray, Mike Rich - **Cinematography:** Jeremy Lasky, Kim White, Michael Sparber - **Editor:** Jason Hudak - **Music:** Randy Newman - **Production design:** Jay Shuster, William Cone - **Producer:** Kevin Reher - **Cast:** Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen (voice); Cristela Alonzo as Cruz Ramirez (voice); Chris Cooper as Smokey (voice); Nathan Fillion as Sterling (voice); Larry the Cable Guy as Mater (voice); Armie Hammer as Jackson Storm (voice); Ray Magliozzi as Dusty (voice); Tony Shalhoub as Luigi (voice) - **Runtime:** 1h 42m - **First release (the US):** 23 May 2017 - **Genres:** Animation, Drama, Family, Adventure - **Budget:** $175 million - **Box office:** $384 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuaseSovWDY ## Where to watch in Belgium - Disney+: streaming, uhd - Apple TV: rent €3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: rent €3.99, hd - meJane: rent €3.99, hd, leaving 2026-09-30 - Amazon Prime Video: buy €12.99, uhd - Apple TV: buy €13.99, hd - meJane: buy €13.99, sd, leaving 2026-09-30 *Checked 2026-09-24.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, IE, IL, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TR, UA, US, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Animated Movie 2018: Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Animated Movie (nominated) - Annie Award for Best Animated Feature 2017: Annie Award for Best Animated Feature (nominated) ## If you liked this - *Cars* (2006): Where Lightning began; slower, funnier and fonder of its small town than the sequels - *Rocky Balboa* (2006), Fi1m 68: The same ageing-champion story with a human being in it, and a better ending — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/rocky-balboa.md) - *Rush* (2013), Fi1m 82: Ron Howard’s Hunt and Lauda rivalry, for when the children have gone to bed — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/rush.md) - *Ratatouille* (2007), Fi1m 91: Pixar with an actual argument about talent and who is allowed to have it — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/ratatouille.md) - *Senna* (2010), Fi1m 84: A racing film cut entirely from archive footage, and far more gripping than most dramas — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/senna.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/cars-3