I just got back from Cars. It was wonderful. Sure, the story arc and character arcs are predictable (especially if you've seen lots of similar Disney/Pixar films), but it is still a wonderful film. The animation and voice characterization is uniformly brilliant, and the art direction and concept design is either the product of epiphanic genius or a jillion hours of really, really hard work. But you don't have to be chowing down on the eye-candy to enjoy yourself. Having seen it only once, I cannot be 100% sure that it will bear dozens of repeated viewings, but I know I'll be buying the DVD, and I know my kids will watch it multiple times... with me and Sandra. See this film, and stay for the credits... all the way to the very end. I was expecting Pixar to blow this one. I don't know if I thought it was too high-concept or too mundane, but I certainly didn't expect it to speak to me. I'm not a NASCAR fan, and I've never followed car racing. A two-hour "cars-as-a-metaphor" film simply couldn't work... could it? It worked.
