From my movie review page Orbi-Wan Goes To The Movies:

Cars 3 (G) - Third installment of the popular animated franchise takes a while to get up to speed, but finishes strong

For many film franchises, by the time they get to a third film, they seem to be either coasting on good will or are completely unnecessary. There are exceptions - Nolan’s Dark Knight series and Pixar’s own Toy Story films come to mind. Cars 3 falls somewhere in the middle. On the surface, it seems like a completely unnecessary continuation of the Cars merchandise machine, but hidden beneath the flash and noise is a pretty decent, though familiar, sports story.

Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) has been at the top of his game since Cars 1, but a newer, faster generation of technology-enhanced racers start nipping at his bumper, then surpassing him, especially cocky up-and-comer Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer). His old-school racing buddies are either being dropped by sponsors or retiring. A terrifying crash takes Lightning out of the game, and after a few months of healing, reflection and a pep talk from Sally (Bonnie Hunt), his “girlfriend”, makes the decision to step up and run against the more high-tech racers.

McQueen’s Rust-Eze sponsors have sold the brand to Sterling (a smarmy Nathan Fillion), an ambitious entrepreneur with aspirations of making billions off of Lightning’s reputation. Sterling also owns a state-of-the-art training facility, and Lightning is teamed with an eager trainer named Cruz (Cristela Alonzo). While it becomes evident that McQueen is struggling to keep up with his high-tech regimen, he convinces his trainer to join him in trying things the old fashioned way.

Substitute boxers for the cars in this movie, and you basically have a late-stage Rocky movie. Pretty much every sports cliche of the aging athlete story is trotted out. The interesting thing is, once McQueen convinces Cruz to join him on a quest to find the crew chief of his old mentor, Doc Hudson (the late Paul Newman), the film finally gets some traction. It still hits the familiar sports beats, and we can see the twist that takes place during the climactic race coming from a mile away, but we are actually excited when it happens.

Thankfully, the story primarily focuses on McQueen and Cruz, although most of the old Cars entourage shows up at various points in the story to lend their support. Mater the tow truck (Larry The Cable Guy) is easier to take in small doses, and running gag of his love for large foam fan hats is amusing.

So after a slow start, Cars 3 picks up speed midway through the second act, and does not slow down as it races to the finish. I liked Cars 3 enough to give it 3 out of 5 lightsabers, and I am sure my grandson will get a kick out of it.

NOTES TO PARENTS - Cars 3 is rated G. Early in the film, Lightning has a horrific slow-motion crash (seen in the trailers) that was upsetting to several young children in our screening. During an amusing demolition derby, several cars and trucks are bashed and thrown into the air. During the final race, “heck of a race” is heard a few times. Some themes will go over the heads of younger children, but older kids and parents will understand and possibly relate.

Before Cars 3, the short “Lou” is shown, the story of a schoolyard thief who encounters an unusual adversary. It is cute but not Pixar’s best.

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They prioritize merchandising over story when it comes to the Cars movies?

Saw it last night with the family. Limited amount of Mater in this one, which was a blessing. The story was definitely OK, but some of the animation was amazingly beautiful. I'd like to watch parts of this sometime back-to-back with Toy Story to compare how much the animation has progressed.

It seemed that way at times. Maybe I'm cynical, but I kept thinking while watching that the different paint jobs Lightning McQueen received was done simply so more diecast cars could be sold.

Finally went to see this with my kids this weekend as I wasn't expecting much and I have to say it was a nice surprise. I enjoyed it quite a bit, probably my favorite of the three. It has been out a while but I recommend watching this in the theaters if you have interest in the movie as I thought the animation was fantastic and also liked the look of the animation when they flashed back to the old days as well. Think this franchise could still continue with Cruz. Can see why some compared to a Rocky Balboa/Creed type movie.

Watched Cars 3 last night and enjoyed it; didn't expect the movie to unfold the way it did with Cruz, so it was fun to see. I kind of miss seeing more of Radiator Springs and keeping things simple with all those original characters, but I'm not sure what other stories they could tell there. Also happy that they minimized Mater, I really hate his character.

The animation during some of the crashes is really beautiful, especially Lightning's that is partially shown in the trailer. Parts of that felt much more realistic then the rest of the movie.

For anyone with Netflix, this drops towards the end of January.