Everything starts off with LOU, the opening cartoon. I'm really liking Disney & Pixar's efforts to bring back the opening short. I didn't really know what to expect from this, even with the clip that was released earlier in the week. About a Lost & Found "monster" helping out some children from the school bully, I was blown away by this short. It did what Pixar does best, but in about 5 minutes. It had me laughing throughout, & then out of nowhere, BAM, the feels. It goes from hysterical to make you cry before you even realize it's happened. Great short. Then we get to the main event, Cars 3. This movie takes the focus all back where it should be, racing. The third entry in the Cars franchise features an aging Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) dealing with the younger, faster, up & coming racers led by Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer). Then after a crippling injury, has to mount a comeback with some help along the way from another newcomer in the form of Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo). All the old pals from Radiator Springs pop in too, but definitely as supporting cast. I thought this was a really good sequel. I loved the original Cars. It's one of my favorite Pixar films. On the flipside, Cars 2 totally missed the mark for me. So it was refreshing to be able to say with this one they definitely redeemed themselves. Mainly because, as I said earlier, this one brings the focus back to racing & away from the  "look at these cars doing people stuff". Though it's not as good as the first, I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loved the first outing. I enjoyed it all the way through. There's a twist at the end that almost didn't really do it for me, but I felt they smoothed it out pretty well all in all by the end. It had some genuinely funny moments scattered throughout. Especially the whole demolition derby scene shown in the trailer. It also has some emotion. A lot of which, much like the first, comes from a sense of nostalgia. The rest from the various relationships developed throughout the course. They also went ahead & realized Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) might be best in small doses. It's funny I went in expecting a version of Days of Thunder, & instead I got a version of a Rocky movie. That's what this really felt like if I had to compare it to anything. I even got that vibe from some of the training montage. I can't end this without mentioning the actual animation. Pixar has come so far, this movie looks amazing. It has a blend of realism with cartoon elements on a level I've never seen. Some of the backgrounds in this film are absolutely  beautiful. Overall, as a sequel, I liked this, I will be adding it next to my copy of the original Cars. Seen the movie? We want to know what you think as well. Let us know in the comments, like, & share.