5 Ways to Prep: Cars 3
By George Rose
June 15, 2017
3) Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
As a geek, I love many things. Movies are obviously #1 and Disney (with control over Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars) is my #1 studio. Then there are the entertainment mediums that produce mini versions of movies, like television and video games. What makes video games so amazing is the interactive portion of the process (meaning you get to play them). They are so much fun and another benefit of being born in 1985 is that I got to grow up with the evolution of video games, from the original Nintendo all the way up to my current Xbox One. After the underrated and exceptional debut of Disney’s revamped CGI animation studio in 2010 with Tangled, their second release was Wreck-It Ralph, which was set in the world of video games.
They took what worked with Pixar (unexpected things that talk and feel) and lessons learned from the lame Cars franchise (a good story people care about) and released this amazing, superb blend of animation, video games, feelings and childhood nostalgia. When Ralph, a villain, leaves his game so he can become a hero, he disrupts the world order and could potentially unleash total destruction onto all the games of the arcade. I won’t ruin any more of the plot, but I will say that part of the story finds itself in a car racing video game, where much of the colorful action takes place. Pixar has proved they are master storytellers and Disney has proved they can handle intense and colorful car racing action. There really is no excuse why the Cars films haven’t been great but maybe that will change with Cars 3.
4) Rocket League (Xbox One, Playstation 4, PC)
Not every way to prep for a movie is with another movie. Sometimes the best way to prep is by watching a TV show (especially if that show is getting a movie of its own), sometimes it’s a book (books become movies all the time) and sometimes it’s a video game (games become movies all the time even though most suck). Just like video games tend to make terrible movies, movies tend to make terrible video games so I won’t be recommending any games from the Cars franchise. However, if you want to live in a world where all the drivers of all the cars can talk to each other, there is no better world right now than Rocket League.
The game is basically soccer with cars. You drive around, hit a ball and score goals. My favorite feature in the game is playing Rumble, which is when the cars have weapons. Even though that means the game is closer to Cars 2 (so stupid) than Cars 1 or hopefully Cars 3, it actually reminds me of playing Mario Kart’s Battle Mode (so amazing). Log online, plug in your headset, talk to your friends while you play, and blast the hell out of each other while having some healthy competition. Go buy the game and replace the cover insert with that of the Cars 2 DVD and pretend this game is the second film in the franchise. It’s a great way to spend time with your friends and family, and that delirious level of enjoyment might just help you see Cars 3 in the happier, more forgiving mindset needed after Cars 2 crapped the bed.
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