Cars

I don't get "Cars."

My Silent mother-in-law likes it, and it made enough money that clearly the young Millennials and Homelanders like it too. The landscape around Radiator Springs is wonderfully imagined, and the characters...well, they're characters. That may be its weakness.

Well, that and a weak story: Lightning McQueen is a hotshot who thinks he doesn't need others and by the end he learns that he does. "Top Gun" has a similar goal but does a better job with it - and is still pretty weak itself. Maverick at least has to learn the hard way about the relative importance of his job and aspirations, compared to the people around him. Lightning just gets beaten in a race or two and gives up a sponsorship deal. The way in which he re-learns his priorities doesn't have an emotional impact. The Interstate 40 dashed-dream montage is poignant, but it's not Lightning's story. It's not even clear why it should matter to us, or him, except for the townfolk being decent enough.

Which doesn't explain the Generational appeal or lack of same. It might just be that the oldsters remember when Route 66 was a big deal, and the kids enjoy seeing the sights.

(And yes, Tom Cruise started race car driving after meeting Paul Newman while filming "The Color of Money" and that led to"Days of Thunder" - referred to at the time as "Top Gun with cars" - which appears to have influenced this ...)