Focusing on Mater was a big problem, and it looks like Cars 3 has acknowledged this and adjusted course accordingly.
To be fair, we kind of wish that this was the direction that the last Cars film had taken, as it really was the heart of what these movies should have been about.
With dirt tracks, fire traps, and a constant reassurance that while he can’t “turn the clock back” he can certainly “wind it up again,”Cars 3 looks like it’s eschewing the Mater heavy shenanigans from Cars 2 and heading back to what’s basically the true story of the Cars franchise: Lightning McQueen’s journey from set-back to superstar.