Movie Review: Toy Story 4

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Laughs, tears, new adventure for characters we love

Cons: Ending is extremely bittersweet

The Bottom Line:

Toy Story gang’s back

Adventure filled with laughs, tears

Bittersweet ending

“I Was Made to Help a Child. I Don't Remember it Being this Hard.”

I must admit, I was among those worried when they announced Toy Story 4.  Don’t’ get me wrong, I have loved the first three movies in the franchise.  While not my favorite Pixar movies, they are all definitely in the top tier.  And, while I can see why this movie is getting all the praise it is getting, this one definitely fell short for me.

After a brief opening scene set nine years ago (and I was already chocked up that early in the film), we jump to where our heroes are today.  No, Bonnie (voiced by Madeleine McGraw) hasn’t aged in real time.  In fact, she is about to head out to Kindergarten orientation.  Despite the fact that Bonnie tends to leave Woody (Tom Hanks) in the closet, he still sneaks into her backpack to make sure this first day goes well.  And that’s how he witnesses Bonnie making a new friend – a toy friend she makes from things in the trashcan and names Forky (Tony Hale).

However, Forky doesn’t want to be a toy.  He’s perfectly content with being in the trash and it is all Woody can do to keep Forky from jumping back in any trash can he can find.  This is only complicated when Bonnie and her parents head out on one last vacation before Kindergarten officially starts.  When Forky jumps out the RV window, Woody follows.  Will he be able to reunite Bonnie with Forky with the help of an old friend?  Will Buzz (Tim Allen) find the duo and be able to help them?

As I said, I can certainly see why this movie is getting so much praise.  It will make you laugh.  It will make you cry.  There is much to love here.  The majority of the movie takes place in an antique store and a traveling carnival, and the settings are fantastic.  The new characters are a lot of fun.

Not to mention the animation looks wonderful.  This only has a few what I would call beauty shots that really do look like works of art, but those scenes are wonderful.  However, there is an outstanding quality to the animation overall.

No, my issue comes mainly with the ending of the film.  It is extremely bittersweet.  I get what they were doing, and part of me likes it.  Another part of me really doesn’t like what they did, especially since it required one of the characters to act very out of character, and, even though I saw it coming, I didn't feel they built is up well enough.  It’s hard to discuss it without giving away spoilers, so I will leave it at that.  I think many fans will be fine with the direction they take things.  I suspect I will be in the minority in feeling conflicted over the end.

Another disappointment is that the majority of the gang are reduced to extended cameos in favor of new characters.  Okay, so it’s hard to give all the characters parts to play, but I would have enjoyed seeing more of them then we get here.

Oh, but the laughs.  There are so many throughout the film.  I was grinning for much of the movie when I wasn’t laughing outright.

And the voice cast was outstanding once again.  They bring these characters to life with warmth.  From interviews, it is obvious that the actors feel as attached to these characters as we do (if not more so), and I think it shows in their performances.

There are some characters and scenes that are a tad on the creepy side.  This Sid’s room creepy from the first film.  If your kid is extremely sensitive, they might be bothered by those scenes, but I suspect most kids will be okay with them.

I was surprised that there wasn’t a short before the film.  However, there are lots of Easter Eggs for Pixar fans in this movie, some of which I will have to look for when I rewatch it.  And you’ll definitely want to stay for a few bonus scenes in the credits at a minimum.  I was glad I stayed all the way through the credits.

I’m sure Toy Story 4 will be another hit for Pixar, and deservedly so.  My conflict aside, this is another fun movie with characters we love.