Toy Story 4 is directed by Josh Cooley and it stars Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts and Tony Hale. This movie takes place around the same time Toy Story 3 left off, Bonnie is off to Kindergarten and she ends up literally making a friend herself, a spork toy named Forky. She loves it all with all her heart and when it gets consciousness, it escapes and now Woody and the gang are on the run to get Forky back to Bonnie.
It’s no secret that this wasn’t Pixar’s most anticipated sequel. Most people including myself thought the franchise ended on a perfect note with Toy Story 3 but Disney needed to reintroduce this franchise to the newer generation so that they’ll want to go to Toy Story Land. I never liked the idea of a fourth Toy Story movie, it felt wrong to potentially ruin one of the greatest trilogies of all time with a fourth movie just because Disney wants more money. The rave reviews did change my mind for a while but even as I sat down to watch the movie, deep down I was still against this movie. Fast forward an hour and a half and I’m in my seat in tears (not the kind you’re expecting) with my friend on an emotional high.
The biggest compliment I can give to Toy Story 4 is that it manages to find a well deserved place in the story and actually manages to continue it in an intriguing and natural way. The plot of this movie feels very much like it was written exactly after the last movie ten years ago. The laughs, heart and warmth are all present. The characters are just as endearing and the cast does just a great job this time as always. That being said there is a story element which defeats the emotional purpose of Toy Story 3‘s ending and this goes back to an odd decision made to make the plot work which frankly doesn’t make sense.
The ending of Toy Story 4 will make you rethink who the entire franchise has really been about. It was done in a beautiful and natural way but when you think about the cause of what started the entire plot, it just doesn’t feel logical. I won’t spoil anything but when you were a child, did you just love all of your toys but hated or never played with just a one? Out of all the toys, does it really make sense that only one of them you don’t have any interest in. It just didn’t make sense and as I said it defeats the purpose of the emotional ending of the third movie.
It is no surprise that Pixar just loves to make people cry and the Toy Story franchise has a reputation for doing so. However the movie tries to get as much tears from you from the ending which didn’t really work from me. This is a rarity since I get choked up at something slightly emotional, I was bawling when I saw Inside Out and Toy Story 3 also made me quite emotional but the ending of this movie while I wouldn’t say it was cliched, I saw it coming from a mile away, I wasn’t taken aback by it. Also even while I grew up with this franchise I never really connected to it like most people, I saw the movies, I enjoyed them and that’s it.
Now, as a whole I had a fun time with this movie. My audience was loving it, I was really surprised that children from today were actually excited to see this movie but my favourite reactions had to be the parents, they loved it even more than their kids did. This movie is also the funniest this franchise has ever been. My favourite part of this entire movie is the side-characters. If I’m being honest I never really liked the new toys from Toy Story 3 but the new toys in this movie, specifically Ducky and Bunny and Duke Caboom are scene-stealers. Jordan Peele, Keegan Michael-Key and Keanu Reeves did an excellent job with the humor. There was a scene involving Key and Peele’s characters that had me and my friend in stitches. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed that much during a movie. As for Forky, despite thinking he would be annoying, I actually enjoyed his character a lot.
It’s also no secret that Pixar’s animation is consistently getting better and better. This movie is worth seeing just because of the incredibly realistic animation. It is top-tier, it is sometimes even distracting. Seeing the comparisons of this movie to the first movie’s animation makes me think they should reanimate that movie because to be frank it isn’t even watchable at times. This movie also made me realize how much I love Woody. Tom Hanks does such a great job voicing him and I really love how this movie continues his character arc in such a way that feels natural and not rushed or that it comes out of nowhere.
The plot of the movie is thought out well and there are convincing arguments that are made from both Woody and Bo-Peep who is back! Essentially this is Woody’s movie and I love the path they put the character on. The point I want to make clear is that this movie is great, it’s how the movie starts and what the movie is trying to make us believe that apparently a child can love a ton of toys but doesn’t play with one which really doesn’t make sense and since it is what starts the movie it ultimately hurts the movie. Now I know that people or critics will look past this and truth be told this movie could have been seriously bad but considering this is a movie made purely for money it went surprisingly well. If they ever do a fifth movie, that’s where I’ll cross the line considering how this movie ends.
Overall Toy Story 4 is a great, fun time at the cinemas. I had a lot of fun and so did the audience. This movie fits right in with the other three movies thanks to it’s fabulous cast, stellar animation, thought-provoking story and incredibly funny side-characters. It takes the franchise to another level in terms of story and maturity with it’s bold ending. While the plot is the weakest aspect since there are aspects which don’t really work, the movie excels at literally everything else making this movie worthy of being called a Toy Story movie.
RATING: B+ 
owen is a filmaholic 