Just a quick note -for those wanting to check out my reviews and latest articles, go over to WLKY's u Local. That's where I'm posting them. Thanks for your time and readership.
Starring the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty, Don Rickles, Michael Keaton, and John Ratzenberger. Directed by Lee Unkrich
Note: Watched in Disney Digital 3-D.
Before the film begins as with all Pixar movies there's a short: “Day & Night.” Two “transparent” characters are different times of the day (yes, day and night). By looking through them one sees a location at a certain time. For example, when they're at the beach “Day” shows a woman in a bikini sunbathing while “Night” shows a deserted beach with leftover remnants of the day. Both try to convince the other that they are better, etc. It's a really innovative use of technology and fun, too.
Enough with the potatoes, here's the meat:
Our movie begins with the most fun ten minutes of a Pixar film I've ever experienced: a scenario where a group of troll dolls are on a train headed for the bridge which is about to be blown to smithereens. Sheriff Woody must stop the evil one-eyed Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head (with eye patches) from completing their nefarious plot. From that point the opening mimics what a child would do; I'm not going to spoil it for you except to say that your “inner child” will get a kick out of it.
Through montage we see Andy grow up. It's now time for him to go off to college. Still residing in his room is his Conestoga wagon-toy chest filled with the toys that he's been abandoning for the past few years. His mother wants him to clean out his room and either put the toys in the attic or throw them away. Andy decides to take Woody with him to college while the rest stay will go to the attic.
This doesn't bode well for the toys. Sarge and his troops airlift themselves out first citing the fact that Army guys are the first to go. The toys gather round to figure out what's going to happen next and a few are missing (such as Bo Peep and the Etch-a-Sketch). When Andy places the leftover toys in a garbage bag to take up to the attic it gets mistaken for an actual trash bag and thrown out to the street. Quick thinking by Buzz leads them to take refuge in a box of toys that are going to Sunnyside Daycare.
Woody ends up coming along with them to the daycare much against his wishes. “We're Andy's toys!” he keeps reiterating to the group who have now found themselves in a kid's paradise: they'll be played with all day long. They meet Lotso, a teddy bear who smells like strawberries, Ken, and other toys who have had several previous owners but wound up donated to the daycare. Torn between his loss of leadership and loyalty to Andy Woody escapes but is picked up by a little girl named Molly. In her room he meets other toys such as a porcupine called Mr. Pricklepants, a unicorn, a triceratops and a clown. They all relate how Sunnyside is not the place where his friends should be. It's up to Woody to figure out how to rescue his friends and get back to Andy before he leaves for college.
Pixar has outdone themselves by truly making an adult movie for kids. Or maybe that's a kid's movie for adults. As we have grown up and had to face questions of leadership, loyalty, trust, staying put and moving on, so do the characters in this film. The film isn't just about ending a storyline or stopping a successful franchise of films (the only Pixar films that are sequels) but it's really a statement of asking: “How do we move on?” Woody has to move on from being Andy's toy and we see him come to terms with that realization.
As for the 3-D aspect of the film, it's done so well that most of the time I hardly noticed the fact that it was in 3-D. It's that good. Yes, there is more depth to how the characters looked but the film would play just as well had I watched it in regular 2-D. Just my thought on it.
Is this the end for Woody and his gang? I'm not certain. If this is it, then let it be it. It's sad to think that we may never see Buzz or Woody for a long time, if ever, but I can't imagine a better way for it to go.
I'm going to keep this review short because I urge you to go see it. Pixar is a company that puts story ahead of box office and it shows. They have yet to make a film that disappoints.
My grade: A
Chas Andrews is a freelance writer, blogger, movie critic, what-have-you. Check out his hardboiled crime tale, The Big Adios, at http://aidencobb.blogspot.com
This was just flat out fun to watch. The only thing that kind of rubbed me wrong was the fickle nature of Ken and how nobody seemed to hold him accountable. I would have loved to see a little comeuppance. Enough adult humor for those over 18, and enough toy action for little ones.
view locals now online
A great film to end a franchise on.
Film Guy