Toy Story 4: 8/10
*Spoiler Alert*
*Spoiler Alert*
*Spoiler Alert*
Originally Posted on the blogsite Coffee and a Script
Let’s talk about the greatest third chapter in the history of film: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Hang on, I’ll get to the point.
The third chapter of this saga was perfect in every single possible conceivable way. One of the rare blockbusters that features a little bit of everything from adventure to action to romance to comedy to slight horror and mixed with a dosage of spirituality to spice up the storyline, Last Crusade would show Indy on his past and his present, as he reconnects with his father in the midst of treasure hunting in a world being slowly dominated by the Nazis.
Toss in an awkward love triangle, spectacular stuntwork that stands as some of the best in history, a run-in with Hitler himself (such a good scene) and a beautiful final act that mixes faith, surprises, extremely high stakes, and an ending with literally a beautifully-shot ride towards the sunset, and you have what I call one of the few flawless films out there. And to this day I’m furious they made a fourth chapter, because it negated and damaged the legacy of the franchise and the finality feeling from Last Crusade.
Take that back, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull never happened.
Toy Story 3 is the second greatest third chapter in the history of film, and with the fourth on the horizon, I was extremely skeptical for obvious reasons.
The previous chapter, Toy Story 3, was masterfully shot, had a good blend of humor and heart, was quite clever with the homages and themes, has easily one of the top cinematic villains in filmmaking history (Lotso can burn in hell), and one of the most emotionally-draining (that incinerator scene was such a rough watch in the midnight premiere) yet satisfying climaxes and endings occurring in this millennium. The movie wrapped up the spectacular trilogy in the best possible way, you honestly couldn’t end it better. I’ll go even further, this should have won Best Picture back in 2010 (even though I would have been okay with Social Network winning, but not King’s Speech oh God no why-)
And then….a fourth chapter was revealed.
Toy Story 4 is quite frankly the greatest unnecessary sequel of all-time. The movie is indeed funny, paces extremely well, brings back almost all of our favorite characters, and adds layers of depth that will emotionally shatter the adults while the children ponder why his/her parents are tearing up faster than they are as we approach the final minutes. If you spend money on a ticket to see it, you’ll get your money’s worth. Even though Pixar has had some rocky moments lately because of the Lasseter ousting (this is the first Toy Story without the original director being fully involved) and some ho-hum sequels (Cars 3, Finding Dory), they managed to maintain all the magic that has made Toy Story into the biggest animated franchise of all-time. Toy Story 4 does not disappoint, and never feels mediocre.
But…it’s still unnecessary.
To add to that, it requires a little bit of inconsistency for the narrative to even exist. In one of the smaller plots in the film, Buzz Lightyear is struggling in his role as de-facto leader whenever Woody becomes unavailable, but that is a completely different personality from the Buzz that went after a kidnapped Woody in Toy Story 2 or the Buzz that decided to investigate the shenanigans of the daycare in Toy Story 3. Bonnie also neglecting Woody which sets up the existential crisis that triggers the main themes of the fourth installment feels rather inconsistent with her behavior towards the toy sheriff when she had first discovered him. Other inconsistencies though are harder to fix, with Mr. Potato Head not having as much to say because Don Rickles had passed away before they were able to record his dialogue.
The other small takeaway from Toy Story 4 is that the rules involving this universe with the toys bearing their own personalities, their own souls, and their inability to interact with people are tested and at times are even bent a few times. The existence of Forky himself is never quite explained, you are just expected to go along for the ride (similar to the time travel chaos from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me—–I bet you thought I was going to reference Endgame, didn’t you?). The writing credits are all over the place, mostly thanks to Lasseter making a move on Rashida Jones and nearly destroying the entire production in the process, but Andrew Stanton (Wall-E, Finding Nemo) and Josh Cooley managed to conceive a coherent screenplay that doesn’t stray far from the Toy Story formula, even if its missing some of the zest, main character appearances, and a legitimate villain (Lotso, once again, burn in hell).
The strongest element of Toy Story 4 is something that has been severely lacking in most of these cheap, lazy, knock-off animated films we’ve been seeing the past several years: an excellent blend of content for the kids and adults, not just cheap humor for the kids and random adult references. The kids will get a kick from the fast-moving pace and elongated adventure that involves rescues, escapes, close calls with adults, and an emotional final act.
For the adults, especially those who grew up with Toy Story (franchise has been around an incredible 24 years), the fourth (and hopefully final) chapter speaks loudest to them; as characters explore and contemplate their purpose, their mortality, and most importantly their happiness. Toy Story 4 wasn’t needed and wasn’t even really requested but at the same time didn’t become a shallow cash grab—the emotional depth can actually become overwhelming, which will once again have you reaching for the tissues; similar to scenes like Buzz hitting depression in the original, the When Somebody Loved Me sequence in Toy Story 2, and of course, that damn incinerator scene in Toy Story 3 (Lotso, you piece of shit).
The biggest setback of Toy Story 4 is unraveling what was a perfect gift of a trilogy that existed from 1995 to 2010. Nonetheless, it’s still entertaining, still funny, and still packs an emotional punch that will linger long after the credits stop rolling and the tears stop falling. Basically, its Kingdom of the Crystal Skull except it doesn’t actually suck. Pixar may have been inconsistent this decade with a couple cash grab hits that lacks the depth and emotional core of their best films, but whenever they prove they are the best in the business, it’s always a good thing for moviegoers, even if it means messing up a perfect trilogy.