Toy Story 3 Review

This review was written by my fantastic brother, Jason Wright.  Enjoy!


BY JASON WRIGHT

There are some film trilogies and series that always grasp to people’s attention, no matter what the outcome of the movie is.  Film trilogies like Star Wars, Harry Potter and Twilight have racked in millions of audience takings worldwide.  One of the most principle big takings of the movie market in recent years has been the rise in the success of animation films.

Throughout much of the last decade, the most dominant of them all is DreamWorks’ Shrek series, which came to a conclusion this summer.  Despite its last two offerings in both this year and back in 2007 not getting much of the praise that the first two films did in the early part of the decade, it still has brought in a lot of cinema takings.

But despite DreamWorks’ surge in focusing more on animated productions, the kings of the animation world are still Pixar.  It’s partnership with Disney has been strong since Day 1 of their relationship way back in the start of the nineties, to the extent that Disney now owns the company.  For what is now its 11th film in the studios’ illustrious partnership, they’ve gone back to right where it all began.  It may be ten years (eleven in US, as Toy Story 2 was released in Christmas ’99 there so much of the rest of the world had to wait until the start of 2000 to see it) since the toy box was last opened up.  However, it was always the ambition of Disney and Pixar to produce a third Toy Story film.

This is been by far Pixar’s biggest challenge to date.  Costing a dozen more than the budget of the first two films put together, mostly down to recent technology times, has seen them produce most of the work in cinema-only 3D and they were determined not to follow suit in bringing out a third film in a franchise, that so often gets scathing reviews from critics like so many others have done in the past.  Did they pull it off and how!

Andy, the owner of the toys such as Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie and Rex, is now all grown up.  Now seventeen years old, he is just days away from leaving for college and the toys are left with an uncertain future.  It seems like that they will be stored in the attic of the house but a series of unfortunate events results in them being donated to Sunnyside, a day-care nursery for young children.

After Woody flees, wanting to go back home as Andy had planned to take him to college, the rest of the toys decision to stay at Sunnyside turns out to be a very big mistake.  By day, they are innocently abused and mistreated by out-of-control toddlers and by night, they are forced to sleep in cages, as if it was a toy prison.

As Woody returns, the toys plan to return home a la ‘The Great Escape’.  It’s a plot that leaves the audience on the edge of their seats, not knowing what’s going to happen next.  The comical moment of the film comes here when Buzz, having been switched back to his deluded, space ranger character is wrongly re-setted by the toys, into a mode where he can only speak Spanish.

Without question, like many other animation films, most of the movie’s success comes from its voice talent.  Tom Hanks and Tim Allen once again provide great voice portrayals of Woody and Buzz respectively and again have strong back-up from the likes of Joan Cusack (Jessie), Wallace Shawn (Rex), Don Rickles (Mr. Potato Head) and John Ratzenberger (Hamm), the latter having lended his voice to every single Pixar movie to date.  The most significant of the new characters voices come from ex-James Bond actor Timothy Dalton, voicing a hedgehog named Mr. Pricklepants and Michael Keaton, who voices Ken, popular for being the girlfriend of Barbie.

But it’s not just the actors who give the film’s success; it’s also the way the characters appear on screen.  The film’s main villain, Lotso, a big, plush bear doll that may seem nice but inside is pure evil.  He is responsible for how the way Sunnyside is run as a toy prison.  In terms of the film’s existing characters, some have stayed the same whilst others have changed. Examples include Mrs. Potato Head; wife of Mr. Potato Head has more of a lead role in the film, compared to being a supporting character in Toy Story 2 and also has just one eye throughout much of this movie; however her role in this film can at times be a bit irritating.

Other changes within the characters involve Barbie also getting more of a lead role in this film whilst Slinky Dog has been somewhat downgraded to a supporting role with less dialogue and activity.  Jessie the Cowgirl’s personality has also transformed in this film with her over-the-top excitement that she was known most for in the second film being reduced massively and become more a ‘down-to-earth’ character who is also extremely helpful to others, where as in TS2, she would only intend to think about herself.  It is also clear throughout much of TS3 that she has fallen in love with Buzz Lightyear, though Buzz doesn’t seem to notice this until he is accidentally switched into Spanish mode.

It had been tipped to be a success in the box office but nobody predicted this outcome.  It has destroyed the competition on its opening weekend’s across the world, taking in $110 million on is first weekend in the US and £21 million respectively in the UK, putting it on course to be a contender for the most grossed film of the year and it could see itself in line as a leading figure for a spate of nominations at next year’s Oscars.

All in all, it’s a great way to end the trilogy and many fans, including myself, is that no further Toy Story films will be made. I believe that is a fair decision, as a fourth film would be nice, but that may just be going a little bit too far.  The world has fallen in love with Toy Story again and will still be remembered by many for generations to come.