Review: Toy Story 4

Toy Story 4, directed by Josh Cooley, tells the tale of Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (TIm Allen), and friends as they adjust to their new lives with their new kid Bonnie. On her first day of kindergarten, Bonnie creates a new “toy” Forky (Tony Hale) who goes through an existential crisis and gets himself lost. It’s up to Woody and the gang to get Forky back to Bonnie as they team up with some new friends along the way. Things get complicated though when Woody runs across his old flame Bo Peep (Annie Potts), who shows Woody the wonders of being a lost toy, forcing Woody to rethink what his life’s purpose really is.

The Toy Story movies have been some of the most beloved movies in recent years. Despite its age, the first film was still a solid film with memorable characters and some great humor, Toy Story 2 is one of my all time favorite Pixar films, and 3 was a flawed but solid conclusion to the trilogy. And now we got Toy Story 4, the latest installment to the franchise that no one asked for. Like many of you I failed to see a point in another Toy Story movie especially since the last one ended the franchise on a near perfect note. But critics and audiences alike seem to enjoy this film a lot and to them I say…good for you. Despite its best intentions, this film just doesn’t work for me.

Now hear me out: Toy Story 4 was NOT a bad movie; it’s just not necessarily a good one either. There was a lot to appreciate in this film, but ultimately none of it was able to justify this film’s existence; this film just screams “cash-grab” to me. The plot is essentially the same as previous Toy Story films. You got a new toy that gets itself lost so now one of the older toys need to venture out and bring it home before the kid notices. Tell me that DOESN’T sound like the plot to 1 or 2.

But hey we got some new toys to play with at least, and for the most part they’re fine. Bo Peep makes a return to the franchise after being absent in 3, and she’s fine. The whole “independent strong female living out in the world on her own” have been done to death lately, but to be fair it’s a step up from last time we saw her where she was about as unique as a piece of porcelain. Forky was pretty fun, Key and Peele have a couple fun scenes but they overstay their welcome fast, Keanu Reeves was fine (there is a fun running gag involving his previous kid though throughout the film), and Christina Hendricks as the films “antagonist” was just fine.

While all the new characters are all fine and dandy, the original cast of characters are pretty non-existent in this film to a nearly insulting degree. This is clearly meant to be all about Woody, who Tom Hanks still voices pretty well. All the other characters that we grew up and loved from the previous films, however, are relegated to glorified cameos. Some I can understand (Don Rickles who voiced Mr. Potato Head passed away before production began so all his lines in the film are purely archival), but others like Jessie, Rex, Hamm, and all of Bonnie’s other toys from 3 could’ve been more prominent in the film but were ultimately redundant. Even Buzz Lightyear gets shafted pretty hard in the film; his role in the film is solely as the comic relief, and his gimmick in the film is not really funny at all.

What really gives this film a bad taste for me though is the ending. The last film’s ending served as a great if not fantastic conclusion to Woody, Buzz and friends’s story in the franchise, but in this film, the ending is just too bittersweet of an ending. In terms of this movie’s themes and message, it makes sense, but when it comes to the FRANCHISE’S themes and message it really does a disservice to these characters that we all grew to love over the years. This film’s ending makes 3’s ending incredibly redundant and is almost insulting.

Overall this is just another run-of-the-mill Pixar film. The animation is still as gorgeous as ever (the first five minutes of the film is among one of the best openings in a Pixar film when it comes to animation and lighting among other things) and it’s still has some elements that makes it better than other movies out today, but I just can’t get myself to like it as much as Pixar’s other films. All the polish and shiny lights couldn’t distract me from the fact that this film is another sequel made to cash in on the Toy Story brand. You’ll probably enjoy it for what it is (I’m CLEARLY in the minority here), but if you’re hoping to see something new done with the franchise, you’re not going to find anything different here.

Final Verdict: 5/10