Toy Story 3 Review
Pixar, Disney, Film, movie, Review
I'm a huge Pixar fan, I recognize the importance of the first story, and how it started the trend of making full length DVD movies. Despite having my problems with it, I still think the first film deserves a 10/10 for bringing Pixar and full length computer animation to the general public.
I like Toy Story 2 for building on everything the first one did, then going its own route and adding unexpected situations for the characters to get out of. Overall, I feel that it is one of the best sequels ever made and give it a 10/10.
With that said, Toy Story 3 was a disappointment. It's still a great movie, but it failed to build on what was laid out in the second. Toy Story 2 put out the idea that the toys' owner, Andy, was growing up and no longer played with them. In this movie, we see what the fate of the Toys will be when Andy moves out of the house and goes to college.
The film starts off revisiting a lot of familiar ground, and slowly showing a more sombre tone. A lot of the background toys from the previous film are gone. The ones that played as the major supporting cast have stuck around for this (hopefully) final film. This was a good move on the writers' part, as it leaves more room for new characters to be introduced without ever making the cast feel crowded.
The main characters for the movie remain: Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jesse, Barbie, The Potato Heads, the Pizza Planet Aliens and Andy. Out of the returning cast, Ham Bullseye, Slinky, and Rex remain, but they aren't given anything notable to do. Fortunately, the new cast feel like they could have always been part of the series. Lotso the bear, serves as the films main antagonist, Ken (voiced my Michael Keaton,) is another great addition, and the almost silent Big Baby, is great as the muscle for the villains. Some other characters are introduced in the middle of the film for a short time, but they don't have too much screen time or impact in the film.
There lies the problem, how do you balance so many characters? There is next to no character growth for many of them. They've all gotten to where they need to be in the series. The writing on Buzz is the worst in the film. The filmmakers don't know what to do, so they temporarily reset him, and he does the 'I'm an actual space ranger' routine that was shown in both the previous movies.
The only returning characters to get any real development are the aliens and Andy. The aliens' storyline is cute, as it brings them full circle with their relationship with the claw. Andy's arc is by far the strongest. He needs to decide what he'll do with his old toys. Will he throw them out, donate them, move them to the attic, or take them to college with him?
This film takes place a long time after the last one, and all the character's have aged dramatically during that time. This was another great move on Pixar's part, having animated characters age is something that has been needing to happen in entertainment for a while now. The fact that Pixar did this successfully opens the way for other animated movies to try similar scenarios.
For someone my age, (In their mid-20's,) there isn't a lot offered in the first act. For the first 40 minutes, it seems as if the film is coasting on their past successes. There aren't many funny jokes, and most of the humour is physically based. Pixar's usual wit seems dulled compared to it's other properties. While I acknowledge the technical achievements, their really wasn't much beyond the sombre tone to move to my demographic.
Thankfully, things pick up about a half hour in, as the toys arrive at a daycare, filled with colourful characters, and an introduction to a prison-like system overseen by a tyrannical teddy. This is where Pixar's one liners and visual gags start to shine. References to other prison movies are made, it all works fairly well and gives the movie a darker and more mature tone. There are still some problems with balancing the characters, and some re-treading of old grounds from previous films, but it's defiantly worth your time to see this part.
The third act is great right up until the conclusion. Pixar does their attempt at an escape genre, and in usual Pixar fashion, pull it off. The climax with the villain comes early on, and there is some depressing imagery in the last 10 minutes.
My major problem with the final act is the conclusion. I won't give away exactly what happens, but I will say that Pixar should have gone father with it. They should have damaged one of the toys, or separated them. Instead, the franchise leaves the door open for an easy to make sequel, with just a minor change in environment.
With that said, the ending did bring some people to tears, and they left it in a spot where they can't easily make another movie without re-treading old themes. It's not a bad ending, it's just a disappointing ending for Pixar. Still, this is a great kids film, (but unlike many of Pixar's other work, I'd hesitate to call it an all ages movie,) which accomplishes the rare feat of making a top quality trilogy, where all of their films are roughly the same quality.
Overall, I give Toy Story 3 an 8/10, if you're a kid, go see it, or if you absolutely love these characters, go see it. But if you've seen the original film in theatres when you were 8 or older, you might want to wait for this to come to DVD or Blu-Ray before paying full price to watch this.
Additional Article:
I added this since it's something I want to comment on, but it didn't fit with the rest of the review.
One of the main reasons that I didn't enjoy this film, is that my skeptical eye started seeing signs of unwanted Disney intrusion into the script. Pixar is known for doing stand alone movies, and with the exception of Toy Story 2, didn't have any sequels for its portfolio. Pixar was known as a studio that created original works and made them top quality. After Pixar was re-bought by Disney, I was afraid that Pixar would start to have more restraints on its creativity.
I'm beginning to see those restraints in this film. I can't help but feel that this film was not at the top of Pixar's writers' choices for production. With multiple sequels, it's simple economic to let the production start to slack and let the name of the film get people back to see it. Not that I am accusing Pixar of slacking off, but this film doesn't seem as good as the last ones they've released, and I'm afraid that this trend will continue.
The Pixar's film Newt, has been cancelled and The Bear and the Bow, (renamed Brave,) has been pushed back to make way for sequals like ,Cars 2 and Monsters Inc 2. While I don't expect the franchises to be awful, it now feels like Disney wants to start coasting on the success of its previous films, much like what Toy Story 3 felt to me like it was doing.
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June 25, 2010
Author: Mike M. |
