Toy Story 3 (Review)

Ladies and gentlemen, there are some very bad people in the world. Three, to be exact. Their names are Armond White, Cole Smithey and Jeremy Heilman. These are the only three film critics of note who, according to Rottentomatoes.com, have given the film Toy Story 3 negative reviews. Armond White believes the film is nothing but product placement. Cole Smithey of… wait for it… ColeSmithey.com (where he calls himself the "smartest film critic in the world") claims the film is not a quality 3-D film because “nothing floats in front of your eyes”. Enjoy Spy Kids 3-D then, Cole. We’ll stick with the quality entertainment. Last but not least is Jeremy Heilman of MovieMartyr.com, which looks like a web page I made in high school multimedia class, who claims that the third film merely recycles the plot of Toy Story 2, which he claims was an “unnecessary sequel to begin with.”

Anyone who has followed Pixar from the beginning knows they do not make unnecessary films. Why do you think they took eleven years to make this film? A lesser studio would have rushed all three films out within 5 years, but here they wait until there is an actual story for these characters to participate in, not to mention to claim Toy Story 3 is a rehash of the second movie is ignorant to say the least, and even if it was it would be rehashing one of the greatest animated films in recent memory, a list which Pixar knows a lot about in my book. However, two of the next three Pixar films slated to be released are sequels, so I might be a little concerned about the future.

We are not here to talk about the future, however, but we are here to talk about Toy Story 3, which is easily the best film to come out this summer season. It will receive my first four star review for a 2010 film. In a better year it might get knocked down a half-star, but as opposed to the god-awful summer we’ve had, and simply because of the pure joy one gets from seeing these characters on the screen again, Toy Story 3 pretty much wins me over by default.

I’m not going to do much plot description, because if you want to see Toy Story 3, you probably already have. I have only just seen it because of the hiatus I had last week. I had heard going in how good a film it was, and I was incredibly fulfilled. Some claim this film to be the best in the trilogy. I disagree, as I give the second film the edge, but this film is nearly an equal.

The most impressive part of this trilogy is not the gargantuan advancement we’ve seen it the animation over these fifteen years, but just how much emotional depth has been extracted out of a bunch of toys having adventures. Over the course of the three films the overriding theme has certainly been that of rejection. We have watched Woody been sidelined in favor of Buzz Lightyear, as well as Andy’s eventual growth and he forgets about his beloved toys. This brings us to this film, which goes even deeper and at one point dives right into the question of mortality.

This film is shockingly dark, at one point NEARLY to a fault, but never goes too far. At moments when I was surprised at the direction it was going, there was always a good shot of humor in the arm to retain the sense of fun. We're not talking Se7en here, but at times I wondered how I would have handled some of what I was seeing as a younger child. Perhaps this was intentional, as many of the kids who watched the first two films are now the age of Andy. Younger children might enjoy it simply because there are images moving on the screen, it worked for me, but I feel those who grew up with these characters will be most affected.

This brings us to the end, which for some might be too cheesy, but for me it was the perfect ending to a near-perfect series. We may be witnessing all kinds of rejection in these films, but this last scene provides the real thesis to the Toy Story saga. We grow older and leave things behind, but at the end of the day it’s the memory of it all. At the beginning of the film when Andy plans to take Woody to college, it’s not because he was going to bust him out and play “cowboy” on a Friday night. It’s because we all have objects that are representative of our childhood that we hang on to for the nostalgic value. We may keep them, we may pass them on. Either way, these items and memories have served their purpose. Not only do our toys do this, but the Toy Story films themselves have provided such a memory, and these are films that will never be forgotten.

Rating: (out of 4)

P.S.- I cannot attest to the use of 3-D, as I saw the film in 2-D. There is probably no reason to see it in 3-D if you don't want to spend the money, as I don't see what could truly be added to it. Of the films I've seen the only one in which 3-D has been an asset is Avatar, and in that case the 3-D was the only real attraction.