Monday, September 13, 2010

Toy Story 3

Okay, I know the movie has been out a while now and I am unlikely to add anything of substance to great review by Steven Greydanus at www.ncregister.com so this will be short and sweet.
First, let me say that Pixar can virtually do no wrong. Everything they touch is gold so far as I am concerned and this movie is not exception. Once again, Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and some of the others (only some because many, such as Bo-Peep have left over the years) go through the trauma of Andy entering another stage in life. This time, Andy is heading to college and must at last "put away childish things." Naturally, the toys are terrified of what will happen, all except Woody and (to a lesser extent) Buzz who have faith that Andy will simply put them in the attic and perhaps they will be brought out of storage to play with his own kids someday. Suffice to say that isn't quite what happens and through a misunderstanding wind up at a day care center ruled by the tyrannical Lots o'Huggin Bear. Of course it seems like paradise at first and the everyone but Woody plans on staying. Woody however, recognizes a duty to Andy and he leaves. Before long though, he returns to aid in his friends' escape.
Along the way, we are treated to numerous examples of the importance and value of friendship in the standard non-cheesy Pixar way. In particular there is a moment in which all of the toys are literally staring death in the face. There simple gesture of solidarity (I'm blatantly ripping this off from Greydanus by the way) hits you right between the eyes, which just might shed a tear or two. Speaking of tears, if the end of the movie doesn't result in at least a watering of the eyes, you sir are not a human being (I almost ripped off Screenrant's wording there but they're right). I won't tell you what it is save for the fact that the toys and Andy do eventually separate and everyone apparently lives happily ever after.
As for the bad, there is very little here to talk about. Mostly it lies in the fact that there is some repeat material here. From the trailer, you already know that Buzz gets reset, thinking that he is a real Space Ranger again. Of course, this was the major thrust of the first one and we saw it again in the second one when another Buzz toy was unboxed. We also have a parallel between Stinky Pete and Lotso, both angry older toys who were slighted in some way and so rejected the natural order of the toy world and sought to impose their anger on others. They both have different reasons and ways of going about but they're off the same assembly line. Finally, there is the theme of rejection of being left behind as Andy moves on, be it to other toys (Toy Story 1), or simply growing up and moving past toys altogether (Toy Story 2 and 3). However, because the way that Pixar manages to not only add something new but to actually move the theme farther and deeper (except perhaps in the case of Buzz. There it's just something new.) where as lesser studio would simply repeat almost the exact same plot (Major League 2 anyone?) I'm not going to quibble a whole lot on this.
So, should you go see it? My only question is, why haven't you already?

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