Toy Story 4

Score:  B+

Directed by Josh Cooley
Starring Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Christina Hendricks, Tony Hale, et. al.
Running time: 100 minutes
Rated G

Long Story Short:  Toy Story 4 is a somewhat surprising continuation of Pixar's flagship franchise, returning Woody (Hanks), Buzz (Allen) and the rest.  The film is positively bursting, with new characters, various plot lines, and, of course, laughs.  Not as consistent or as soaring as earlier entries, the fourth is still a very strong animated adventure.  Recommended for all.


Woody (Hanks) and Co. are happy with their new child owner, Bonnie, who plays with them just like Andy used to (even if Woody now gets left in the closet at times).  Bonnie is about to have a little less play time, though, as she's set to begin kindergarten.  At orientation, she feels lonely and makes herself a new toy from a plastic spork.  Bonnie becomes quite attached to it, but Woody is kept busy preventing Forky (Hale) from throwing himself away.  All the toys come along on a family road trip, but Woody and Forky soon get separated from the rest.  Making their way to the family's destination, they find old friends and new foes, learning new lessons both about becoming attached and finding your own way.

The Toy Story family, already filled with famous voices, adds quite a few welcome additions to its ranks in this fourth installment.  Tom Hanks's Woody remains the lead, ever the loyal and courageous toy.  Hanks's versatile, emotive work once again provides the dramatic, emotional anchor in a story with several familiar themes but also new ones that allow Woody some introspection.  Newcomer Tony Hale, as the improvised toy "Forky", is arguably the co-lead here.  With his high-pitched, cheerful yet nervous voice, Hale is a perfect choice for the obliviously, sometimes pitifully, amiable misfit.  Tim Allen's Buzz Lightyear is relegated to second-string in part four, although he is at least as funny here as before.  Bo Peep (Annie Potts) is technically a returning character, though she missed part three and is much different as well as more prominent in a lead role.  Potts does well showing her as a strong, independent woman (toy).  While the rest of the old gang is around, the only other significant parts go to newcomers.  My favorites are (Keegan-Michael) Key and (Jordan) Peele as prize toys Ducky and Bunny.  They are just as hilarious as you'd expect, bringing their own brand of humor but still fitting it neatly into the tone of the Pixar-verse.  Christina Hendricks plays a rather familiar-seeming villain, this one off-setting her ruthlessness with a cheery lighter side.  Finally, Keanu Reeves also (literally) crashes the party as Canada's own Duke Caboom.

Toy Story 4 is a very strong animated film and (final?) entry to the franchise that launched Pixar, although its world's very familiarity leads to diminishing returns.  For Part Four, the filmmakers retained much the same overall structure that we've seen before (at least until the end), while mixing things up more in the details.  There's yet another new toy (Forky), charming on its own yet threatening the old guard with competition for attention.  But not only is Forky not interested in this competition in the slightest, he's even (early on) unsure of his identity and purpose - an object of almost pure imagination and almost too blank of a slate, which is intriguing.  The "villain" is the most disappointingly self-plagiarized part of the film, tweaking just the surface details but basically the same as the Prospector or Lotso from previous films.  It results in part of the film's final act being fairly anti-climactic.  However, Bo Peep's rogue is a breath of fresh air.  She's untethered from any human - but unlike other toys in the series, she loves it.  The film very cleverly yet subtly combines this attitude with the form of another iteration of Hollywood's recent (and welcome) explosion of strong, interesting heroines.  Woody is helplessly drawn to her, at first by their past closeness, but then is unable to resist confronting the idea he has always been so strenuously opposed to: being childless.  On a more general level, Toy Story 4 is as funny as its predecessors, but less consistent in overall quality.  Buzz's revelation of his "inner voice" is hilarious, as are Bunny and Ducky's asides, though the film has less of the series' genius humor in its natural flow.  Similarly, the pacing is rather uneven; for example, most of Forky's development occurs early on before suddenly switching gears to the traditional toys-get-separated adventure (not surprising, as eight people are listed as working on the story).  While the journey is a little rougher along the way this time, the film's true ending is both pleasantly surprising and also appropriately sweet.

***

Toy Story 4 is yet another sequel, but like Spider-Man, represents a significant improvement to the summer's offerings.  Well over half the films I've seen this year - and all of the summer titles so far - have been sequels or remakes.  That's the result of my own choices, and there is a huge range in outcomes for these films (I've also avoided some prominent ones, like Godzilla - "fool me once..." - and Aladdin - "eh...").  Toy Story 4 is one of the franchises that has produced rewarding sequels, though both it and Pixar in general are probably at the point where going back to original ideas for awhile is for the best.  As I've said before, all of Hollywood could learn some valuable lessons by studying what this incredibly good animated studio has been doing for over twenty years now.  Sequel/remake fatigue or not, I highly recommend Toy Story 4 for families and anyone else.





* By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60272362

Spider-Man: Far From Home

Score:  B+

Directed by Jon Watts
Starring Tom Holland, Zendaya, Samuel L. Jackson, Jake Gyllenhaal
Running time: 129 minutes
Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Spider-Man: Far From Home is the latest film in the MCU superhero world, as young heroes like Tom Holland's Peter Parker look to fill the boots of RDJ and the old guard.  It works as both general, crowd-pleasing summer blockbuster and as an exciting vanguard of the franchise.  It overstretches in most areas just a bit, but that's based on the MCU's high standards; go see this whether you're an MCU devotee or simply want some summer fun in the theater.


Months after the Avengers restored order to the universe - and half its souls - society continues to adjust.  For Peter Parker (Holland), that includes strange effects on his high school, where he and many of his classmates pick up where they left off even as others - now five years older - have moved on.  He is relieved for the chance at a break via a field trip to Europe, and decides to leave his tights and web-slingers at home.  Meanwhile, however, new threats have already surfaced.  Nick Fury (Jackson) and Maria Hill find that what appeared to have been massive storms were actually attacks by elemental creatures.  These creatures came from another world in the multiverse, a byproduct of the crisis averted by the Avengers.  Fortunately, a new good guy, Mysterio (Gyllenhaal), came along with them.  Parker just wants to enjoy some quiet time, but finds himself pulled into the latest danger; soon he must decide what part to play in this dangerous new, post-Iron Man world.

Far From Home returns most of the cast from the MCU's first Spider-Man film, Homecoming, and adds one more famous name to it.  Tom Holland reprises his role as Peter Parker aka Spider-Man, and while it's his second "solo" movie, he has now appeared in five total MCU titles.  That means the audience is now comfortable seeing him - the third actor, and by far the youngest - in the famous role, yet there remained plenty of room to explore his new take on it.  The film focuses most on Parker's continued ambivalence over his role as Spider-Man, and Holland conveys this convincingly.  In his many scenes with his classmates, he fits in easily, as awkward and nervous around them as he is in battle.  He remains one of the MCU's most charismatic new stars, and has developed good chemistry with his cast mates, particularly Zendaya.  She, playing MJ, gets a significantly larger role this time, actively involved in both the action and personal moments.  While still mostly the same quiet girl with an air of indifference, MJ also breaks out of that mold here, particularly as her feelings for Parker grow.  Yet she maintains integrity of the character, something many young actors fail to do in such a transition.  Jake Gyllenhaal is a great new addition, a warm, father-like figure to Parker early on before revealing a delightfully weirder side as it goes on.  MCU mainstays Nick Fury (Jackson) and Happy (Favreau) are welcome presences; the latter gets perhaps his most interesting MCU part yet, while the former just feels a bit off.  Finally, the other students - and two teacher chaperones - get significant screentime; while amusing, they ham it up a bit too much occasionally.

Spider-Man: Far From Home definitively shows that the MCU still has plenty of creative gas left in the tank following Avengers: Endgame's epic conclusion to the first eleven years' worth of films.  It plays a similar role to the Ant-Man films - relatively light "chaser" diversions on the heels of massive Avengers adventures.  Still, while there is plenty in here for the MCU fan excited for the franchise's new direction, it is also a general crowd-pleaser, largely thanks to its coming-of-age dramedy elements.  Parker's pursuits of MJ are front and center, but even sidekick Ned gets his own romantic subplot; to go with this drama are the hijinks of a group of teenagers fooling around as tourists and their exasperated teachers giving chase.  Unfortunately, I found it to be a bit overdone, losing the subtle touch of Homecoming's school scenes.  Certainly plenty entertaining, still, but both the script and the performances almost seem to be grasping to match the intensity of the action.  This aspect, too, is amplified in comparison to the previous film.  Spider-Man and Mysterio's raging battles with elemental beasts (animated forces of water, fire and so on) are just the appetizer.  The action is best when Spider-Man is trying to save lives - stopping a building from falling down, for example - and a scene involving ever more elaborate illusions is a true highlight.  But it also drifts towards too big and too much at times, the screen becoming so busy with CGI that it begins to blur together.  Some of that busyness is a direct consequence of the plot, which is well conceived.  It's not hard to see from early on that it's going to have a major twist, but it's nevertheless a clever one.  Really, it's all good, from the plot to the action to the Parker scenes, with the MCU's typically high level of quality.  Pulling back on it all a little could have made it truly special, but it's still another strong superhero movie.

Now, as the MCU geek I am, I'll delve a little into details related to the franchise overall - so feel free to skip this, either if you're not interested or want to avoid SPOILERS!!!  As the first film post-Iron Man, Cap, and (???) Thor, Far From Home gives us some interesting possibilities while still leaving much up in the air.  The villain's mission, to manufacture artificial crises just so that he can play the "hero", makes perfect sense in a world with a major superhero vacuum.  There are still plenty out there, of course, but leaderless and recuperating (physically and otherwise).  Throughout the film, I felt there was something off about Nick Fury, so it relieved me but also horrified me when the post-credits scene showed that he and Hill were Skrulls in disguise the whole time.  I had really hoped that Captain Marvel would be the last we saw of those aliens, but apparently not.  Maybe it's just a one-off thing - but what the hell was that ship the real Fury was on?!  Finally, maybe most importantly, I'm glad that the film remembered Peter Parker is still just a teenager.  He's figuring himself out, and - despite his impressive abilities and tech - is vulnerable to clever, manipulative foes.  Obviously this is worth keeping in mind due to the other credits scene (JK Simmons is back!!!), but also something the MCU needs to replicate throughout its new chapter: the heroes just keep getting more and more powerful, from Black Panther to Captain Marvel, and they need their own challenges (perhaps even "kryptonite"), too.  But so far, so good.  Excited to see what's next for the MCU!

***

Spider-Man: Far From Home fortunately breaks a streak of disappointing sequels/spin-offs this summer, both maintaining the MCU's remarkable critical-approval streak as well as surely blowing up the box office.  We've been in uncharted waters with the MCU for years now - how it can sustain both critical and popular success while producing multiple new films each year, each of which is strongly tied to all the others - but now we'll see if it can survive the loss of its three leading/ "founding" actors.  Hollywood and theaters increasingly depend on not just the superhero genre but specifically the unprecedented success of the MCU; Endgame and Captain Marvel are #1 and #2 this year, combining for more than 20% of the entire box office.  Here's the thing: Marvel hasn't been making extraordinarily entertaining, high quality clones for these 11 years.  It's improved, taken chances, and pushed cinema to new places with its continuing narrative form.  That is a formula not exclusive to Marvel, and if Hollywood wants to survive and thrive in this new media world, it should take notes.





* By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60832103