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