Pixar has maintained a legacy of high quality control unlike most other studios on the face of the planet but if the last decade has revealed anything, it's that nobody is infallible and while a certain level of base quality in everything they touch can be taken for granted, I had little reason to believe that a new "Toy Story" film extending the life of one of the few perfect trilogies of cinema would be anything but a cash grab.
I couldn't be happier to be more wrong.
Picking up from the end of "Toy Story 3," Andy's group of toys now find themselves living in the possession of Bonnie.
Living with a new kid however, means living with a new status quo, and pullstring cowboy sheriff Woody is learning that as loyal as he is to his kid, he has to get used to not being king of the hill the same way he was with Andy.
Compounding this adjustment is the arrival of Forky, an arts and crafts project made by Bonnie on her first day of kindergarten, who is given the same secret sentience of a toy, while opening up the question of exactly what a toy's purpose is, as Woody takes it upon himself to convince Forky to give the life of a toy a chance while Bonnie and her toys go on a road trip, reuniting him with former Andy toy Bo Peep and making him question the place he really has in Bonnie's possession.
Like its predecessors in the series before, "Toy Story 4" is definitely not lacking in metatextual discussion on the nature of life, growing up and accepting the reality that what we want and what we need are occasionally opposed to one another.
In fact, as somebody that has had the honor of seeing every single one of these movies in theaters on release weekend, the way that it seems to track the development of its initial generation via the lessons of its storytelling is not only downright eerie but partially why I just didn't see the point in continuing said story, which had previously wrapped up flawlessly with a reflection on growing up being difficult and scary but nevertheless rewarding.
While "Toy Story 4" doesn't feel quite as neatly fitting into the series' grand picture, it does however stand as an emotional and impacting organic continuation of the tale and themes of the series that remains above all else, clever, funny and fun viewing for the entire family.
Woody's reunion with Bo, living life as a travelling "lost toy," is thought provoking and heartfelt in ways you might not see coming and offering closure that you may not have even realized you wanted up to this point. Their tightly focused adventure never slows down, never reduces its cleverly constructed characters to one note gags and culminates in an ending that somehow feels even more definitive than its immediate predecessor.
Not content to simply rely on the heart of character investment to sell the movie however, the film features a ton of brilliant visual direction not only in its storytelling but in the form of clever jokes that might go over the heads of some audiences, such as certain visual references to the unpopularity of certain GI Joe figures or the Evel Knievel-esque Duke Caboom action figure and his falsely advertised stunt riding capabilities.
"Toy Story 4" is a true masterpiece of a film that belongs with the rest of its series as the best entries in Pixar's already impressive portfolio of work but in a summer that has been proving to be something of a dud where sequels to established franchises are concerned, it needs to be commended for reminding the world that success in Hollywood doesn't have to lead to inevitable downturn.
9 Missing Hand-Me-Downs out of 10
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