Toy Story 3: Movie Review

Toy Story 3: Movie Review

Toy Story 3
Rating: 9/10
Cast: Woody, Buzz, Mr and Mrs Potato Head, Hamm, Rex, Andy, Jessie, Bullseye, Ken, Barbie - and many more
Director: Lee Unkrich
It's taken over a decade for the third Toy Story film to hit the screens - and man, was it worth the wait.
In this outing, Woody (Tom Hanks) and the rest of the Toy Gang (including Tim Allen's Buzz Lightyear) are worried they'll be left behind as their beloved owner Andy is about to leave home and head for college.
Faced with the option of being put in a bag in the attic, donated, binned or taken to college, reality hits hard for the group when Andy selects only Woody for a college toy buddy.
It gets even worse when a mix up sees the toys -along with Woody- accidentally donated to the local daycare, Sunnyside.
But the toys see it as a new lease on post Andy life - being played with daily is their view of a heaven.
How wrong they are.
Within moments of being there, they're mauled, smashed, vandalised and generally brutalised - and as they try to escape, they find their quest to get back to Andy's house hampered at every turn by Lotso Hugging Bear (voiced by Ned Beatty) who despite smelling of strawberries, has a bitter attitude on a toy's life..
It's upto Woody to once again save the day.
Toy Story 3 is an emotional blast - from the moment the lights went down in the IMAX theatre (you must see it on the biggest screen possible) to the moment someone utters the words "So long partner", this is epic, funny, heart warming stuff.
It starts off in the best possible way with an audacious scene which shows Woody as an action hero as he races to save a train load full of orphans from dying at the hands of the Evil Dr Pork Chop aka Hamm (aka John Ratzenberger). Quite simply it's a brilliant opening which showcases everything great about the Pixar animation fold - witty dialogue, ambitious scope coupled with child like imaginations.
Throughout the film, there's loads of great throwaway lines from various characters which pay homage to the fact they're now past it - "Let's see how much we're going for on eBay" being one of the best. And Pixar's even updated the world they live in - with Andy's sister wearing an iPod - how much the generation's changed in that decade.
(Although I have to admit, there's probably some who will say that it follows a similar pattern to other Toy Story films in that Woody, Buzz and the gang are all separated from Andy and have to return to him - so there's little else for them to explore story wise.)
But what hasn't changed is the story telling - warmth and heart and big adult issues like abandonment and facing your fate are in plentiful supply here. Along with new characters (the likes of Ken, Timothy Dalton's thespian hedgehog, Chuckles the Clown to name but a few), there's so much to love here. Ken in particular is one of the highlights - check out an exclusive scene which never made it to Toy Story 3's cinema release here to get some idea of his character!
Be aware though that parts of this film are like a nightmare for the younger end of the audience as they bubble with dark visions of life. A climactic final sequence which sees Woody and the gang facing the perils of the landfill is brooding, moody and full of adult angst - and even made one child in this preview start screaming.

All in all, Toy Story 3 is a delight; a real crowd pleasing treat to end perhaps one of the best trilogies of all time. Chocked full of gorgeous animation and genuinely funny lines, you may find yourself leaving the cinema wiping away tears of joy.