Every time I have heard about a Toy Story sequel I have had the same reaction. No sequel is ever really needed, but Toy Story felt as if it was even more deserving than most to be left as a solo feature. Then things went very well with what became a fantastic trilogy. All good. Crisis avoided. Then Toy Story 4 was announced. Oh dear. Thankfully, it was fun and entertaining. It still felt unnecessary, but it didn't do anything to really drag down the series. Now we have Toy Story 5. Oh dear.
Toys are now facing some kind of extinction event. Tech is taking over. Children are starting to replace proper play time with time spent looking at screens. While toys don't want to be abandoned, few feel more pained by the thought of that fate than Jessie (Joan Cusack). She's been through that before, and takes it very personally when her owner, young Bonnie, is seduced by the glowing screen of a piece of tech named Lilypad (Greta Lee). So begins a quest to get Bonnie offline and connected with other children, although every other child also seems happier to be looking at a screen now.
Co-written and co-directed by Andrew Stanton and McKenna Harris, the best thing about Toy Story 5 is the fact that it's very much focused on Jessie. Fans of the series will remember how sad her backstory is, and you should prepare yourself to be manipulated some more throughout this adventure, but I would argue that it deserves better treatment when being used as the spine of a full narrative. Without spoiling anything, there's one scene here that is supposed to be quite uplifting and revelatory, but I think the whole film would have been all the better if that moment was played to move us into much darker and more complex territory. That would be a trickier sell for kids, of course, but if anyone can do it then Pixar can.
As you'd expect, this looks absolutely gorgeous throughout. While I have fond memories of the first film in this series, there's no doubt that each instalment has seen the talented people at Pixar improve and refine their craft. The textures here are so realistic that there are times when you feel as if you're watching some actual footage of toys that have been caught moving around of their own accord.
The voice cast are also very good in their roles. Many people return, including Cusack, Tom Hanks, and Tim Allen, and Lee is a great choice for the calm and savvy Lilypad. She would be the main highlight, in fact, if it wasn't for Conan O'Brien, who voices a potty-training device named Smarty Pants. Offering some inventiveness and sheer fun that is sadly lacking elsewhere throughout the film, O'Brien is the best thing about this sadly disappointing mess, although I should also namecheck Ernie Hudson, a cameoing Alan Cumming, Shelby Rabaram Craig Robinson, and Tony Hale returning to the role of Forky. Everyone else does very good work with what they're given, but these feel most deserving of being in a much better film.
Coming along so soon after Disclosure Day, this is a strangely appropriate film to sit alongside that one. It's another blockbuster from someone very talented who now feels stuck in place while so many others have raced ahead. And the fact that the film-makers can't even maintain a strong stance set up by the main premise feels either like a) they knew that would be an impossible position, but figured the rest of the film would work well enough anyway, or b) they didn't want to upset the companies that make so much money from selling us our tech and apps and social media bubbles.
The fact that Toy Story 5 isn't as funny as I hoped it would be isn't the biggest problem. It's not really being sold as a comedy, after all. The fact that it stumbles around the main ideas being explored isn't the biggest problem either. The intentions are clear, and one or two moments still manage to work, especially in the best moments that were featured in the trailer. The biggest problem this film has is not knowing what to do with a handful of beloved characters. Jessie feels as if she's being forced to pick at her scars, Woody wanders in to basically show that he's still around, and Buzz Lightyear . . . well, Buzz once embraced the fact that he could fall with style. Now he can fly. And that might best exemplify how the series has now moved too far away from the fun feeling of "let's pretend" that was locked into so many frames of the previous films.
4/10
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When i rewatched 4 the first time this year, I was astonished by how jarring it was compared to the first three films. I don’t have any issue with the Bo Peep character concept, but it was so far beyond what we had previously seen from Bo’s calm demeanor that it didn’t feel like Bo Peep; she might as well have been a new character. Had they acknowledged that this was a departure from her characterization in Toy Story 1-2 and more thoroughly explored what experiences got her to this point, I wouldn’t have had a problem with this. But instead, they suggested that this was the character Bo has always been, as reflected in the flashback scene in the beginning of the film. When Woody climbs onto Molly’s desk to look out the window, she strikes an action pose with her cane and immediately springs into action for the rescue mission, something she never did besides asking Rocky Gibraltar to lower the van ramp in the first film. For a film so otherwise careful about honoring the legacy of its predecessors, this felt like a jarring retcon. Andy’s others toys don’t even do anything; I honestly could not tell you anything most of them contributed to the story. Jessie felt particularly underutilized - she did contribute to the arc of Woody feeling a lack of purpose, but this was when she was in toy mode, and so ultimately this was instigated by Bonnie. She also lacked any notable interactions with Buzz, a big disappointment given how much fun those previously proved to be. Mr. Potato Head’s involvement is excused due to the passing of Don Rickles, but the others really felt tossed aside. The aliens saved the lives of the entire main cast at the end of Toy Story 3. Did they even have a single line of dialogue here? Having Bonnie forget Woody and Woody leaving the gang, I cannot help but feel it detracts from the overarching story of the films as a series. In Toy Story 3, Andy never intends to give Woody away to Bonnie, and only does so when he sees that she is visibly attached to him. He’s reluctant, but ultimately decides that Bonnie is the right kid for Woody, and asks her to take extra special care of him. That entire interaction was so delicately crafted to make us feel comfortable with the toys moving on to a new owner. But in the small amount of time implied to have happened in between Toy Story 3 and 4, Bonnie becomes so disinterested in Woody that he feels comfortable leaving her. In setting up this new character arc for Woody, they effectively take away from the character arc with Andy and Bonnie, which feels dissatisfying when looking at the films as a series.
ReplyDeleteExcellent points, and your memory of the overarching character developments of the series is a lot better than mine, but you're right. I at least had fun with Toy Story 4, despite it having to move elsewhere, and despite it lacking the impact of 3. 5 was, sadly, no fun, and maybe part of that is very much to do with what you've observed.
DeleteThe implication the series may have more sequels after 5 on the way might be too much even for the most ardent TS fans. I don't get the appeal of seeing heroes from our youth coming back again and again, especially when they seem to have a perfect ending. As kids, we love it but as adults, one finds that we really need to accept series ending. It's almost a bit tiresome seeing these old characters and franchise coming back, especially when some of the original actors have passed or are clearly sounding older.
DeleteToy Story's peak really was with the first two films and the third film which acted as the first proper ending. The fact it was made as a finale worked
With the fourth film which I personally liked, the ending wasn't the same as the first three films did. When 4 came out, the series kinda still had it but it still wasn't quite there. Then knowing 5 is a thing, with the implication there are others coming, it's really watching the franchise trying to still return, despite its characters growing old in some way to, with now replacements for the Potato heads voice actors.
I can understand those who feel it should have stopped with 3. That's rough. I only want to remember the TS franchise from the first two films and the third. That's the same with the My Little Pony franchise. I only want to remember it when FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC was a thing. When the franchise was in its peak.
And we now have to see what they do with a 3rd movie in the Finding Nemo series, which is risky (because I loved both Nemo and Dory).
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