Review: Toy Story 4
They really did it again. Pixar actually went out and made pure greatness AGAIN! I honestly cannot figure out how they manage to keep capturing such amazing stories for the 'Toy Story' characters with such consistency.
'Toy Story 4' follows all of our favorite toys in yet another wild adventure, but this time, with a brand new addition. As Bonnie enters kindergarten, she makes a new friend, Forky. As he becomes aware of the situation, a new adventure begins.
For the sake of getting them out of the way, I'll begin with my negatives of the movie.
In all of the fun of this movie, there was a LOT of heart. However, the attachment to Bonnie did not feel as natural as I would have hoped. This could easily just be due to my love of Andy and the fact that I will never be able to embrace a different kid in the same way. Despite this, the movie was not built to form a love of the 'new kid.' It was structured to follow Woody's crisis of finding his place with Bonnie. At this, the film was an incredible success.
Woody undoubtedly had a very heavy story, yet it was handled with incredible grace. I genuinely believed that this series was wrapped up perfectly by the third installment, which made me nervous about the announcement of a fourth. They managed to bring new life (literally, in the case of Forky) to the franchise and threw a curve ball at Woody. His sense of duty in this film was nothing short of admirable (yes, I said that a toy was admirable).
I was surprised only a few minutes into the film when I felt truly nervous for the characters. This is probably a testament to the brilliance of the first 3 films, but I was already engage by my previously established love for the wonderful characters.
As the film progressed, I was skeptical of the villain. It was not until later that I realized how well they had crafted yet another antagonist to which I would inevitably feel sympathetic. The climax of the movie gave an opportunity to showcase all of our favorite characters yet again. It also gave a chance to showcase one of my new favorite characters, Duke Caboom. Along with him, I also adored the new characters Ducky and Bunny, which I hope we could see featured in a short of their own.
I truly do not know how to fully express how much I adored this film. It is one that you absolutely must see! Pixar created another funny, heartfelt, and absolutely wonderful installment for one of the greatest series to date.Woody's arc made me want to cheer, cry, and simply applaud the studio for such an incredible trip to the theater.
If you have not seen it yet, drop everything and rush out, because this is not one that anybody should miss.
