Rated G, the Pixar-Disney Toy Story 5 film is for everyone in the family.
Adults won’t be bored or nod off with Toy Story 5.
There’s no need to walk into the cinema with low expectations.
After enjoying the latest entry in the franchise, the next best thing is to look for a streaming service or haul out your DVDs and watch the other four.
Toy Story 3 was the benchmark to run the emotional gamut from A to Z.
There was laughter and an ending evoking genuine tears.
Everything you liked and enjoyed about the others in the Toy Story line-up will please again and you’ll have a genuinely good time watching it.
This new one, some three decades after the initial Toy Story, gives Jessie the Cowgirl (Joan Cusack) a long-deserved spotlight, along with her floppy horse Bullseye.
She’s out to rescue children’s play with real toys.
Jessie more than deserves to take centre stage.
The child is Bonnie and we do get a good backstory as we see her discard her toys for something new and, in many ways, almost destructive.
A “toy” called Lilypad (Greta Lee) has been added.
She’s among those collectively identified as digital devices, those noisy little things held in the hand that grandpa and grandma refer to as “Ditta ditta dat dat dat”, a faux imitation of any device’s sound.
There is a strong social commentary throughout the animated movie on technology’s impact on childhood.
It addresses the broader issue of the consequences of leaving children at the mercy of the digital age.
Not a traditional villain, for sure, but the warning placed front and centre won’t overpower your wanting to chuckle or choke up, maybe enjoy a tear-inducing moment, as children stare like zombies into screens using a finger to scroll, poke and swipe without ever looking up to see someone and possibly make a real live friend, and then participate in the important activity called ‘play’ (with toys).
New among the toys is a toilet-trainer named Smarty Pants (Conan O’Brien).
O’Brien has been asked to host the presentation of the Academy Awards in 2027.
Look for a Best Song nomination for I Knew It I Knew You sung by Taylor Swift.
Just guessing that with her worldwide popularity, Oscar felt it was time to give her a movie song and a chance at the golden statuette.
Sung over the end credits, it’s quite delightful.
Don’t miss out on the hiccup conclusion (an animated story tag).
The film’s opening shows many boxed Buzz Lightyear action figures washed up on a deserted island.
Self-activated, remotely enabled by Wi-Fi, the unboxed Lightyears join forces with the toys and are, somehow, elevated, upgraded into a more exciting toy.
You have to watch the movie and see the upgrade and how they function with or without command.
All the old toys are there, including Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen).
Some who have loved the other Toy stories may find preferred characters getting less screen time, particularly Woody and Buzz, but it’s no big sacrifice unless, that is, from past films they are your favourites.
Woody and Buzz being underwhelming in this new movie, well, their stories have already been told and concluded, even after the problems that hurt Lightyear in Lightyear (2022).
None have carried into Toy Story 5, even with the myriad of new Lightyear poseable models.
Producer Pete Docter may have injected his personal snicker into the film showing how much time has passed since release of the original Toy Story (1995).
Whenever Woody removes his cowboy hat, the toys react adversely to the bald spot on the back of his crown, where sunlight reflects off it like a mirror.
Toy Story 5 has the most challenging conflict in the series, especially because children and adults can relate to what’s happening in today’s world.
We are constantly warned about technology’s influence on the human race.
We need Jessie and Bullseye to the rescue!
Movie: Toy Story 5
Duration: 102 mins
Director: McKenna Harris and Andrew Stanton
Starring: Voice talents of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Greta Lee, Conan O’Brien
Rating: ****
Reviewed by Lawrenty
