Josh Reviews Toy Story 5

One could be forgiven for assuming that Toy Story 5 might not be worth your time.  It’s the FIFTH sequel to a film that was made almost thirty years ago (back in 1995).

And yet, I am here to tell you that Toy Story 5 is another stone cold masterpiece from the fine folks at Pixar.  It’s a gorgeous film, with spectacular animation.  It’s deeply emotional, and extremely moving at points.  It’s a film that has a lot to say about the way technology has taken over the lives of children (and adults as well).  It’s also fun and funny and a rollicking good ride.  I loved every minute of it.  Bravo to director and co-writer Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, WALL-E, Finding Dory, who has redeemed himself in my eyes after the disappointment of John Carter), along with co-writer Kenna Harris.

(Is the Toy Story film series the most consistent film series ever made?  I love every one of the sequels, each in its own way.  What other film series have managed to hit such consistent highs, without a misstep??  This might be a good subject for a future blog…)

As Toy Story 5 opens, all is well in the lives of Jessie, Buzz, and the other toys in young Bonnie’s room.  But their world is about to be overturned when Bonnie’s parents buy her a frog-themed tablet device (a Lilypad “Lily”).  Suddenly, Bonnie’s entire life seems consumed with this device, and she no longer has any interest in playing with her toys.  When Bonnie’s Lily connects her to a group chat with other girls Bonnie knows, it seems at first like this “tech” might be helping Bonnie — but then the group chat turns ugly, and Bonnie’s self-confidence takes a nosedive.  What are the suddenly obsolete Toys to do??  Meanwhile, a cargo container full of Buzz Lightyear toys crashes on a deserted island, but the Buzz toys band together and start heading back to civilization…

It’s a brilliant idea to bring tech and screens into the Toy Story world.  It’s the steepest challenge our Toys have ever had to face, and one that we the audience are unsure they can win!  This is fodder for great drama, and the Toy Story films have always been at their best when the stories have something to say about the lives of young kids growing up.  And this film has a lot to say about the destructive and damaging potential of tech and screens, especially for children.  Even though this movie is about the first arrival of phones/tablets/etc. (a moment that seems like an impossibly long time ago), it has a LOT to say about our lives right now, today.  I really appreciated that aspect of the film’s story.  It’s nice to see a sequel that feels like it has a strong reason to exist, with an interesting new story to tell, rather than just being a cash-in.

I won’t spoil the ending, but I want to say I was impressed with how the film resolved this toys-vs-tech conflict.  As the film was unfolding, I wondered how this would wrap up.  We know that tech seems to be here to stay — so were the Toys going to lose?  (I didn’t think so.)  Would they win in a fake way that was contrary to the reality we’re living in?  And was it hypocritical for a computer animation company to take a luddite, anti-tech position?  I’m pleased that the film found a way to resolve these contradictions into an ending that felt satisfying and correct to me.

While the two main Toy Story leads, Woody and Buzz, both still have major roles in this movie, I was thrilled that Mr. Stanton, M. Harris & the Pixar team chose to center the story on Jesse (voiced by Joan Cusack).  Jesse was a marvelous introduction to the series in Toy Story 2, and I’ve always enjoyed her character.  Seeing as the Toys are now owned by a little girl, Bonnie (instead of the boy, Andy), it makes sense to me that Jesse would be Bonnie’s favorite Toy, rather than Woody or Buzz.  I’m also glad they didn’t ignore or negate the ending of Toy Story 4, in which Woody left the other toys in order to be with Bo Peep; another reason why it makes sense that Jesse is now the “Sheriff” in Bonnie’s room.  More importantly than all that, it’s about time for a female character to take center stage in a Toy Story movie!  I love the way they managed to revisit Jesse’s trauma that was a key part of her backstory in Toy Story 2, and turn that into the driving force of her story arc here.  This was beautifully done.  I found Jesse’s story to be very moving.

I also loved, from the very first minute, the wild side-story of the army of abandoned Buzz Lightyear toys banding together and making their way from a desert island, across the sea and into civilization.  This was so wonderfully strange and funny!!  I loved the big swing of this story; it’s a perfect counterpoint to the internal, psychological drama happening in Bonnie’s room.  It’s part of the magic of this series that it can be huge and strange and funny while also being intimate and sweet.  I loved every moment with the army of Buzzes.  Watching them work together to solve one impossible problem after another was amazing!  (This story also finally clarified for me a key point in how the Toy Story universe works.  When the Buzzes first encounter a human being, we see how surprised they are at the way their bodies automatically freeze and fall immobile to the ground.  I’m not sure I ever quite understood that this happened to the Toys completely without their control.  Fascinating!!  I loved that piece of world-building.)

I’m glad the movie also gave us plenty of time with Woody and Buzz together.  While it felt like something of a step back that they’d fall back into their pattern of competitive bickering, I can go with this, because it’s fun to see those characters once again irritating one another.  Tim Allen and Tom Hanks are still fantastic together, even after all these years.  I’m happy that many of the other familiar Toys from the previous films got some good moments: Wallace Shawn as Rex, John Ratzenberger as Hamm, Blake Clark as Slinky Dog, Kristen Schaal as Trixie, and more.  I was happy to hear Bonnie Hunt back as Bo Peep, though after Bo was such a major part of Toy Story 4, I was sad they mostly kept her on the sidelines for this installment.  I was happy that Keanu Reeves and Tony Hale returned from Toy Story 4 as Duke Caboom and Forky, though!  (We get to see Ducky and Bunny, who were also introduced in Toy Story 4, but sadly we don’t get to hear their voices, so wonderfully played in the last film by Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele.)  Don Rickles and Estelle Harris, who played Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head, have both passed away, so here those characters were voiced by Jeff Bergman and Anna Vocino.  Similarly, Carl Weathers, who voiced Combat Carl, has also passed away, so here Carl was voiced by Ernie Hudson (a great choice).

We got some terrific new characters.  Conan O’Brien was perfect as the Smarty Pants, a toy designed to help kids get toilet trained.  What a great idea for a new Toy Story character, and what an inspired casting choice in getting Conan for this role!  He was hilarious, of course.  I also deeply loved Smarty Pants’ friends Atlas (a GPS toy, voiced by Craig Robinson) and Snappy (a toy camera, voiced by Shelby Rabara).  Greta Lee (Russian Doll, Tron: Ares) was fantastic as the main antagonist, Lilypad “Lily”.

I adored this film.  It was a phenomenal time in a movie theatre.  The film is fun and thrilling and funny and sweet and moving.  The animation is world-class, with one spectacular sequence after another.  I don’t think I could have wished for anything more!