Movie Review | Toy Story 4

Nine years after the emotionally cathartic Toy Story 3, a perfectly fitting conclusion to Pixar’s signature franchise, my first thought about Toy Story 4 was, “Why bother?” The previous installment took our plastic protagonists to the literal brink of death – what more can the studio do with them? Yet Pixar still stands for a certain level of quality, in spite of sequel burnout, so I bought a ticket to Toy Story 4, figuring that, no matter what, at least it wouldn’t be bad.

Toy Story 4
Directed by Josh Cooley – 2019
Reviewed by Mark Tapio Kines

And, of course, it isn’t bad. In fact, it’s delightful.

The plot quickly falls into the typical Toy Story routine: some character gets stuck/lost, in a milieu somewhat relevant to toys (here an antique shop), and the rest of the gang must save him while keeping out of the eye of humans.

Toy Story 4 freshens up the proceedings with a slew of new characters, chief among them “Forky”, a handmade concoction consisting of a spork, pipe cleaner, and googly eyes. Voiced by Tony Hale, who was born to voice animated characters, Forky is convinced that he is not a plaything but a piece of garbage, in a running gag that, thankfully, is not played for pathos but for comedy. After a series of mishaps, Forky winds up in the aforementioned antique shop and is held hostage by a 1950s dolly (Christina Hendricks) who yearns for a working voice box. Woody, Buzz, etc. to the rescue.

The film relies heavily on the basic Toy Story premise that every toy’s purpose is to be loved by a human child, while simultaneously challenging this philosophy in the guise of the porcelain Bo Peep (Annie Potts), who, after being left out of Toy Story 3, reemerges as a “lost toy” who cherishes her independence. As a love interest for Tom Hanks’s Woody, Bo may in fact be Pixar’s most physically attractive creation, confusing the budding young hormones of children everywhere.

Toy Story 4 is sweet, often adorable, and serves up a number of solid laughs. Its backgrounds are photo-real, its narrative clockwork-precise. On most levels, it’s a perfect film. Yet a day after seeing it, I still feel that there’s something inessential about it – that even if this serves as another proper goodbye to the franchise, like Toy Story 3, there’s nothing stopping Pixar from giving us a Toy Story 5 a few more years down the line.

> Playing at ArcLight Cinemas – Pasadena, Regal Edwards Alhambra Renaissance & IMAX, Highland Theatres, AMC Santa Anita 16, Regal UA La Canada, Pacific Theatres, Studio Movie Grill, and AMC Montebello 10.

Mark Tapio Kines is a film director, writer, producer and owner of Cassava Films. You can reach Mark here.