Branching out and upping the ante in comparison to the first, but pulling it off with a certain charm.

Rating: 7/10 (19 July 2010)

There's little doubt Toy Story 2 attempts to go above the 1995 original; a sort of betraying of the first one's rules in keeping the realism of these toys coming alive and interacting with their surroundings for sake of greater escapades and larger adventures. In short, it works; but realising how absurd the film may have turned out and noting how grounded and enjoyable it turns out in actuality, is the true pleasure. In conforming to whatever written rule or code of conduct the toys seemingly had in the first film, in relation to keeping the magic of their life a secret from human beings, the first maintained a wondrously consistent close knit sense that avoiding all manner of extravagant activity was a good thing; rendering the finale with Syd in which the code is broken all the more dramatic and involving. Toy Story 2 sees the toys commit grand theft auto; cause a motorway pile up and execute all manner of expansive activity in airports, on runways and other such public places without much trouble - all whilst seemingly going unnoticed. But it is to the film's great credit we become so wrapped up in the tale, a tale of rescue; honour and friendship, despite these absurdities; as the ideologies and the true extent of the point of their existence in both the protagonist and supporting toys are questioned. This is certainly one of the most philosophical films about a child's play thing you'll ever see.
Like the first film, Toy Story 2 sees one toy excluded from the space of Andy's room at their new house after having successfully moved at the end of the first one. On this occasion, Woody is stolen at a junk sale on the front lawn of Andy's house during the rescuing of another toy up for sale; the crime perpetrated by an eccentric, chain store owning toy collector named Al (Knight) whom recognises Woody as a rare and expensive collectors item, also a part of a collection of Western themed toys from the 1950s. With an ultimatum in place, the going away of Andy to something called 'cowboy camp' during the summer holiday, the usual gang of Andy's toys in Buzz; Potatoe Head; Rex and Hamm venture off to find him - as Buzz and the other toys take off to rescue Woody before Andy gets home, the camera enjoys a slow crane upwards so as to encompass Al's high-rise which towers over all the other buildings as the magnitude of their mission is enforced.
Primarily, the study of a toy's fear of being replaced from the first film has been updated to that of a toy's shelf life running out in regards to an owner's lust to continue using them. 1995's Toy Story was a circular adventure unfolding out of the Utopian space that was Andy's room, an adventure which saw Woody having come to terms with having to coexist with a newer, fresher, more post-modern toy as Buzz's own arc was explored in that he was not, in fact, a space ranger himself. Here, the venturing away from Andy's new room allows Woody to come to terms with the 'issue' or 'problem' of Andy's growing older, and that it too is a serious topic infused within the life of a toy one needs to come to terms with and coexist with, leading to acceptance.
If anything, the film opens up with a mini-narrative of which resembles a short cartoon; the sort of which you might have play before the feature at a cinema years ago. The expanding of the opening short into this dramatic and blown out of proportion epic as Buzz Lightyear attempts to infiltrate and defeat his nemesis Emperor Zurg is systematic of Toy Story 2's own branching out into larger, more grandeur adventures. We ought to know it's not real, because Buzz resembles his old, deluded self. As the film develops and Woody is taken to a large high-rise marked with a sign in its reception stating "No Children", so as to further infuse the watching kids in the audience to 'side' with the toys and further dislike Al, Andy's toys strive to get him back and Woody himself encounters Jessie (Cusack), Stinky Pete (Grammer) and a horse named Bullseye; of which the four of them combine together to produce Woody's Roundup Gang, a franchise favourite with the kid's back in the 1950s.
The film is enjoyable in its inter-cutting of Al's own plight, which includes the bickering with some Japanese businessmen whom are purchasing the Roundup Gang, his strand providing short, sharp bouts of comedy; with Andy's toys' journeying to the building, as Buzz's superiority is emphasised in his cracking of whom the kidnapper is, and Woody himself facing a moral plight of his own in regards to whether he abandons Jessie, Pete and Bullseye so as to return to Andy. In particular, Woody's own arc sees him somewhat loose his head when it transpires he is quite the celebrity figure; both then and now, something that is observed and dealt with within the universe of the film as a relatively negative thing when said character realises there are things that are more important in life. The film wonderfully blends in all of this with its grander physical comedy and the cynicism of both Hamm and Potatoe Head, something that clashes with various other toys whom become involved along the way, one of whom is a second Buzz Lightyear doll acting as a short, sharp and refreshing inclusion. It's bigger, but not better; although thoroughly enjoyable all the same.