A Sequel That More Than Holds Its Own

Rating: 10/10 (20 November 2000)

The follow-up to 1995's masterpiece, "Toy Story 2" manages to compliment the striking execution of the original while opening up the emotional depth the first film exhibited so successfully. The plot is cleaner than the original (Woody the Cowboy is kidnapped by a greedy toy store owner to complete a set being shipped to a Japanese museum for megabucks) but the conflicts that arise are more complex (Woody is torn between two loyalties: his friends at home and his reunited family; and the toys are made to realize their mortality as their owners grow up and discard them) and the satire more profound (collectibles as pure profit centers). The sublime voice cast of the first is reunited here (Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Wallace Shawn, Annie Potts, John Ratzenberger, Jim Varney, Don Rickles, Laurie Metcalf) but the addition of Wayne Knight, Kelsey Grammer and especially Joan Cusack (as Jessie, Woody's sidekick little sister) is equally as fantastic. In short, a sequel that more than holds its own--how often can you say that?