Third time's a Charm

Rating: 10/10 (19 June 2010)

I think the harshest thing I could say about the latest Pixar adventure, or Toy Story movie, for that matter, is even attempting to determine with Toy Story film is the best.
How Pixar does it blows my mind. Time and again. Sure, they start with what I consider the number one quality of any movie: story. Character depth and development ranks second for me. Despite all my male-counterparts that simply love action, things blowing up, beautiful women (or people,) etc., fall behind – far behind – the front two.
Toy Story 3 has all qualities needed to make a fantastic, adventurous and successful movie for tons of people of all creeds. But it puts both of my favorite staples first: excellent story with (yes, even animated) deep characters. And it's a lot of fun to boot.
Starting off with a literal bang, Toy Story 3 sets the scene early that these "Toys of Owner Andy" love to be played with. It's what they were made for, what they yearn for and it gives them hope and a soul. Unfortunately for them, like the expiration on food, (yes, even Twinkies, thanks Zombieland) kids grow up and out of toys.
Will Andy be faithful, keeping his prized Buzz Lightyear (Allen,) Woody (Hanks) or (most of) the rest of his toys, ones adults like me grew up with in Toy Story and Toy Story 2? Kinda.
As in usual Toy Story fashion, there are mishaps and the adventure begins! Follow the toy crusaders from this point on from Andy's house to the curb, from the day care of hell to new child's house and so on.
I would hate to even divulge in more of the secrets, twists, turns, comedy (and I mean roll on floor laughing humor), suspense or ideas presented. I can't imagine even some movie-goers on the fence that actually "have to decide" to see it.
As equally tough as it would be to rank all Pixar movies – though, I plan to – and rank these Toy Story movies in order, it would be equally hard to pinpoint the best parts of Toy Story 3, aside from to aforementioned great script and characters. But, I'll try.
I loved the monkey! Though brief, I laughed so hard every second he was on screen. Furthermore, I loved the other new characters, especially Mr. Pricklepants (Dalton.) I loved the intro. I loved the plan of escape. I loved the Ken "secret" references. I loved the español. I loved the comity (as found in the other Toy Story movies, but I would say it's most evident in this feature) between the leads, as well as newcomers. I loved the extreme attention to detail, the crispness of the film and the cinematography while never forgetting this is a cartoon. (And to add to that, by far, the graphics and technology has tripled this time around, even though the previous groundbreaking entries were still way above par.) I loved the overall comedy, including the tongue-in-cheek jokes. (I actually found myself laughing hard and out loud at some of the under-the-radar jokes that apparently no one else either caught or cared for. It was a tough and somewhat quiet crowd around me – aside from the annoying and crying kids and their equally inattentive guardians who don't know how to muffle their kids.) I love that as well created and designed it is, this could very well be a stand-alone feature, though it helps to see the first two and it does play homage to fans of the other Toy Story movies. So much so, it's hard NOT to get choked up in the finale, if you can make it that far without getting somewhat emotional.
That's just a short list. There's so much wonder and awe and it's jaw dropping that Pixar, or the returning voice talent/actors could pull this offagain. But they did. It's highly recommended, and I would say to see it on IMAX 3-D for the quality and grand scale – like I did, but Disney STILL has yet to shock me with their "version" of 3-D. I was blown away during the 3-D in Monsters Vs. Aliens, but here, like in Up, it was so-so. Thankfully, Pixar does know how NOT to rely on 3-D as a gimmick. They spend their money on the talent to create everlasting stories, fun and adventures.
Side Note: The preceding animated short, one I always look forward to prior to any Pixar film, Day & Night, was pretty good, and inventive, but not great. At least it featured Vegas.