Pixar pulled it off yet again

Rating: 10/10 (12 July 2010)

Let me start off by saying that I am not a fan of sequels. Never have been. The idea of squeezing a few more bucks out of people by rehashing a successful title, I find despicable. Even though I am a Pixar fan, I thought "Toy Story 2" was their weakest release to-date. But THIS movie, well, this is a work of art on its own right. Calling it a sequel is like saying that "Wicked" is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz. The love to the characters and the story shines through every scene, and the emotions the movie invokes are genuine: you will laugh, you will cry, and you will sometimes do the two simultaneously. The folks at Pixar continue to amaze me by topping both their CGI abilities and their storytelling abilities each and every time. Here, CGI highlights include clutter, voluminous light and fire effects. (When I watched James Cameron's Avatar I distinctly recall thinking "well, they've got the water, fabric and skin right. I guess we'll have to wait until Pixar makes a fire movie in order to see realistic CGI flames...") Clutter we already saw much of in Wall-E, and other stuff (fur, facial expressions, gravity, wind, etc.) that Pixar pioneered in earlier films now take their places in the background, making the world of "Toy Story 3" much more real and large than in earlier movies, without upstaging anything.
I will not go into the storytelling for fear of spoiling any surprises, but I will say this: it is good. Humor, action, relationships, story, pacing - everything finds its place here, and even though one would rightfully say that parts of the plot have been rehashed from earlier Toy Story movies, Pixar did take (as it always does) some risks with the plot, and these risks paid off: the story comes together better than ever.
Pixar returns to its roots here. The movie, tone-wise, is far from Pixar's latest installments, but in this return to the roots Pixar continues to show that it did not lose its mastery in the art of animation storytelling. The CGI, spectacular though it is, does not serve as an excuse for making a "like live-action only animated" movie. Every character - from Ken the doll to Slinky Dog - is explored for its graphic/physical potential and how this reflects its own emotionality and its relationship with the other characters. In short: an animator's dream.
I had lots of fun watching this movie. It's been a while since I've been able to say that.
Two thumbs up from me. I don't know how Pixar does it every time, but the folks there certainly pulled it off yet again, setting a new bar for all others to gawk at and envy.