Not hilarious but just an excellent all-round film with poignancy, adventure, comedy and drama in one wonderfully animated package

Rating: Null/10 (22 August 2010)

It was during a recent trip back home to Northern Ireland to see my parents that I ended up seeing Toy Story 3 – a film I had been looking forward to seeing for a while. This meant that the film was in 2D (which I was fine with – not a big 3D fan) but also on a smaller than average screen, which irritated me a little given that it was in combination with my parents desire to sit far from the screen. During the trailers I was a bit annoyed by this as I felt the film was a mile away and I thought this would contribute to me feeling remote from the film itself.
This worry failed to materialise because very quickly I was thoroughly engaged with enjoying the main feature. It has been years since I saw either of the first two films but I remember them being very strong indeed and this second sequel offers more of the same in terms of quality storytelling and production. I seem to remember the other two films having more big laughs and more rapid fire comedy to them, but this might just be my memory. TS3 is not as hilarious as I had expected it to be, but it does still manage to be funny with plenty to laugh at in the detail, the ideas and the dialogue. More than comedy though the story is the all and it is not only very well written but also very well realised and delivered.
Although I did not cry (as many critics claim to have done) I did find the film to contain just the right amount of poignancy and for it to be done in the right way so that it is touching and personal without becoming obvious or cloying. Aside from this though the main thrust of the film is an adventure with moments of thrills, genuinely dramatic moments and one specific scene (in the incinerator) which is incredibly dark considering this is a child's film (dark in a good way, not disturbing or bad). It is impossible to put I on one thing but it is telling that, considering the sheer technological feat that is your average Pixar film, one almost forgets the animation simply because of how good the story and storytelling are.
Of course the animation should not be forgotten because it is excellent. Not only is it technically impressive but it is rich in detail and done in a way that deserves awards for cinematography, lighting and set design if it was not for the fact it is all animated. In fact both the animation and storytelling compliment each other perfectly simply because the animation is so good it allows the viewer to totally accept the world of the narrative while the narrative is strong enough to prevent us being focused on the technical aspects. Within all this it would be equally easy to forget the voice cast simply because so much of the performance is done on the faces and body language of the characters (which is back to the animation again). Hanks, Allen, Cusack, Harris, Rickles, Shawn, Ratzenberger and all the usual cast do great work yet again to deliver the emotions as well as the wit, Hanks in particular is great as he has to carry a lot of that. Keaton and Beatty are the standouts from the new voices but the use of Dalton, Goldberg, Garlin and others is also welcome.
Toy Story 3 is yet another triumph from Pixar – a stable that makes it look easy almost every time. At a time when film franchises are make a third film simply so they can make a 3D film, the Toy Story series do not let the standard drop even slightly and produce a very strong film across the board, from technical to storytelling. Who would have thought that one of the best film trilogies made would be a family cartoon about toys that come to life when the humans leave the room?