One of Pixar's best

Rating: 10/10 (8 August 2010)

I've been a Pixar fan since the original Toy Story came out in 1995, and they have yet to disappoint. Toy Story 3 is a joyous adventure, a heartfelt examination of what it means to leave childhood behind, and an existential meditation on fate and death. Not to mention a brilliant send up of prison break movies. Heady stuff for what is ostensibly a summer kids flick. But the movie never misses a beat, and never seems overburdened with its weighty subject matter. It's a Greek tragedy that doesn't take itself too seriously (the climax contains the most literal deus ex machina ever committed to film). There are some scary bits, like a ratty baby doll and an evil monkey toy that are the stuff of nightmares, not to mention a harrowing sequence at the end involving a city dump, so it may not be appropriate for very young children. The last ten minutes or of the film contain a similar emotional wallop as the first fifteen minutes of Up. Pixar knows how to jerk the tears.