it even has Totoro!

Rating: Null/10 (14 June 2012)

A couple of days ago I watched TOY STORY 3 for the first time since 2010. It's really great to check it out now, without all the hype and stuff. I was one of the few who weren't EXTREMELY impressed with it back in 2010 (and who didn't like much when filmmaker Quentin Tarantino said it was his very favorite film of the year), but now I can enjoy it much more. I mean, it's not that I didn't like it back then (I watched it twice on the big screen, to tell the truth) but some people of my generation (I have, basically, the same age of character Andy) were saying that they cried with the ending and that it was the best movie ever and stuff; so I found all of that really annoying.
Anyway, with TOY STORY 3 I think in that "an expert always makes it (the difficult) look easy" sort of phrase. Why? Well, the story featured here deals with a natural transition: 10 or so years after the second film we have now Andy getting ready for college and certainly giving all of his attention to stuff like a laptop or a cellphone rather than to his once beloved toys (Woody, Buzz, Jessie and company). It may look like it was an easy decision to work on that transition but other company would have done something else; Pixar itself did a perfect example of the typical uninteresting sequel with CARS 2.
And certainly it's not just the decision but also how to develop the thing. Pixar did it just freakin' right here, in their traditional full-of-great-details fashion. Just take for example our introduction to the hard times the toys are going through: it's a desperate situation with a couple of phones and the toys trying to get Andy's attention – the natural transition is exposed perfectly and we immediately feel empathy with the characters plus, the whole thing ends with a pretty darn funny joke about Ebay! So yes, this is terrific stuff.
It's also worth noting Pixar's decision to have as new characters a couple of old and very famous toys: Barbie and Ken. Again, the development of the situations with these characters is brilliant; for instance, giving Ken some bullying problems for being a "girl's toy"! You'll find some truly hilarious material and for me they, Barbie and Ken, steal the show. And those great details are worth nothing too: from seeing Woody's hygiene to the ULTIMATE tribute to Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli! I just LOVED seeing Miyazaki's Totoro here as one of the toys (and even being hugged by Woody); one of the coolest movie things in recent memory. Terrific film: 9.5 out of 10.
*Watched it (again) on 11 June, 2012