Great conclusion, NOT a great movie, but entertaining still

Rating: 7/10 (29 October 2010)

Toys haven't come alive on the big screen in over ten years, which means that Toy Story 3 when it comes, comes with presentation, and promise, but is it a great movie.....no, just a good one.
The problem is not so much that the Disney/pixar crew fail to rejuvenate the life of their toys after ten years, the problem is that frankly, the movie doesn't feel all that clever. It is funny to be sure, but it falls into a couple of unprofessional traps.
The first problem is that Toy Story 3 feels unconvincingly plotted. Not only is it contrived but it doesn't feel like there is much story here. Andy is leaving for college, and plans to put all his toys away in the attic, but in a strange mix up, they end up in the garbage, and through another mix up, they end up in a day care centre full of destructive toddlers. They plan to escape, but it's not so easy, considering some of the larger toys led by a big Strawberry odoured bear, are running the place like a jail, and they DON'T like new toys.
Another problem in Toy Story 3, which is actually typical of a lot of Disney's recent works, is that the studio is no longer able to characterize villains. The likes of extravagant figures such as Jaffar, Scar, Cruella Deville, do not exist anymore. Disney villains today are all manufactured like Toys, equipped with nothing but a sour face, and a stupid motive. My one problem with WALL-E was that Auto (the villain) was arguably Disney's worst, but the Teddy here is a close second.
So if Toy Story 3 fails, then where does it succeed....well it's funny I'll say that much, not as funny as the second, but funny. Mr Potato head, finds a new body in a cucumber, Woody flies a kite (or rather the kite flies him) Buzz gets a reprogramming which allows him to tango romantically. Jesse was the only character who I don't think was given enough to do. Her primary function is to be a love interest for Buzz, but the plot doesn't ever choose to embrace that, so instead she is sort of left tangling by her pull string.
As a conclusion to a trilogy, Toy Story 3 works just fine I think. It uses a device that feels credible and heart warming, and to a degree thematically enriching. This movie is supposed to be about the coming of age, but the ending is where it really delivers this. What would have been better is if the whole movie could deliver it, Toy Story 3 feels a bit over rated. It's funny enough, but it's not enriching enough, and comes across as more a product designed with the intention of making as much money as possible rather than a movie into which some of cinema's best animators can put their heart and soul into. As a money maker, Toy Story certainly gets an A+ but as a movie, I can only give it a B, still worth seeing though.