Toy story 4

Rating: 9/10 (23 June 2019)

Toy story 4
2019
U
director:Josh Cooley
starring:Tom Hanks,Tim Allen,Annie Potts,Tony Hale,Keegan Michael Key,Madeline Mcgraw,Christina Hendricks,Jourdan Peele,Keanu Reeves,Ally Macki,Joan cusac,Wallace Shawn,John Ratzenburger,Blake Clarke,Don Rickles,Estelle Harris etc
overall rating 95/100
I was admittedly nervous about a 4th installment in the toy story franchise due to the trilogy having a perfect ending. But i have to say this film lived up to the hype and was on par with the original films and is another win for Disney/pixar.
First of all lets start off with the incredible visuals and animation. Animation has come a long way since the first toy story and in a good way, Every single character or set piece or weather condition looked extremely life like it was almost scary how realistic everything looked. Bo Peep actually looked like porcelain and little things like the raindrops looked fantastic.
Next the film was hilarious. Most of the humour came from the new characters of Bunny,Ducky,duke kaboom and forky but we will talk more about them in a bit. But this film made me chuckle throughout and no joke fell flat. The tone was consistent and never went of course and all the running jokes were not overplayed and worked well. All the toys and voice actors had great comedic chemistry.
Next i loved the relatable themes and ideologies that Toy story 4 gave to the audience. The fact that Bonnie was so nervous to start kindergarden and it reflected on her parents will reflect to a lot of parents who will go to see this film with there children. So the film did well with capturing the relatable themes of peoples life.
Next i loved the nostalgia that the director managed to create with the aesthetics and soundtrack of the film. To start of the film in the clouds and to have youve got a friend in me playing really awoke a lot of memories of watching the original when i was younger and i am sure this will be the same for other people who grew up with this film series so this was a really nice touch to add to the film. And it was just nice to see the gang back together after so long. And all the voice actors for the beloved characters did a fantastic job again with bringing these characters back to life with the same personalities and phrases that we know from them.
Next i loved all the new characters that they introduced to us during the film. I am especially highlighting Forky ( Tony Hale) bunny and ducky ( Key and Peele) and Duke Kaboom ( Keanu Reeves) Forky was hilarious during the film and not irratating like i thought he would be. The fact that he did not know why he existed and his love for trash was very interesting and funny to watch his character development into realising his purpose was for Bonnie. And Key and Peele were fantastic. They had great comedic chemistry and stole many scenes with there interesting ways of retrieving things. And finally Duke Kaboom, His whole story of his child disowning him due to him not being able to do the things for his advert really was entertaining to see. And his development and relationship with Bo peep was interesting as she was the voice of reason for Duke and encouraged him to take advantage of his weaknesses and make them a strength so i really felt happy for Duke when he eventually did succeed.
Next i just have a couple of little nit picks that bought the film down just slightly. I felt like some of the characters were underused slightly. A fair amount of the original gang of toys were not involved in a lot of scenes which was a bit of a shame but they were in the film just about enough to not get to annoyed, and i understood that they wanted to put the shine on the new characters. And secondly i found Bo Peeps personality to be fairly odd and irratating at times. She was surprisingly harsh in a fair few scenes which i thought was a slightly unneeded change to her character. And she was very indecisive which i found annoying just a bit.
I loved the films links to other pixar films. Like the previous films in the franchise this had many links to other disney/pixar movies i am pretty sure there was some disney princesses that i saw. But also the gas station was Dineco. And there was even a monsters vs aliens reference which was not even disney or pixar but dreamworks! so this was a lot of fun to watch.
Next i loved the character arcs and development for the characters of Woody ( Tom Hanks) Bo peep ( Annie Potts) and Gabby Gabby ( Christina Hendricks) First i loved woodies character arc in this film as for the first time we see Woody without a purpose and unwanted by an owner. To see his loyalty to Bonnie throughout the film really made you love his character. And he was almost like a father figure to Forky making sure he was safe to make sure His child was happy. Next i loved Bo Peeps character. Her Whole character arc of being a lost toy was really intriguing and a new plot that they have not gone into before in the franchise. You really understood why she enjoyed not being tied down to a child so i am glad she has become such an important character, and they finally had more character development between her relationship with Woody which i loved as well. And finally i loved Gabby Gabby as a villain but also a character to sympathise with. Yes she was technically a villain which she played very well with her creepy voice and puppets. But actually we went deeper into her character arc you found out that she only wanted woodies voice box to attract a kid to her as she never has had a kid to play with. When she got rejected by Harmony you genuinely felt sympathy and sadness for her character. And happiness when she did finally get a kid so this was one of the best parts of the film in my opinion.
Ending on my final two big positives. Firstly the film had excellent and more developed world building. I loved the set design of the carnival and antique shop and the film did a really good job with going into detail about the characters surroundings which were new to them. And It was interesting to see them explore this new world. And finally the film had a lot of great emotional weight to it. The whole franchise is known for its tear jerking and heartwarming moments and this film was no different, When Gabby Gabby was picked by her first child was incredibly sweet and really tugged at your heartstrings. But the most heartbreaking part of the film would be when Woody said goodbye to his toy friends to live a new and exciting life with Bo and gang. It felt like an end of an era due to everyone growing up with these characters. But I also understood woody wanting to live a life in the real world without a kid as he was no longer needed with Bonnie so the film really did not disappoint with what we have come to expect with this fantastic franchise.
Despite me and no doubt most people being anxious about this 4th installment. Toy story 4 reunites us with the beloved characters in another excellent movie that is as good and even better then some of the previous films.