A Wonderful Entry in the beloved Toy Story series

Rating: 9/10 (1 October 2019)

Toy Story 4 is a great film that very much feels like a curtain call for the series from the start. It both delights and saddens but keeps you aware that an ending can always become a new beginning. This time around, the story takes place much further than Andy's old neighborhood of the previous films. The cast of characters , once again led by Buzz (Tim Allen) and Woody (Tom Hanks) are taken on a road trip where they run into obstacles and cross paths with new toys played by newcomers to the series including Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves, Keegan-Michael Key, and Jordan Peele.
Pixar has really advanced their story-telling and animation far beyond where they began in the first Toy Story, 25 years ago. It's hard to imagine that it's been that long but it only feels like yesterday that we saw Woody and Buzz wrestling in the parking lot outside Pizza Planet. The film looks much more amazing that previous entries in the series. The colors are much brighter, the animation is more fluid, some scenes and props almost look like live footage, and the story-telling is deeper, more grounded, and touches on much more serious themes than before. Veterans to the series will also be happy to know that composer/singer-songwriter Randy Newman is back too.
Overall a fantastic film and a great book end to one of Disney/Pixar's most popular and most beloved properties.