Toy Story 4 Review

Rating: 8/10 (3 July 2019)

Toy Story 4 is an outstanding film that succeeds in keeping the Toy Story Franchise one of the best franchises. Here are the few negatives. The character of Forky, as great as he is, is a plot device. He really is only there to move the story forward which kinda sucks. My other issue is that the film does borrow heavily on themes and plot points from the original 3 films. Here are the positives. This film can be very emotional at times. The film starts emotional and doesn't stop being emotional until the credits roll. The last scene of the film is probably one of the most emotional Pixar moments. The voice acting is very good. Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and Annie Potts are standouts from the main cast. Each delivers their lines with so much emotion and personality that you can't help but care about them and their struggles. The returning characters don't have a lot of screen time but they all do an outstanding job. The new characters are really good also. Keanu Reeves, Jordan Peele, and Keegan-Michael Key's characters steal the show. Each of their characters are incredibly entertaining and hilarious to watch on the big screen. This leads me to my next point. For a Pixar film, Toy Story 4 is pretty funny. There are a handful of jokes that don't land well but most of them got a chuckle out of me and one or two got full on laughs from me. The animation for this film is outstanding. It's incredible to see how far animation has come from the original Toy Story in 1995. There is one shot that showcases the passage of time and it's incredible. The story is heartwarming and nice even if it does bounce back on ideas from the previous films. The score for this film is pretty good also. It's not extraordinary but it's good. The tone for the film remains consistent all the way through and it's also paced really well. I would highly recommend seeing this in theaters. Overall, Toy Story 4 is another great addition to the Toy Story franchise with outstanding animation, great voice acting, and tons of emotion. I give Toy Story 4 a 9/10.