Who would have thought that this would be so much better than anticipated!

Rating: 9/10 (17 August 2019)

Here is a movie that many people, including myself, were disappointed to hear when this movie was announced, especially after watching the few trailers that was released beforehand. However, after finally getting to see this film, I really have to say that not only was I so surprised with this movie, but this movie is simply one of the best movies that I have seen this year. One of the major surprises was the actual plot itself. It's surprisingly deep and it deals with very complex emotions and situations extremely well to where it had me connect with the major characters and I understood how each character felt, along with understanding the decisions that they make throughout the movie. I was a little worried with where the film would go because I knew that the film had to revolve around the new character, Forkie, but everything was woven together perfectly where his addition to the story and this overall plot makes sense, along with delivering on the fun factor that I did not expect from this movie. Here is a plot where there isn't a dull moment at sight, something is always happening and the amount of humor and emotional scenes either had me laughing or crying a river.
With every Pixar film, they always improve their CG and the film looks absolutely amazing! The characters look great and everything from the background to the look of an antique store looks very realistic. It's so good to where even the ventriloquist dummies were scary and had the creepiness that I tend to feel when I actually look at one. There is a scene involving rain and it's scary how realistic it looks. This is such an amazing achievement, especially with a film in its fourth entry.
Just like in the previous films, all of the characters that you love are back and it's always nice to see them on screen, along with hearing Tom Hanks and Tim Allen as their iconic roles. I am a little sad to see some of the more popular characters being put to the side line, but this is necessary as the main focus is on Woody, Buzz and the new characters that appear in the movie. These new characters are great additions to the series and all of them are great for their own reasons. Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key as Bunny and Duckie were extremely funny and had me cracking up throughout the movie. Forkie, voiced by Tony Hale, started off annoying, but he started to grow on me and I ended up caring for him by the end of the film. Even thinking about the character just made me understand his characteristics a bit more. A very interesting concept and actually one of the more interesting characters in the film. Duke Caboom was also great, adding a lot of humor to his scenes and Keanu Reeves, who is having a great year, helping make this character to be likable. Annie Potts really helped bring a lot of personality to Bo Peep. Finally, Gabby Gabby, voiced by Chrisitna Hendricks is surprisingly a deep character that had me in tears when it came to the end of her subplot. From humor to having great emotional depth, all of these characters revolved around the overall story perfectly well and I really liked every single character here.
Words cannot describe how much I loved this movie and on how much I really appreciate the effort that the people involved with this movie put into this film. I couldn't stop crying even after the credits stopped rolling and that shows how much of an impact it had on me. For fans of the series, I think they will notice a few things that have continued from the previous films, such as character growth and feeling the bond that these characters share. Some people may not like the minor changes with the characters or may not be fully invested as much as me, but this movie did something that surprised so many people and it's definitely something that should be watched, especially with people who loved the overall series.