A Surprisingly Great Movie

Rating: 6/10 (7 July 2019)

Toy Story 4 is a surprisingly great movie. I was cynical going in, partly because Toy Story 3 was so conclusive, partly because I was disappointed with Pixar's sequels outside of the Toy Story franchise. I expected this to be a lazy, cynical cash grab but it turned out to be a funny, exciting, even emotional chapter in the series. The animation and voice acting is great and the film has a surprising amount of character development and depth for a children's film. The plot still suffers from the excessive reliance on nostalgia like the third film and implements many of the same tropes and themes from previous Toy Story films. Also, Buzz is strangely stupid and his relationship with Woody isn't as well-developed as in the previous films. However, I enjoyed Toy Story 4 far more than expected and I honestly think it's Pixar's best film in years. Don't see it with a bunch of annoying children though. Trust me, it'll worsen your experience.