Right in line with the quality of the series, and a satisfying end destination, even if the journey wasn't always

Rating: 7/10 (1 July 2019)

Toy Story is a remarkable franchise for its consistently enjoyable content, with similar plots and characters but different ideas and focuses in each. Toy Story 4 continues with the toy in danger that must be rescued from evidently evil people and Woody searching to understand his purpose. I found the humor in this one to be effective, between Key and Peele bringing laughs (especially the three scenes where they talk about taking out the old lady) and Buzz being really funny with his inner voice. The ending was fitting in Woody accepting that he couldn't live the same life he did with Andy and could let go. Him being with Bo and living more freely was a nice conclusion to the series. However, I do think it could've been better developed in this movie. We should have seen Woody develop from his staunch toys are made to help children into a broader toys can pursue their own lives, as Bo believes. Instead, all movie Woody continued with his complete loyalty to Bonnie, and then strangely decides to leave her to live his own life with little justification. Similarly on the other side, Bo refusing to help Woody and then nothing changing but her deciding to go back and help him was also illogical. More generally, I think the movie spent too much time on exposition and packing all these subplots and characters in, like Duke, instead of deeper character development for Woody, Bo, and Buzz and a more fleshed out plot than the wild heist. Still, Toy Story 4 delivers on fun and does ask interesting questions about what it means to be a toy with Forky and what their goals are. Far from a letdown, Toy Story 4 wraps the series up in a reasonable and satisfying way, even if it may be the weakest of the four movies.