The Half-Perfect Movie

Rating: 7/10 (23 September 2019)

Growing up, Toy Story was a movie I would watch over and over again. I was captivated by the incredible animation and heartfelt stories of toys trying to find their place in the world. Toy Story 3 gave me a sigh of bittersweet release as I saw the characters I grew up with finally find peace with Molly and Andy heading to college. Like many, I was upset upset with the announcement of Toy Story 4's production, but after seeing the movie, I found myself liking this movie for the reasons I thought I would hate it and I hated it for the reasons I thought I would like it.
Toy Story 4 follows Woody and his role as Molly's toy. He is not played with very much and misses the days of making Andy happy. This plot point makes for a very interesting character arch for Woody as he figures out his purpose in life. This movie is 100% about Woody and I thought that it worked wonderfully well. These themes may appear complex, but the movie does a wonderful job of explaining a toys purpose through the complex antagonist of Gabby Gabby, who simply wants a single child's affection, to the free-spirit nature of Bo-Peep, who finds enjoyment in being a lost toy and becoming her own person outside the role of toy. Combine this with the absolutely beautiful rendering and lighting, along with Randy Newman's incredible score, and you have an incredible movie.
That is if the movie was only about Woody. It is evident throughout the movie that the writers had little idea what to give the other characters of the toy gang to do. The side-plot follows Buzz as he attempts to become a better leader by "listening to his inner voice." This gag plot line gets tiring fast as every time it happens, you are reminded of the great leadership Buzz had exhibited in previous movies, especially 2. This movie completely mischaracterized Buzz as an idiot rather than the fish-out-of-water ignorance he had in previous movies and this detracts from the movie. Any new character that wasn't Bo-Peep or Gabby Gabby felt under used or unnecessary for the movie.
All-in-all, this is a solid movie with heart and a good movie to watch with the family. But i think I'll stick to watching the first 3 over and over again.