Toy Story 4

[Akula]

tl;dr version: Loved it.

Longer version:
I know most folks weren't waiting on yet another Toy Story movie- TS3 seemed to wrap things up quite nicely. I don't know that we needed to know where Bo Peep went. Thing is, the entire TS series has been about Woody and his own journey of maturity- from being a favorite toy to learning to share his kid (TS1), then reaffirming his reason for being (TS2), and finally realizing there's more to life than just Andy (TS3). While it's a new weird toy (Forky) kicking things off in TS4, we continue Woody's story as he continues to try to help his kid (now it's Bonnie) by marshaling the toys.

Without ruining too much of the movie, I will say that this is both funny (at one point Bunny & Ducky made me laugh so hard my wife thought I was choking on popcorn) and heartwarming. The villain isn't just a cutout intended to drive the story, Gabby Gabby has her own character arc as well. In my opinion, it's the best of the Toy Story series- Pixar is still at the top of their game.

It's definitely worth seeing.

 

[Huey]

Think we are taking the grandson to see this on Sunday. Reviews are really good for it, and we are looking forward to it.

 

[Huey]

tl;dr version: Loved it.

Longer version:
I know most folks weren't waiting on yet another Toy Story movie- TS3 seemed to wrap things up quite nicely. I don't know that we needed to know where Bo Peep went. Thing is, the entire TS series has been about Woody and his own journey of maturity- from being a favorite toy to learning to share his kid (TS1), then reaffirming his reason for being (TS2), and finally realizing there's more to life than just Andy (TS3). While it's a new weird toy (Forky) kicking things off in TS4, we continue Woody's story as he continues to try to help his kid (now it's Bonnie) by marshaling the toys.

Without ruining too much of the movie, I will say that this is both funny (at one point Bunny & Ducky made me laugh so hard my wife thought I was choking on popcorn) and heartwarming. The villain isn't just a cutout intended to drive the story, Gabby Gabby has her own character arc as well. In my opinion, it's the best of the Toy Story series- Pixar is still at the top of their game.

It's definitely worth seeing.

Took the family to watch it yesterday, and didn't walk out feeling the same way you did Akula. Don't get me wrong, it was a decent movie, and probably one of the best looking Pixar movies ever, but for whatever reason TS3 is still my favorite. I always felt that these movies were more ensemble movies, with the secondary characters getting some screen and story time, but in this film, they were more background characters than anything. Really surprised at the screen time that Buzz got, didn't seem to be on much at all. Overall, I liked it and wasn't disappointed.

 

[Akula]

Yeah, this one was more about Woody, but then again, from the start it was his character arc that really drove the story. Buzz was more in the background of this one, but that's understandable given the story being told. The focus gave quite a bit more space to Bo Peep, so it wasn't "all Woody, all the time." We did see some character arc also going on with Gabby Gabby as well.

 

[Huey]

Yeah, this one was more about Woody, but then again, from the start it was his character arc that really drove the story. Buzz was more in the background of this one, but that's understandable given the story being told. The focus gave quite a bit more space to Bo Peep, so it wasn't "all Woody, all the time." We did see some character arc also going on with Gabby Gabby as well.

The one thing I don't remember of the previous movies, did Bo Peep leave? I couldn't remember if they just did it for this movie, or that was actually part of story all along. I had always felt these were a "buddy" movie, but I can see how these are more about Woody than Buzz.

And for a little bit of trivia, for those that have seen the movie Philadelphia, there's a scene where they visit Tom Hanks boyhood home, and I believe it was written in the cement by the mailbox, but the name Andy is written in the concrete just as it is on Woody's boot.

 

[Akula]

Bo Peep wasn't in #3. There's a quick comment about toys that were no longer present, with Bo being among them.

 

[Akula]

I will say I expected a bigger part for Potato Head in TS4. While Don Rickles had died, they had said the family gave the green light for them to use recorded (but unused) dialogue in this movie. He ended up only having a handful of lines- not the comic relief moments he had enjoyed in previous TS movies.

 

[Huey]

I will say I expected a bigger part for Potato Head in TS4. While Don Rickles had died, they had said the family gave the green light for them to use recorded (but unused) dialogue in this movie. He ended up only having a handful of lines- not the comic relief moments he had enjoyed in previous TS movies.

I almost brought up that there was hardly any banter between the potatoes, but figured it was because Rickles had died. That would have been awesome had they done that.

 

[Huey]

I forgot to bring this up the other day, but what's up with the "skunk" that Bo Peep and her friends cruise around in? I mean it's still a toy, why isn't it alive like all of the other ones? Are they just out riding around in a dead friend? I get why they had to do that, but it seems like a plot hole to have one toy alive and one not.

 

[Akula]

I forgot to bring this up the other day, but what's up with the "skunk" that Bo Peep and her friends cruise around in? I mean it's still a toy, why isn't it alive like all of the other ones? Are they just out riding around in a dead friend? I get why they had to do that, but it seems like a plot hole to have one toy alive and one not.

It's a standard issue with the TS universe. Not every toy lives as a toy- THIS Buzz does, but as we see in the first movie, not every Buzz does.