Toy Story 5 Review

[00:00] Toys are for play, but tech is is for

[00:03] everything.

[00:05] >> Woody, Buzz, and the gang are back in

[00:06] theaters for Toy Story 5, a fourth

[00:09] sequel to Pixar's flagship franchise

[00:11] that proves no matter how well you wrap

[00:13] up a story, there's always room for one

[00:15] more. This time, the now very antique

[00:18] toys are faced with their most dangerous

[00:19] challenge yet, screen time. But how

[00:23] necessary was this sequel? And how can

[00:25] the brain trust behind Pixar

[00:27] successfully pull these toys out of the

[00:29] attic again? I'm Clint Gage and my kids

[00:31] and I went to see Toy Story 5. Here's

[00:33] our review.

[00:34] >> I want to talk to you device.

[00:36] >> Please call me Lily.

[00:37] >> Me and the toys have been working all

[00:39] summer to try and get Bonnie to make

[00:40] friends, but then you had to ruin it.

[00:43] >> Right off the bat, I can say the movie

[00:44] does Pixar proud in the visual

[00:46] department. It isn't quite the

[00:48] revolutionary jump in graphics that Toy

[00:50] Story 4 had over its predecessors, but

[00:52] the usual Pixar bump is there. In fact,

[00:54] one scene that starts with an

[00:56] establishing shot of the sky and trees

[00:58] and school bus had me thinking for a

[01:00] split second that they'd actually shot

[01:01] some real footage for the film before

[01:03] kids from the uncanny valley came

[01:05] running into frame. Now, my son had a

[01:07] quote about that as well. Uh, it was

[01:10] better graphics with an F. He almost got

[01:15] it. To be fair, he took my notebook in

[01:16] the middle of the theater and wrote in

[01:17] the dark. So, there's a chance that he

[01:19] does know how to spell graphics

[01:20] correctly. Now, my kids were very

[01:22] excited to tag along to this press

[01:23] screening, but less so when I started

[01:25] asking them questions on the ride home.

[01:27] My daughter, who just finished fifth

[01:29] grade, said it was starting to feel like

[01:30] homework. And I did have to remind her

[01:32] that this was in fact my job. And yeah,

[01:36] yeah, it's a little like homework

[01:37] sometimes. She also said every time she

[01:39] watches a Toy Story movie that uh I feel

[01:42] like my toys are watching me sleep and

[01:45] that's why they're in a different place

[01:47] in the morning. Uh, now I want to make

[01:50] sure you know I only moved all her toys

[01:52] around once. I guess that's all it

[01:54] takes. So, be careful playing that trick

[01:56] on your kids.

[01:56] >> Okay, everybody, ghost is clear. Now,

[01:59] >> for starters, it's difficult to talk

[02:01] about Toy Story 5 without a heavy dose

[02:02] of context for the entire franchise.

[02:05] Obviously, it's a sequel and there are

[02:07] four movies worth of story to keep in

[02:09] mind. But more than that, this is a

[02:10] franchise that has had two separate

[02:12] occasions to wrap up in a pretty

[02:15] satisfying way. Now, there are crowds of

[02:18] people who would agree it should have

[02:20] just been a trilogy, ending on Bonnie's

[02:22] porch at the end of Toy Story 3. And

[02:24] while Toy Story 4 started the

[02:26] conversation of why are we still doing

[02:28] this for some, it defied the odds and

[02:30] put a decently neat bow on the franchise

[02:32] yet again. And with even more finality

[02:35] this time. So, why do we need a Toy

[02:38] Story 5 is a bigger question here than

[02:40] it has been even for other longrunning

[02:42] franchises. That is, fair or not, the

[02:45] hole that this movie was starting in for

[02:46] me. My kids, though, not so much. In

[02:49] fact, their least favorite entry into

[02:50] the franchise is the widely beloved Toy

[02:53] Story 3. But my daughter had one very

[02:55] interesting reason for that. One that

[02:56] leads me back into this review proper.

[02:59] The first and foremost, a Toy Story

[03:00] movie, and I would argue a Pixar film in

[03:03] general, needs to be fun. And Toy Story

[03:05] 5 certainly trots out some fun moments.

[03:07] The animation style of Bonnie's

[03:09] imagination and the scenarios she

[03:11] concocts while playing with her favorite

[03:13] toys may be the strongest of any such

[03:15] sequence in the whole series. And from a

[03:17] battalion of stranded nextgen Buzz

[03:20] Lightyears trying to find their way back

[03:21] to Star Command to forgotten toys wasted

[03:24] in the wake of tech, there are plenty of

[03:26] memorable laughs. Conan O'Brien in

[03:29] particular is hilarious as Mr.

[03:31] Smartypants, a potty training assistant.

[03:34] In fact, the trio of new characters

[03:35] including Mr. Smarty Pants, the kid's

[03:37] first digital camera, Snappy, and Atlas,

[03:40] a map device that's for some reason a

[03:42] hippo, were my daughter's favorite

[03:44] characters in the entire movie, and I

[03:46] can't really argue with that. They're a

[03:48] blast. They also do one of my favorite

[03:49] Toy Story things, which is questioning

[03:51] their own existence in a legitimately

[03:53] terrifying way.

[03:55] >> Extinction. Not again.

[03:57] >> However, on the balance, this movie may

[03:59] be more of a downer than it was fun.

[04:01] There's a modlin sense of dread that

[04:04] hangs over most of the first half of the

[04:06] movie where a real sadness revolves

[04:08] around Bonnie and her inability to make

[04:10] friends that can meet her where she's

[04:11] at. Now, this was something that my

[04:13] daughter and I had an interesting

[04:14] conversation about. After Bonnie's

[04:16] parents buy her a Lily Pad, her first

[04:18] tablet nervously purchased as a way to

[04:20] help her connect with all the other kids

[04:22] in her orbit who already have one,

[04:24] Bonnie's online dynamic in a chat group,

[04:26] goes pretty immediately bad. My kid and

[04:29] I talked about who is to blame for that.

[04:31] The bullies who were being mean or

[04:33] Lilyad who served as an easy conduit

[04:35] providing access to Bonnie for the

[04:37] bullies. She actually blamed Lilyad

[04:40] saying quote, "It's important to know

[04:42] who good people are in real life." Now,

[04:44] there's wisdom to that beyond my

[04:46] daughter's 11 years, and I'm proud of

[04:48] her. But also, she agreed it was the

[04:50] iPad's fault. So, jokes on her, she's

[04:52] getting less screen time from now on.

[04:54] >> Bunny, screen time's over now.

[04:56] >> Okay. Meanwhile, my seven-year-old son

[04:58] said,

[05:00] "I like how the tech took over."

[05:04] So, less screen time for him, too, I

[05:06] guess. And to finally get back to my

[05:08] daughter's point, the other thing a Toy

[05:10] Story movie needs is a good villain. To

[05:12] quote her thoughts on Toy Story 3, I

[05:14] hated that the villain was just evil the

[05:16] whole time. Now, I thought that was an

[05:18] interesting take because Lilyad, for her

[05:20] part, is doing what she thinks is best

[05:22] for Bonnie, which per my daughter and

[05:24] I's conversation, makes placing the

[05:26] villain label on her a little more

[05:28] difficult. She's a standin for the idea

[05:31] of technology causing kids to grow up

[05:33] too fast, not necessarily the antagonist

[05:35] in and of herself. Now, I think that's

[05:37] in the pro column for this movie, as

[05:39] some of the franchise's best moments are

[05:41] from villains who see the error of their

[05:43] ways and are big enough to pivot. Now, I

[05:45] would argue Tom Hanks's Woody actually

[05:47] represents the best version of that in

[05:49] the original Toy Story because he was

[05:51] straight up the bad guy for most of that

[05:53] movie, but that's that's probably a

[05:55] different video. Toy Story films also

[05:57] need a relatable phase of life at their

[05:59] center, something universally

[06:01] experienced, like growing up, leaving

[06:03] home, or letting go. These are all

[06:06] things just about everybody can relate

[06:08] to without any extra direction from the

[06:10] filmmakers. And Toy Story 5, for at

[06:12] least the first half, is very much

[06:14] missing that universality. Growing up

[06:17] with social media is a modern and I

[06:19] suppose widely relatable experience that

[06:21] wasn't around 30 years ago when the

[06:22] first Toy Story came out. But instead of

[06:25] being about remember how it can be

[06:27] difficult to be a kid, a lot of Toy

[06:29] Story 5 is more focused around kids

[06:31] these days and their screens. Am I

[06:32] right? Now, the difference there is that

[06:34] Toy Story 5's statement feels like it's

[06:36] the filmmakers telling us about it

[06:39] instead of letting us get there

[06:40] emotionally ourselves. The result is an

[06:43] outofouchness that is quite frankly

[06:45] surprising to see from Pixar. For a lot

[06:47] of the film's runtime, Toy Story very

[06:49] uncharacteristically doesn't have much

[06:51] to offer the conversation about young

[06:53] people's relationship to their screens,

[06:55] and there's not a lot of the real

[06:57] emotional stakes the series has been

[06:59] trading in for four movies prior to

[07:01] this. Bonnie doesn't want to play with

[07:02] toys anymore. She needs me.

[07:05] >> And to be fair, it doesn't let parents

[07:07] off the hook either. As a remote worker

[07:09] myself, I felt properly seen and

[07:11] criticized by a scene where a parent is

[07:13] just shouting, "You're muted," while

[07:15] parked in his home office on Zoom. It's

[07:18] difficult to take that critique too

[07:20] seriously, coming from Pixar, a company

[07:22] that sprung from the same Steve Jobs

[07:24] that brought us the iPad in the first

[07:25] place. But that also might just be me

[07:28] being defensive. I did follow up about

[07:30] that scene with my kids and if it

[07:31] reminded them of me. To which my son

[07:33] said, "Oh, 100% totally. It wasn't funny

[07:37] because it was work." So, you know, the

[07:40] movie does have its finger on the pulse

[07:41] of human connectivity and low these

[07:43] modern times to some extent. Now, I know

[07:45] I've been more negative than not about

[07:47] this movie for like 1500 words now, but

[07:50] really the second half of Toy Story 5 is

[07:52] much better. A lot of what I like about

[07:54] it and how the movie lands gets into

[07:56] some spoiler territory, so it's it's

[07:58] just harder to go into detail about it.

[08:00] Before I attempt to, though, feel like I

[08:02] do also have to call out everybody's

[08:04] favorite cowboy. This movie did not need

[08:07] Woody. It's a testament to the job the

[08:10] franchise has done of ending in a

[08:11] satisfying way twice now that he feels

[08:13] so tacked on in this one. In fact, it's

[08:16] enough to make me wonder if he wasn't

[08:17] even in the early drafts of this movie

[08:19] until an exec got hold of it and said,

[08:20] "Put the cowboy in, you maniacs." You

[08:23] could lift Woody straight out of this

[08:25] movie and there would only be, I think,

[08:27] two differences. Number one, the movie

[08:29] would be maybe 2 minutes shorter. He's

[08:31] got no business to do off on his own

[08:33] that affects the plot in any meaningful

[08:35] way. And number two, it would actually

[08:37] help out Buzz. This movie wants so badly

[08:40] to be just a two-hander between Buzz and

[08:43] Jesse. and it almost pulls it off. But

[08:46] when Woody comes back and starts

[08:47] hatching plans, it takes away Buzz's

[08:50] agency. Buzz could have taken a next

[08:52] step into responsibility or adulthood,

[08:54] leadership, whatever you want to call

[08:55] it, whatever box needed to be ticked for

[08:58] one of those universally relatable life

[09:00] phases that Toy Story has always hung

[09:02] its hat on. Instead, he just kind of

[09:04] keeps following orders, and it feels

[09:06] like an opportunity was missed in favor

[09:08] of rehashing some of his and Woody's old

[09:10] dynamic.

[09:11] >> Buzz, you stay here. I'm going with

[09:12] them. You don't think I can do it?

[09:14] >> YES. NO.

[09:15] >> Now again, pretty much all of my issues

[09:17] with this film are in its first half,

[09:19] but I think that's also in part because

[09:21] I was dreading how they were going to

[09:23] attempt to stick the landing. Happily,

[09:25] the back half of the movie manages it a

[09:28] lot better than I'd feared. From the

[09:30] midpoint of the movie, Toy Story 5

[09:31] really starts to nail the things Pixar

[09:33] does best. It's adventurous with well

[09:36] choreographed and stylish action and

[09:39] just a lot funnier. the heart of the

[09:41] movie finally shows up to deal with

[09:43] things like what it means to really make

[09:45] meaningful connections or the

[09:47] distinction between games and actually

[09:49] playing. And Woody also starts to fade

[09:51] into the background, leaning into more

[09:53] of a comic relief role than being front

[09:55] and center. And surprise, surprise, the

[09:57] film is better for it. Most importantly,

[09:59] after all the hemming and hawing about

[10:01] what's to be done with tech, the film

[10:03] finally takes a stand. It's not an

[10:05] overly ambitious one or even one that

[10:07] will surprise you, but it was very

[10:09] necessary to walk out of the theater

[10:11] feeling good about it. Ultimately, Toy

[10:13] Story 5 does have something to add to

[10:16] the conversation beyond old guys shaking

[10:18] their fists at clouds about kids in

[10:20] their tablets these days.

[10:21] >> Who's laughing now?

[10:25] It shut up.

[10:26] >> But speaking of kids in their tablets,

[10:29] mine apparently have not had enough of

[10:31] Toy Story. I asked them what they'd like

[10:33] to see in a Toy Story 6. My son just

[10:35] started yelling about needing Spoony to

[10:37] join Tony Hails Forky and his knife

[10:39] bride Karen Beverly. He kept getting

[10:41] louder and doing different goofy voices

[10:44] every time my daughter would try to

[10:45] chime in. It was um it was a problem for

[10:48] a minute on the drive home, but finally

[10:51] she was able to articulate just wanting

[10:53] more Toy Story. Couldn't get any more

[10:55] detail out of her than that. Maybe it's

[10:58] the idea that she, like Andy or Bonnie,

[11:00] or it would seem Pixar, just can't bear

[11:03] the idea of leaving these toys behind.

[11:06] >> Nice poncho. It's good to see them

[11:09] fighting again. It sure is.

[11:11] >> So, I'm giving Toy Story 5 a seven. I

[11:14] thought about giving it a six, but it

[11:16] really is better than just okay. Plus,

[11:18] both my kids said they'd give it a 10.

[11:20] And if I'm going to include their quotes

[11:21] in my reviews, I should also consider

[11:23] their perspective. After all, that's

[11:25] Pixar's whole thing, right? kids movies

[11:26] that their parents can enjoy, too. All

[11:28] of my issues with the first half of the

[11:29] movie aside, Toy Story 5 manages to pull

[11:32] off an adventurous and resonant

[11:34] conclusion with a handful of new

[11:35] characters adding some fresh batteries

[11:37] to the mix and sidelining the right

[11:39] legacy characters at the right time. The

[11:41] fifth installment of Pixar's main event

[11:43] finds another good way to wrap up, at

[11:45] least until the inevitable Toy Story 6.

[11:48] That's what I thought. Toy Story 5. For

[11:50] more reviews, you're already here, guys.

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