Toy Story 3

Title: Toy Story 3
Rating: 3.5/5
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, “Family”
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack
Director: Lee Unkrich

It's not surprising this release is finding its target audience now that they're old enough to have jobs; its been a long time since the trilogy began and its commendable that they take their time with it in order to do it properly, but the side effect is that many who would ordinarily anticipate this release have grown with age. I would have been seven when the first came out, and now this demographic has turned into something rather different, with a different set of expectations from before. Instead of matching this though, the finalé to what I've seen referred to as “The greatest trilogy of all time” - a monumental hyperbole in my eyes – has remained gloriously consistent, capable of still appealing to the younger audience but only interacting with the older on a nostalgic level.

For those who are unaware of the basic premise, it follows that Toys are 'living' entities; that is they move about in the world when nobody is watching, complete with emotions and desires, they live in order to fulfil the wishes of the child who owns them (though this doesn't mean their terribly devoted, their self-centred desire to be played with often overcoming any sense of loyalty). The day that Andy – their owner – finally grows too old to play with these toys inevitably arrives. Told to clean his room for his fast approaching visit to college, they accidentally find themselves in the dustbin and believing themselves to be discarded, make their way for the sunnydale daycare. Despite warm welcomes from Lotso, the bear with dark past and a new arrival to the cast in the form of Ken, they soon realise things at the daycare aren't what they seem, and they embark onwards in a daring escape.

The plot as it turns out, was rather predictable, and as far as the 'adventure' is concerned, knowing what's coming next a good 15 minutes before it occurs doesn't make for a great tension build-up (and from the bored children kicking chairs and napping behind me, it apparently wasn't just me). Despite that I was fully expecting the 'sequel syndrome,' the attempt at recreating a past success by relying on the same plot and the same jokes in order to regenerate this success and inevitably fall short of its predecessor, but surprisingly it wasn't, though that's hardly to say it was without flaw. Certainly there was the problem of integrating the old characters into a new setting whilst feeling still fresh and original, but by the end the laughs only came from a small number of sources. In fact, now looking at the trailer it would appear that almost every well worked joke is integrated into this three minute preview (with the exception of “The Spaniard,” to cryptically reveal my meaning). In truth, most of the cast played their parts entirely in the background as throwaways from the first story, and were left hanging dry in the script. Even of the many new additions – and between the various houses visited and the mass swarm populating the daycare, there are many – only two are ever given enough time to be fleshed out.

The notion of a third film was wrought with conflicts from its outset; do you start with an entirely new idea or essentially repeat the last? Use the same CGI from 15 years ago or accept the advancement? I'm not sure if either has a 'winning' answer, but certainly for the latter question things don't feel any better off. The CGI still feels outdated and tacky, which whilst works well for the toys - in particular the newer ones which have been given a thorough update in design - gives little more than a slight nostalgia when looking at the humans in the story. After the details of modern effects, going back to Toy Story feels like a backstepping blast from the past. Even the use of 3D feels like it was thrown in at the last minute, a cheap way of cashing in on the hype surrounding the new technology and its integration into the film was superficial at best. Those who watched the first all those years ago know exactly what to expect from these films; don't buy into the hype but find solace that this is a film that does exactly what is expected from it, flaws in all.