Take 77: Toy Story 5
In Toy Story 5, i’ts tech vs. old school when Bonnie becomeshas obsessed a new tablet, Lilypad. As Lily begins to open up a new world for Bonnie, she begins neglecting her toys and they are away of the fact that they are in fact losing their person to the power of the screen. The toys must find a way to show why newer isn’t always better and convince Bonnie that her toys are still worthy.
This film solidifies Jessica as the alpha. It’s a logical a progression and works. That said, I am definitely more of a Woody and Buzz kinda guy. The fact that our lead human protagonist is a young girl does validate the decision to upgrade Jessie in the toy hierarchy. Voiced by Joan Cusack, she is plucky and mostly confident. She is overcoming abandonment issues stemming from her previous owner, Emily and it adds a nice element to her character. Having her have hangups makes for a much more interesting story.
In addition to Cusack, it’s always fun to hear Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and the rest of the gang. Joining the cast are Geta Green with the mostly thankless job of voicing Lilypad and Conan O’Brien as Smarty Pants, an electronic potty-training toy who manages to steal most of the scenes he’s in. As always, everyone nails the roles they have.
The plot is clever and timely. There ever growing presence of screens IS becoming a potential problem. In some ways, it can connect people, but at the same time, they are causing a disconnect too. Thanks to the chat room, Bonnie begins to doubt herself and begins jeopardizing her relationships, but old and new. Pretty real stuff and it is handled really welll.
The entire more is handled well. Even still, I will admit it is starting to feel slightly foreced. I feel like it’s kinda silly to complain about having to suspend disbelief when talking about a movie all about living toys, but the things these toys are able to do are getting further and further out of hand. An example is the way that they are able to tab into the technology to seen messages. That’s not how it works. That’s not how any of this works, but for the sake of the plot, it’s overlooked. It just seems like in films past, the thing they did felt more organic. The same with the squadron of Buzz Light Years. Fun to see, but’s just started to get a little ridiculous. Again, a serious nit to pick, but my expectations are just crazy high for this series that really doesn’t miss.
Though not a miss, it was just enough to knock it slightly. Great movie and tons of heart, but for the first time, I am worried that returning to the well so soon and so often might start diminishing returns. Fortunately, we are still a ways off of that. I just hope that going forward, they keep it as tight as the previous installments
My score 8.8
Did I get it right or am I toying with your emotions? Let me know know in the comments. And until next time…
