Review of Toy Story 3 (2010) by Kev_I_N — 31 May 2014

Summary Review.

+ Great Visual style.

+ Good story with some interesting parts to it.

+ Good voice acting.

+ Fantastic ending to a great movie franchise.

-Story is predictable and it fairly unoriginal.

-Way too much goes on in this movieSummary Review.

+ Great Visual style.

+ Good story with some interesting parts to it.

+ Good voice acting.

+ Fantastic ending to a great movie franchise.

-Story is predictable and it fairly unoriginal.

-Way too much goes on in this movie.

As a result I would recommend this film because it’s interesting. However I do feel it is a bit over-rated and will hopefully explain why I think this way.

Full Review.

The first thing I have to say about the movie, as is a trademark of the Toy Story franchise is that of how the animation within the film is fantastic. There really is a great balance between the creative nature of the design of the locations within the film which are creative enough to be interesting but not so out of this world they feel out of place. Such visuals I feel are enhanced by the lighting which really enhances the contrast between the dark and lighter areas. This is particularly the case with the day care centre that the toys end up in with a great sense of realism and creativity between the playground and the play area within the centre. Of course there are moments that do seem slightly out of place but that can be forgiven given that the overall look of the film is great.

However for me a good looking film also needs to have and interesting story. I feel the angle that this film takes is quite an interesting one. Put simply Andy grows old and is heading for college, and the Toys end up in a day care centre (apart from Woody). This raises interesting issues about the Toys ‘loyalty’ to their owner. The story is made further when the Toys realise life at the day care centre is not all it is cracked up to be, epically when more is revealed about the ‘ruler’ (if you will) of the toys at day care (Lotso). I won’t spoiler the plot, but overall it is quite interesting. Furthermore as with many Pixar films there are some elements of comedy mixed in with the ‘sad’ moments (in particularly Buzz’s Spanish mode), that help keep the story fresh.

However the main thing I found great about the film is that of the ending. This is not because I wanted the film to end, but because of how satisfying the movie ended. For sure it is not that original and not very surprising, but the fact that it seems to put the franchise to rest and reunite the toys helps to make the ending of the film really satisfying.

With all this said, I really do feel this movie is over-rated seeing as how nearly all reviews I have read rate it the film either a 9 or a 10 out of 10, ratings that I really don’t feel the film deserves. The first major complaint I have with the film is that of the story while it is good, there are some key problems I feel need to be outlined. The first is that of how there is very little character development of the main character as you learn nothing new about them, meaning characters like Woody, Buzz etc. (despite the excellent voice acting) feel the same from the last two movies of the franchise. For sure the film does introduce new characters like Barbie and Ken that arguably help undermine this problem, but they feel under-developed and for the most part pointless. The second issue I have with the story is that of the lack of originality. This can be seen by how for a big section of the film, the story of Toy Story 2 is reused only this time it is Woody trying to find his friends rather than the other way round. Likewise the whole notion of the toy getting separated from their owner seems a bit too familiar. Such lack of originality I find affects the sub-plots, such as the obvious love story between Barbie and Ken, and the development of Buzz and Jess’ friendship. This lack of originality meant that I found the film to be predictable and not as gripping as it should be. As a result while the story I good, I did not find it as original/interesting as say Monster Inc. University.

The second major complaint I have with the film is that of how, like Monster Inc. University, I found Pixar tried to cram too much into this film without expanding on the story too much. This can be seen with how elements like the Toys ending up in the scrap yard, feels more like padding than anything else. Likewise the whole backstory of Lotso, I found was breezed over and did not fully answer all questions. As a result I felt that the writers of the film should have focused more developing the characters and the story on the whole.

However, although I have criticised the film, don’t get me wrong it is still a great movie, just a movie I do not feel is as good as everyone claims. Hopefully I have explained myself.