Toy Story 4 A Beloved Franchise Concludes with a Great Ending. Grade: B+
Source: IMDB
Toy Story 4 tells a story of Bonnie (Madeline McGraw) creating a toy made out of a spork in kindergarten orientation, FORKY (Tony Hale). Forky doesn’t want to be a toy, he doesn’t want to be alive, he just wants to be in the trash can. When Forky escapes out of Bonnie’s RV van, as the family is taking a rode trip, Woody (Tom Hanks) flies out and has to go on an adventure to bring Bonnie back her new toy. I could dive deeper in the plot... But nah that’s simple enough, without revealing much. The Animation in this film is breathtaking, it’s a remarkable achievement as it looks realistic... Crazy what they can do with animation these days. The Score was great per usual, Randy Newman is that guy, I like his new tune regarding throwing away things, that was dope. The characters in this film were great, the new additions surprisingly were all fairly pretty good. Woody is a great character in this film, this take on Woody went on to be a emotional one. Woody feels lost with Bonnie, not even close to his first kid Andy, which Woody had a perfect relationship with. Woody feels like he’s done his purpose, which now it feels like life for him is meaningless... It’s pretty sad, but very relatable to some. I think all of us were stunned by Forky not being a completely stupid character, he was a great character. He was hilarious, charming, and relatable. I’m kind of stunned the rest of Woody’s original gang wasn’t utilized much at all, which is kind of a flaw to me. I’m going to say more towards Jessie (Joan Cusack), the last film it looked like her and Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) were about to have a relationship together... They tossed it in the trash, I mean what the hell?! Only Buzz really had significant screen time, the rest of the gang was barely utilized at all, it was kind of bummer towards that aspect. Besides Forky, the other new character I like to discuss is Duke Kaboom (Keanu Reeves).... I LOVE THIS DAMN CHARACTER, HE WAS AWESOME. His story with his owner cracked me up, flat out hilarious he was just a great addition to the Toy Story franchise. Toy Story is my 4th favorite film of all time, I loved this series ever since I was introduced to it as a kid. I had all the toys, Buzz, Woody, Rex, the jail break monkey’s, the race car driver... I was spoiled. I thought Toy Story 3 was a perfect ending to the franchise, as I was at first baffled that Toy Story 4 existed, I mean why would you make another after a perfect fitting ending like Toy Story 3?! I was afraid this would be your typical soulless cash grab, that didn’t have a purpose in existing only to make a quick buck... Cough, Cough, Incredibles 2, Cough Cough. Well I’m happy to share that this film although not as great of an end as Toy Story 3, but it was great film regardless. The story was great, yet the direction it took was more heart shattering than the others. The other three films start off with a fun adventure, this one starts off with a pretty sad introduction... I mean damn, they are going depression mode here?! Ok. I feel majority of the film was just sad, one can relate to all the problems Woody and Forky had, especially those in depression that feel lost without a purpose in this world or feel they’ve done their purpose. The adventure was pretty fun, it felt like the others and it resembles in Toy Story 2 in a way, but it was fun regardless. The humor was great, Toy Story always finds a way to cater to not only kids but adults in that field, I laughed quite a bit. So I’ve publicly stated about a month ago on SnapChat, as I discussed within myself months before the release, how the only way this film needed to exist, is if it ended this way. Guess what: That ending I mentioned was right on the nose, I predicted the end of this movie correctly, great minds think alike. That was the only way it could end, where this film needed to exist. I feel Toy Story is not like other Pixar sequels, if they were meant to have a purpose in existing, then they’ll make it. That’s because the creators of this franchise truly care about their creation, they don’t want people to feel cheated out of a dollar, every single story including this one was meaningful to it’s existence. Delivering not only great stories, with unforgettable characters, charm, adventures, and humor... But they delivered great messages that hit the soul deeply. T’was a great ending to a beloved franchise that has been my favorite for a long time, as I don’t see another franchise comparing to my love for these films. Overall, Toy Story 4 was a great film as I hope this is the end and we can finally wrap this baby up for good now. I highly recommend this film, a great time for kids and adults, especially for adults they needed a film like this one. I tip my hat off to the creators of this franchise, thanks for everything as you made me feel completed and happy as a human being, God Bless- Mitch Smietana