First Take: Toy Story 4- Pixar bring the noise, or should that be the trash?

Spoiler free as usual. Because obviously,

SYNOPSIS: When a new toy called “Forky” joins Woody and the gang, a road trip alongside old and new friends reveals how big the world can be for a toy.

Nearly 10 years on from the perfect conclusion to the trilogy that defined millions of childhoods, Pixar are back with a sequel that a lot of people were very skeptical about, and also the final film to be released under the eye of John Lasseter as the head of the studio. Obviously with the switch to original properties looming, they had to get this film perfected. And they only went and did it.

Josh Cooley is the man in charge, taking the lead on his directorial debut- and he is able to create 1 hour 44 minutes of pure emotion, joy, sadness, and of course, plot development that makes the script from Stephany Folsom and veteran scribe Andrew Stanton come alive. Sure, it has a high act to follow with the original films, but it is able to do them justice incredibly well. It’s arguably the best animated of the series, showing how far Pixar’s Presto rendering system has evolved since they began using the Marionette system in 1995 (yes, they’ve been in the game for that long). Plus, with Randy Newman once again providing the music- including that iconic song, this feels like a Toy Story film that was made not to satisfy Disney shareholders, but because there is a genuine heartfelt story to be told.

Of course, the voice cast are fantastic too. Returning from the original films are Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Joan Cusack, John Ratzenberger, Wallace Shawn, Blake Clark and the late Don Rickles (who passed away shortly after rewrites of the script began, so archive recordings are used), who kill it as they have done over the last 20 years. Joining them this time round are everyone’s favourite Canadian in the form of Keanu Reeves (who basically plays a stuntman inspired by his John Wick character), Christina Hendricks, Tony Hale, and my highlights of the film, Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. Those two take the humour they’ve honed on their late night endeavours, pasteurise them for the U certificate, and make two characters who arguably have the funniest moments of the film.

THE VERDICT

Toy Story 4 brings the curtain down on some stories, opens up possibilities for new characters, and of course, provides a big screen experience that audiences both young and old can enjoy together. It’s a super safe U certificate that the whole family can go in to and relax with- something which is super rare nowadays. As for the franchise, it’s not the strongest film of the set, but it is still outstanding.

RATING: 5/5