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Toy Story 3
| Released |
19 July 2010 |
| Director |
Lee Unkrich |
Starring
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Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty, John Ratzenberger, Timothy Dalton, Whoopi Goldberg, Michael Keaton |
Writer
|
Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich |
| Producer |
Darla K. Anderson |
| Origin |
United States |
| Running Time |
109 minutes |
| Genre |
Animation |
| Rating |
G |
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Pixar at its finest.
Now and again a movie comes along that instantly takes its rightful place among the greats, the "classics". These are movies that in one fell swoop create an entire mesmerising world of magic and adventure, heartbreak and suspense, deep soulful moments and ingenious comedy. Generally, kid’s movies such as this one are not given this kind of recognition for their ability to weave a complex plot and create characters -plastic though they may be- that feel more real than most of the so called ‘characters’ we see in a lot of Hollywood blockbusters. For me, the prospect of seeing Toy Story 3, enjoyable as the first two undoubtedly were, did not trigger a sense of excitement or anticipation. Unconsciously I had become jaded after seeing far too many excellent movies ruined by the time part three came around.
But I had forgotten the true genius of Pixar, a studio that just seems to get better with age; both in terms of their storytelling, their beautiful animation and their ability to embrace and create wonder out of technological advances. With Toy Story 3, they have once again proven that they are top dogs in the animation game, and in my humble opinion, have well and truly blown Shrek Forever After out of the water. The 3-D element, as in a lot of movies recently, doesn’t add a whole lot in itself to the overall impression of the movie, but there are a few spectacular scenes where the extra dimension really comes to the fore. Essentially, it is the basic animation that provides for what is a visually arresting feast for the senses, as colours and textures illuminate the screen with a spell-binding vivacity.
And it just keeps getting better as I arrive at my synopsis of the plot; which is so good that I don’t want to reveal too much, as it has a surprising depth and intricacy that keeps you guessing until the last minute. The writing and directing team of Lee Unkrich (Director), Andrew Stanton, and John Lasseter (who was on writing and directing credits for the first two Toy Story movies has created a movie with moments of nail-biting suspense amid a story that is a bellyful of laughs. Credit also has to be given to Michael Arndt (Screenplay), who also wrote the screenplay for Little Miss Sunshine. Toy Story 3 echoes that movie's tone of bittersweet humour, as the plot is uplifting and downright hilarious, and yet is tinged with a certain sadness, as the theme of growing up and moving on bring melancholia and excitement in equal measures.
So to give you a brief idea of where Andy and his loyal team of toys are at this juncture, Andy is all grown up and leaving soon for college. Woody, Buzz and company are coming to terms with the fact that he has outgrown them. Faced with the prospect of being stored in the attic, never to be played with again or even worse- thrown out as trash, the toys decide that the best course of action is to volunteer themselves as charity to be donated to a local day-care centre. This place is presented as a dream retirement home, where the toys will have a continuous stream of children to play with them. This means that they will never be forgotten about and will not be left to gather dust in a dark and lonely toybox never to be opened again.
A whole host of new and interesting characters are introduced here, each as quirky and well written as the last, ‘Lotso the huggable bear’ and ‘Ken’ (Voiced by Michael Keaton) are particularly well written and entertaining. Of course all is not what it seems, and a multitude of complications arise as the story progresses. An all star cast that includes Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack and Laurie Metcalf, among others is the final element that allows this movie to receive my “classic” status. A truly fitting end to a trilogy that rather than faltering as it progressed, just got better.
- Eadaoin Browne |
