Toy Story 3 Critical Reviews

[lizardgirl]

Post all Toy Story 3 reception and critical reviews here. Please use spoilers if neccessary.

[Bryko614]

Variety Toy Story 3 reviews; surprisingly not as glowing as expected. I hid out the spoiler portions.

From the outset, we can sense different hands at the reins. [spoil]Like the original, pic opens with 6-year-old Andy acting out wild narratives for Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) and the gang – only this time, director Lee Unkrich (who came up through Pixar’s editorial department and handled co-helming duties on “Toy Story 2,” “Monsters, Inc.” and “Finding Nemo”) plunges us into Andy’s imagination, which follows childhood logic but looks more like a Jerry Bruckheimer movie.
[/spoil]
Andy’s toys are fiercely loyal to their owner, with such playtime being their raison d’etre (though the “Toy Story” movies have long hinged on a rather arbitrary notion of what qualifies as the healthy treatment of toys). Homevideos advance us through a dozen years,[spoil] disposing of Bo Peep and a few other key players along the way. It’s gutsy to see Pixar stripping back its ensemble – the Green Army Men effectively desert, rather than be donated – in contrast to the unwieldy, ever-growing ensembles of most toon sequels (though Disney Consumer Products has plenty of new characters to be excited about).[/spoil]

Now 18, Andy is packing up for college. Clearly oblivious to the Roundup gang’s value, he tosses all but Woody into a garbage bag, which his mom mistakes for trash and takes out to the curb. So begins a convoluted adventure that leads the toys to Sunnyside Daycare Center, which at first appears to be an improvement: The toys haven’t been played with in ages, and here, they’ll get daily attention. Plus, they’ll have plenty of new friends, including “Big Baby” and a Dream House-dwelling Ken (Michael Keaton).
[spoil]
But there’s a dark side to Sunnyside, which is overseen by a folksy, strawberry-scented pink plush named Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear (Ned Beatty). “Lotso” lost his owner years ago, and now he runs the place like a prison. [/spoil]Where the first two “Toy Story” installments served as rescue movies, with characters nobly putting themselves in danger to save their friends from harm, this one instead follows the jailbreak genre.

Take a step back, and the film seems to be about the idea of toys coming to terms with being outgrown by their owners [spoil]-- however, everyone but Woody seems perfectly fine with being donated at the outset [/spoil] (and Jessie’s song already addressed such abandonment issues quite poignantly in the second movie). As character arcs go, this one doesn’t seem particularly compelling: Woody must convince the others to break out of Sunnyside and[spoil] find their way back to Andy’s attic, where they can wait until he needs them again --[/spoil] as delusional thinking goes, this tops even fresh-out-of-the-box Buzz Lightyear’s identity issues.

Pixar has essentially set an impossible standard for itself, having previously delivered the rare sequel that improves on the original, then followed that up with a run of exceptional work. This latest script, written by “Little Miss Sunshine’s” Michael Arndt from a story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Unkrich, feels more gag-driven than the studio’s previous efforts – essentially borrowing a page from DreamWorks Animation, chasing snappy humor over heart-on-their-sleeve sentimentality, within a few months of DreamWorks going the Pixar route with the sincere storytelling of “How to Train Your Dragon.”

The visuals look gorgeous as ever, making classy use of 3D to enhance the drama, while staying true to the original aesthetic. Humans are notably improved, [spoil]especially young Bonnie (Emily Hahn), who takes Woody home at one point and introduces him to the film’s most appealing new characters, including[/spoil] Shakespearean hedgehog Mr. Pricklepants (Timothy Dalton, whose perf amusingly suggests another level of split-personality delusion among toys) and scatterbrained triceratops Trixie (Kristen Schaal).

[spoil]The latter bodes well for Rex’s romantic prospects, which seem far better than Barbie’s, since[/spoil] Keaton plays Ken as an effeminate closet case (imagine the outcry had Pixar attempted an equivalent racial caricature). But the pic wants laughs, and it’s willing to dilute the respect Lasseter showed this borderline-absurd world to get them, goosing auds with punchline-driven cutting, pop-song montages and throwaway silliness. Surely kids could have done without the bathroom humor, though much of the comedy takes the high road, such as an inspired bit in which Buzz is accidentally switched to Spanish-language mode.

But “Toy Story 3” is best when it’s being serious, and the final 15-minute stretch – [spoil]from the moment the toys are dumped at a landfill through the tear-jerking finale[/spoil] – pays off feelings auds invested 15 years ago. Still, [spoil]there’s no reason these scenes couldn’t have come 80 minutes earlier (had the toys not escaped their first brush with the garbage truck), which would have left room for the film to explore the curious ontology of being a toy after escaping such a near-death experience.[/spoil]

Pic is preceded by Teddy Newton’s visionary six-minute short “Day and Night,” an invigorating blend of stereoscopic CG visuals and old-school hand-drawn animation. Set against a black background, two characters serve as windows to opposite halves of the day, their playfully layered dance of sound and spectacle suggesting exciting creative directions Pixar could explore in the future.

variety.com/review/VE1117942 … st+News%29

As someone who knows what goes on in the story, I feel like this reviewer missed a lot of the purpose and character development/motivations.

[Pieman411]

Another review. I didn’t read it because I didn’t want to spoil the movie, so I don’t know if its positive or negative…[url]http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film-reviews/toy-story-3-film-review-1004096216.story[/url]

[Within_A_Nutshell]

@Pieman411

Another review. I didn’t read it because I didn’t want to spoil the movie, so I don’t know if its positive or negative…[url]http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film-reviews/toy-story-3-film-review-1004096216.story[/url]

I read it (I know the plot already and there’s no such thing as a spoiler as far as I’m concerned), and it’s very positive. It sounds like they really enjoyed it.

[Dinoco]

The way people are describing it, Toy Story 3 is destined to live up to the others with time. I mean, the original Toy Story had only lukewarm reviews at the time it was released. Toy Story 2, however, was acclaimed from the start, and the way they describe Toy Story 3, it sounds like it has a lot of similarities. And that’s a good thing.

They say it has more gags and such. So did [i]Toy Story 2[i]. In fact, I don’t even think Toy Story 3 could possibly top all the jokes in Toy Story 2.

And I don’t believe for a second that this movie doesn’t have the same emotional factor. It may be a little bit of my nostalgia, but Andy going to college is definately a highly emotional event. Even the trailer made me sad.

In conjunction with what looks to be some of Pixar’s best action sequences of all time, I’m not letting my expectations slip.

[Kyle]

@Dinoco

The way people are describing it, Toy Story 3 is destined to live up to the others with time. I mean, the original Toy Story had only lukewarm reviews at the time it was released. Toy Story 2, however, was acclaimed from the start, and the way they describe Toy Story 3, it sounds like it has a lot of similarities. And that’s a good thing.

They say it has more gags and such. So did Toy Story 2. In fact, I don’t even think Toy Story 3 could possibly top all the jokes in Toy Story 2.

And I don’t believe for a second that this movie doesn’t have the same emotional factor. It may be a little bit of my nostalgia, but Andy going to college is definitely a highly emotional event. Even the trailer made me sad.

Lukewarm reviews for the first? I don’t buy that. It never once got a negative review on Rotten Tomatoes (neither did TS2), so that tells me it got nothing but rave reviews for the most part.

As for the humor, I hear it’s their funniest movie yet. they don’t just resort to the cheap one liner puns of the first two either, their actually cleaver. I think it had to be funnier because it’s going to be more bittersweet than usual.

[Phileas]

Just to let you know Upcoming Pixar & Peach Magazine will have their own exclusive critical reviews, to be published at a later date.

As for Variety’s review, I’m not surprised. Debrudge is mediocre reviewer for the most part. He misses the big idea.

[Dinoco]

@Kyle

Lukewarm reviews for the first? I don’t buy that. It never once got a negative review on Rotten Tomatoes (neither did TS2) so that tells me it got nothing but rave reviews for the most part.

As for the humor, I hear it’s their funniest movie yet. they don’t just resort to the cheap one liner puns of the first two either, their actually cleaver. I think it had to be funnier because it’s going to be more bittersweet than usual.

Today, it’s obviously known as one of the best films ever made (I don’t think that’s an understatement), but I remember reading a review that was slightly negative, saying how it didn’t live up to the hype from 1995.

And nothing’s wrong with a lot of jokes, as long as they work. I’m not worried at all about that.

[Kyle]

Was the review in a local newspaper or something? The RT reviews are from the year it originally came out, so any review from anyone who mattered (and plenty that didn’t) back then is accounted for.

Though I guess lukewarm doesn’t automatically translate to a rotten review. You can claim a movie doesn’t live up to the hype and still recommend it to others.

[Dinoco]

The whole point was that it got better with time, which I think will be the case here.

[pixarfan9099]

Mike over at The Pixar Blog emailed Pete DeBruge (the Variety reporter) and asked if he went to watch TS3 and went to seek the failures. This is his response: “Peter Debruge from Variety emailed me this morning to ‘assure’ me that he “didn’t go in seeking to find fault” with TS3, as I wrote he did.” I don’t know. It looked like he tried.

[UniversalPolymath]

But the pic wants laughs, and it’s willing to dilute the respect Lasseter showed this borderline-absurd world to get them, goosing auds with punchline-driven cutting, pop-song montages and throwaway silliness. Surely kids could have done without the bathroom humor…

This is the only section of the Variety review that really troubles me. Someone tell me I have nothing to worry about, quick!

[Kyle]

@Dinoco

The whole point was that it got better with time, which I think will be the case here.

And my point was that they don’t accept reviews after a certain amount of time has passed. If it was lukewarm back then, it would show even now.

[IncredigirlVirginia]

Critics are usually pretty cynical to begin with. The only one I would ever listen to is Leonard Maltin, and I haven’t heard anything from him. I still have buckets of hope.

[Disney_Guy]

With all this talk about the Variety review… isn’t it still a positive review? Of course the guy has quite a few criticisms about it, but it appears he still liked it… I think some of us are getting a little carried away with it. So far I have not seen a single person say they didn’t like the film, and I’m talking about all the people who saw the film at a pre-screening months ago, as well as the first two reviews on Rotten Tomatoes… I don’t see any reason to lose hope in Toy Story 3. As far as I can say, it’s yet another worthy addition to Pixar’s list of amazing films according to most people who saw it.

[Kyle]

I think critics get a bad rap. They are just normal people who happen to get paid to write about what they think, and if they are any good, do it articulately. If they seem more cynical, it is usually because they see more movies, play more games, read more books, etc., than your average person. They have seen everything and know what has been done to death and whats effective versus whats not. And even when they like something its still part of their job to list off any weaknesses the thing their reviewing has, because nothing’s perfect.

The main thing to look at is that there are no rotten reviews of TS3 just yet. And there will no doubt be some bad apples who get their kicks out of ruining things for everyone. These are the reviewers who just want attention, they want to cause a stir by being different. In an ideal world, these reviews wouldn’t count, but I don’t think there’s anything we can do about that.

And then there will be some rotten reviews that while we won’t agree, you might see where they are coming from at least.

[UniversalPolymath]

And the third review listed on Rotten Tomatoes is a ridiculously glowing one from Scott Mantz of Access Hollywood.

The gist of it:

Now comes their 11th animated feature, “Toy Story 3,” which is not only the best “Toy Story” of them all (and that’s saying a lot), but it also continues Pixar’s extraordinary capacity for telling strong, clever and exciting stories that are filled with humor, heart and, most of all, imagination. To that extent, it’s safe to say that on a scale of one to ten, “Toy Story 3” goes to infinity — and beyond …

…What’s amazing is that “Toy Story 3” doesn’t just match its brilliant predecessor in terms of depth, excitement and humor; it exceeds it in just about every way …

…“Toy Story 3” raises the bar for how much a film can work on every level for both kids and adults (and adults who were kids when the first movie came out). Kids will marvel at the vibrant 3-D computer animation, the thrilling excitement and the lovable characters, while grown-ups will be immersed with deeper issues. If “Toy Story 2” was about identity and purpose, then “Toy Story 3” is about change and mortality. That may sound heavy, but that’s what makes it the best — and also, at times, the darkest — of the series.

Full review can be found here (rest assured, no spoilers that aren’t immediately apparent from just about every trailer and TV spot):

[url]http://www.accesshollywood.com/moviemantz/moviemantz-review-toy-story-3_articletab_33346[/url]

[lizardgirl]

I think it’s fair enough that some reviews will be critical, even if this is a Pixar film. Although Pixar films generally get positive reviews, there’s always the odd one or two that want to buck the trend, so I can’t see it being any different with Toy Story 3.

[Disney_Guy]

@lizardgirl

I think it’s fair enough that some reviews will be critical, even if this is a Pixar film. Although Pixar films generally get positive reviews, there’s always the odd one or two that want to buck the trend, so I can’t see it being any different with Toy Story 3.

Every year I seem to get the same feeling over these early Pixar film reviews. There’s always at least a few reviews that are slightly less glowing than the others… These are the reviews that go down to specifics with why the author thought the film was one of the weaker films… these early reviews still always turned out to be positive, but the words that had to be said in them always put a little doubt on my face. I can tell you that with films like Ratatouille, WALL-E and Up, I have been very skeptical about how much I would actually like the films on the days leading up to their releases because of these certain reviews. Despite having early criticism, I’m sure we all know how those films turned out.

This is exactly what I’m seeing with Toy Story 3. Because one reviewer has had some things to say about the film that wasn’t all positive, we’re all a bit worried now and completely ignoring what the other reviewers are saying that are giving it extremely positive reviews.
In the end, with four reviews so far, that Variety review is in the minority group, as the other three reviews are very positive so far. I wouldn’t let our doubts get ahead of us just yet, because it looks apparent that most people are so far loving it.

[CoCoMeister]

That Access Hollywood review is indeed glowing!

Found another one by Peter Hammond here.

Disney/Pixar has again come up with the best Toy Story ever–more laughs, more heart, more fun, more toys and all in stunningly well used 3D. What more could audiences want from a movie than this hilarious, heartwarming entertainment for all ages? If you think this summer has gotten off to a lukewarm start, you can count on Pixar (as usual) to come in and save the day with this wonderful and unforgettable movie experience.