Toy Story 4 (2019)

I, like many others my age, grew up with the Toy Story series, so when a new Toy Story was announced I was very skeptical. I believe that there was no way a new Toy Story was necessary as Toy Story 3 had perfectly ended the franchise, yet Toy Story 4 proved otherwise. It was the perfect cap to a perfect series as it revisited questions asked from the beginning and completed Woody's arc. I'll start from the beginning of the movie where the iconic song by Randy Newman, "You've got a friend in me", is played alongside the iconic clouds reminiscent of the first movie's beginning. This was the perfect start paralleling just how far Pixar's animation has come from 1995. With the updated visuals, the scene almost made me shed a tear.

Speaking of visuals, this movie's animation is the best I have seen for some time. Its animation is familiar yet refreshing with details the make each character and environment feel authentic. The fabric and stitching on Woody's clothing are perfect with every detail in place. The opening scene's animation was also as shocking as the rain falls upon the ground. The water was incredibly well animated as was each and every moment in the movie. Pixar has always been groundbreaking with their animations with the original Toy Story pioneering three-dimensional animation.

Toy Story 4 also offers a fresh antagonist and is one of the best "villains" I have seen in a while. Gabby Gabby at first seems like your run of the mill villain with a subpar motive yet as the movie continues it is evident she is simply misunderstood and wants no harm to come to others. Her character becomes a fully fleshed out character and has a great arc throughout the story. She becomes a sympathetic character, who becomes Woody's friend by the end of the movie.

The other new character to grace the Toy Story series comes in the form of a spork, Forky. Forky is interesting as his existential crisis makes the viewer wonder where does the origin of the toy's life comes from. The movie doesn't answer the meaning to life yet it deals with acceptance of Forky's purpose of being there for Bonnie and his character helps push Woody's character further along his arc. Woody realizes Bonnie doesn't need him and he doesn't need Bonnie which effectively allows him to become a lost toy with Bo Peep. In addition to Forky, I enjoyed Key and Peele's characters, with some scenes leaving me in fits of laughter. The ending of Toy Story 4 was perfect and instead of the endless passing on of toys that were presented in Toy Story 3, the wheel is broken and Woody is allowed to journey on without a kid to depend on.

The movie also shifts its focus away from the cast we are all so familiar with from the past few movies and focuses on Woody's internal struggle and Bo Peep, who is a refreshing face and an interesting character. Although back in the first two movies, Bo Peep played no significant role except for Woody's love interest and I am glad to see that her character has come a long way since then.

It was not as sad as the last one but it will still leave audiences with a big lump in their throat and a couple tears in their eyes. Toy Story 4 proves an effective epilogue to a perfect trilogy as it doesn't retread old ground yet explores the internal aspects of Woody. Although it feels more like an epilogue than a sequel, it perfectly ends the Toy Story series with the bittersweet separation of Woody and his gang although as Buzz Lightyear always says, "To infinity and beyond". 

P.s: See if you can spot Boo, who might or might not appear twice, in the movie.
- GL

8 / 10


(Above) My favorite shot from the movie:



(Above) Toy Story 1 vs 4:







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