Toy Story 4 Review

Toy Story 4 Review:

When I heard Disney was doing a 4th imstallment of Toy Story, I was outraged. For me it seemed like an obvious and lazy cash grab and an unnecessary sequel since the 3rd film was the perfect way to end the franchise. Now that I've seen it, I take most of it back. It's still an unnecessary sequel but it's a great film.

The story is surprisingly fresh and interesting but not as strong as the previous installments. Woody, when we first see him, is no longer a favourite toy.  He has no direction and seems forgotten. He then finds himself a new job by looking after and guiding Bonnies new toy, Forky who is a welcome and hilarious addition. The scenes with Woody trying to stop Forky running away is just hilarious.

After a chain of events leads Woody and Forky to a carnival, they bump into Bo Peep who is a much better character in this than the previous films. Before she was a one dimensional and boring character but now she's a breath of fresh air and very interesting. She seems like a strong character who represents women in a great way. Keanu Reeves as Duke Kaboom, Keegan-Michael Keane and Jordan Peele as Bunny and Ducky are also great and funny characters.

What is so interesting about this film is it actually leaves room for more films. The ending leaves potential for a Toy story 5 but some characters would have be left behind, I want to see a Duke Kaboom spinoff and I really want a Bo Peep prequel or trilogy. I'm really interested to see how she went from a boring character to one of the best things about Toy Story 4.

Now I said I take most of it back because there was some disappointments. There is literally a 2 second scene that cheapens the ending of Toy Story 3 and that is a big flaw. Also, I found the character of Gabby Gabby frustrating. She's a good character but an annoying villain. I could see how the film was developing her but I just didn't like her. Also I heard the ending was really sad. Sadder than Toy Story 3. I personally didn't think it was. It was a sad ending but it not as sad as I've seen in other films.

Ultimately this is a surprisingly great film though not the best, with lots of laughs, good vocal performances and a good story.

⭐⭐⭐⭐