Thursday, May 28, 2015

Toy Story 2


RATING: A+

How often does a sequel come out that's better than the original? I mean, sure, there's plenty of sequels out there that weren't as good as their predecessors but were still good. And then there's the sequels that just fall completely short (often that's because they were unnecessary sequels). 

Toy Story 2 is better than its predecessor on practically every level--on the storytelling level, on the humor level, on the writing level, on the animation level (seriously, this film looks *really* good for 1999), and on the characterization/character development level. 

And yes, for two films, we continue to buy into a movie world where toys come to life when the kids are gone. This time around, the plot itself is more interesting--centering around Woody being stolen by a toy collector, and finds out he is an extremely rare collectible and part of a toy/merchandise collection based off an old TV show featuring him--and the other three toys there try to convince him to go to a museum for eternity with them. 

Interestingly enough, I think this film could've stood on its own without the first one (save a couple tiny edits) and no one would've been the wiser. This film is very different from its predecessor, focusing on a brand-new scenario for toys--and if they were perhaps sentient, the conflict they would face on which they prefer: being loved by a kid in its room, or being idolized in a museum for eternity without ever receiving the same type of attention (getting played with) that they would have before. 

The characters are far more tolerable and interesting in this one. Woody and Mr. Potato Head both have gotten over some of their previous idiosyncrasies that made them flawed in the last film, and are now fully enjoyable. The brand-new characters are interesting as well: Jessie, a cowgirl doll with a tragic backstory; Bullseye, a horse who's there more for comic relief, and Prospector, who also has his own backstory which affects his actions and the plot greatly. 

They definitely upped the ante as best as they could in practically every way. Toy Story 2 is the perfect example of sequel-making done right--in this case, done to near perfection. There's very little wrong with the film--it's just enjoyable all around. The sad thing is, the best was *still* yet to come for Pixar, and they certainly set the bar high for the rest of their films and sequels to come with this fantastic film. 

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