Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Toy Story


RATING: B+

Ah, Toy Story. The beginning of an unprecedented streak of universally liked movies from a company. The story that caught everyone's heart immediately and, 20 years later (!) has still not been forgotten that easily. It also stands as one of the few movies on Rotten Tomatoes with a 100% rating (as does the first sequel). 

Who could forget the imaginative tale of a world where toys come to life when their child owners are not around and where their greatest fears are being replaced--and one such cowboy doll is replaced by a space toy, which leads him to go to unprecedented lengths to get his #1 status back with his owner Andy which--through a series of events--leaves them in the room of the psycho toy abuser kid (Sid) next door? 

Yeah. To be honest, considering what Pixar's come up with since then, Toy Story's imagination doesn't hold up quite as well as it used to. Nevertheless, we all buy in still. Every single one of us. The kids, the young adults, the adults, we all buy in to it. 

It may seem slightly strange that this historic film (which was the first theatrical computer-animated film of all time) would not get an A grade of any sort. And this is coming from a guy who loves Pixar as much as the next guy. So why the B+ rating? 

Well, one major reason is some unlikeable characters. For example, Sheriff Woody--the cowboy doll--isn't particularly a likable character in this film. (And what's odd about is that in the next two films, he's a perfectly decent fellow.) He at first comes off as the leader who's got it all under control, but when the space toy Buzz Lightyear replaces him, he gets quite jealous immediately and becomes a bit of a jerk. His character is jumping all over the place in the film--from standing strong to a jerk to a feeble afraid person to heroic by the time the film nears its end. Perhaps more annoying (and also far better in the next two films) is Mr. Potato Head, who--despite cracking some of the better jokes in the film--is supposed to be the quasi-villain of sorts in Andy's room, and isn't even good at that and is just more annoying than anything. 

The film's biggest saving grace is its script and its second half. The film is filled with laughs--both on the script and visual. Early on, Potato Head's first line is this: "It says it on my box: Ages 3 and up. I'm not supposed to be babysitting Princess Drool." (He says this after getting tossed into a crib with a baby.) It doesn't stop there either. The film also has a particularly good couple of final acts--the cleverly planned (and hilarious) escape from Sid's house and then the moving van chase which still holds up quite well. 

Overall, Toy Story perhaps is a little bit overrated. Many consider it to be among the top echelon of Pixar's films and perhaps cinema in general, but that's perhaps heaping too much praise on it. Yes, it's still quite a good film and a great start for Pixar, but it's a far cry from its first sequel and much of what else Pixar has to offer.

Nevertheless, it's still a good and fun film when all's said and done, even if there's a couple perhaps distasteful moments now and then. It may make some of you start looking at your toys weird (it never did that for me), and may also make you look back on childhood with an air of nostalgia. It's hard to not like the film as a whole, whichever demographic you may be. Perhaps that's where the film succeeds best: at being a mutual crowd-pleaser that almost everyone can enjoy to some degree. (Of course, that could be said for most of Pixar's films in general.)

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