Fresh Reviews: "Toy Story 3"

Rated G.

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I've written here in the past about the problems with sequels... how the second film is almost never as good as the first. And of course if a series goes to a third installment... well, I'm sure that it's possible I might be forgetting some title, but offhand I can't recall a single third film (second sequel) in a series that was as good as the original. Until now, that is. Although technically you can't say it's "as good as" the original, because I actually think it's better. But of course, Pixar has pretty effectively proven there's absolutely nothing they can't do... including this.

In "Toy Story 3", Andy, the "owner" of our beloved toys, is now 17 years old (which is just about exactly what he WOULD be considering his age in the first movie and the fact it's now 15 years later), and about to go off to college. He decides to store his old toys in his attic, but a series of mishaps involves the toys getting donated to the Day Care Center From Hell (and the toys having to stage an elaborate break-out), and a series of other dangerous adventures on the road to getting back to Andy's house before he leaves for college. Along the way, there's plenty of opportunities to once again show these toys as the most human of all movie characters.

You'll hear a lot in various reviews about the serious elements of the movie and how it digs down deep into all sorts of poignant emotions... you'll hear it later here, too. So first let me reassure everyone that "Toy Story 3" is also still full of all of the fun and humor that you would want from these beloved characters. It's hard to get much more surreally funny than the sequences involving Mr. Potatohead having to temporarily make do by attaching his eyes, mouth, etc. to (first) a floppy tortilla and later, briefly, a cucumber (Mr. cucumberhead?). And as much as I dislike everything Barbie & Ken stand for, their guest appearances here surprise us on a number of levels, but none more so than when Barbie is given a line of dialogue that will sound very familiar to anyone who's seen "Monty Python & The Holy Grail". And those are just for starters. Fact is, above all else, "Toy Story 3" is, indeed, a very funny movie.

But yes, it's also a lot more. I had read about how audiences were wiping away tears at the conclusion, and as much as I love everything Pixar has done in the past and consider their work near-perfection, I still had a hard time believing that. Not after seeing the movie, though. Serious advice: bring tissues or something... you WILL be using them. The basic theme of this movie reminds me of the Biblical verse "When I was a child I thought as a child, I spoke as a child, I reasoned as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things". This movie is about a group of characters (Andy, of course, but also the toys themselves) reaching the point in their lives where they have to grow up, move on and put away childish things. It's the right thing to do, and the best for everyone... and they know that... but there's still a poignant, bittersweet pull of the things we loved as children that won't quite let go and don't make it very easy to do. I seriously cannot think of a single sequence I've seen in any movie of the past few years that depicts that kind of bittersweet moment as well as the final scene of this movie. If you are not moved by it, I would have to assume that you're dead.

But of course, Pixar IS the studio that can always be counted on to go a little deeper and more real than anyone else (I say Pixar and not Disney because I don't want to give Disney the credit that Pixar deserves). And as you might expect, they avoid here the crudeness and hyper-active (as much action as the movie has) manic qualities of too many children's films these days. They also refuse to pack in tons of modern pop culture references... there is the Monty Python line, and a speach by the dictatorial ruler of the day care center, Lotso (Ned Beatty) that echoes almost word for word Strother Martin's famous speach in "Cool Hand Luke", but not only are these references not exactly "contemporary", but you know that they were put in there because the filmmakers thought they were funny, NOT because they were trying to show off their cleverness (they were right). The film is packed with celebrity voices (Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Beatty, John Ratzenberger, Michael Keaton, Don Rickles and others) but you never see the toys as anything other than characters... that's exactly why they seem so real, and why they tug at the old heartstrings so effectively. They cry, you cry. They laugh, you laugh. If only more real PEOPLE could have that effect in more movies.

Being made, as they are, by human beings, no movie is every going to be totally perfect, and "Toy Story 3" doesn't achieve that, either. But it's close enough that the difference doesn't much matter. You might remember the old tagline from the first "Superman" movie, "You'll believe a man can fly". In "Toy Story 3" you'll believe a toy can cry , laugh, be afraid, feel friendship, nostalgia, and pain... all more intensely than most humans. And you will most definitely believe that toys can make you feel all of those same emotions. Every time you think Pixar cannot possibly continue its amazing winning streak one movie more, they prove you wrong in a big way. You'd think we'd know better by now. But I'll say this right now: if they can make a SECOND sequel that's this amazing, they can do anything. Check it out and you'll see what I mean. But be sure to remember those tissues.