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What can I say that hasn’t already been said about this BRILLIANT franchise that is Toy Story? And now… taking the complete opposite route of the typical “third movie syndrome”, Toy Story 3 will only add to the shower of accolades bestowed upon the crown jewel of Pixar Studios. You can rest assured it utterly deserves ever glowing compliment — not just because its competition has been relatively weak this year (granted, with the exception of How to Train Your Dragon), but because it is leaps & bounds more accomplished than just about anything else that’s come out this year or much of the last 11 years the franchise has been “absent” (yes, hard to believe Toy Story 2 was released in 1999!). And when I write that, I don’t mean from standpoint of the animated genre; I mean this from a STORY-TELLING aspect. It’s nothing short of miraculous that this latest version — even after 11 years — retains the ability to tell its story in such a fresh, ultra-clever, totally engaging way without losing so much as a step. Furthermore, to do it in this era of “Been There / Done That”, it’s all the more reason to celebrate this singular phenomenal achievement in filmmaking.
So how does this latest (and quite possibly last?) installment unfold? Young toy-enthusiast Andy (voiced by John Morris in all three movies) is no longer “young”; he’s about to head to college, and his toys — including Woody (Tom Hanks, Angels & Demons), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen, Wild Hogs), and Jessie (Joan Cusack, My Sister’s Keeper) — are most likely not going along for the ride this time. Instead, they’re mistakenly headed to Sunnyside Daycare (by way of the trash truck) as donations. There, they’re greeted by a whole new set of toys lead by kindly pink bear Lotso Hugs (New Beatty, Charlie Wilson’s War) and the hilariously narcissistic Ken Doll (Michael Keaton, Cars) — who, of course, Barbie (voiced again by Jodi Benson, Enchanted) immediately falls head over heels for — along with a grand tour of what looks to be Heaven on Earth (for toys). However, Woody has no intention of sticking around because 1) Andy had chosen to take Woody to college with him and 2) the other toys were headed for the safe haven of Andy’s family attic (where they could all live together in undisturbed peace and quiet) before Andy’s mom put them out on the curbside by accident. Woody and his friends part company, he begins the long trek back to the house (with more than a few stumbles), and the other toys eagerly await the first play time with the daycare kids. But if you’ve seen pre-schoolers with toys, you know things are about to get very bad (and this is no exception). Eventually, it’s discovered that Woody’s friends are little more than prisoners held captive by Lotso. What’s left then but to mount their seemingly-insurmountable great escape — aided and abetted by Chatter Telephone (Teddy Newton, Up) who has three simple words “GET THAT MONKEY!” (you’ll just have to see what I mean) — with gut-bustingly, (subliminally) adult-themed hysterical results, all the while entertaining the younger audience with the dynamic, dazzling 3-D visuals.
With screenwriter credits going to four scribes (which would usually spell d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r for most films) — Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine), John Lasseter (who wrote, produced and directed the first two Toy Story flicks), Andrew Stanton (Lasseter’s Toy Story screenwriting partner), and also-director Lee Unkrich (who also co-directed Part 2 with Lasseter) — I can only imagine the truly fun times these guys must have had coming up with their story; oh, to be a fly on the wall! And when it came time to write the final emotionally-tinged scenes, you have to think the send-off was a near-religious experience for these four geniuses. Because of this, please take my advice… “Bring tissue”. This is a masterstroke we should consider ourselves lucky to bear witness.
If I had to bring up any issues, I’d have two. ISSUE #1: The length of the film is a bit on the long side, especially the almost-fiery end that could be off-putting (and terrifying) to very young kids, but the further-down “nice ending” (TISSUE TIME) just about makes up for run-time problems — it’s a fitting, necessary end (if, again, this is to be “the end”). ISSUE #2: Relates to #1; after this extraordinary experience, even with no more “toy stories” to save us from what is sure-to-come poor summertime movie doldrums, it’s nice to know the Pixar Story Machine keeps us on the edge of our seats waiting for the next big idea!
From early childhood, Steve has been a fan of films. He decorated his room with homemade movie posters (which ultimately evolved into another hobby... movie-poster collecting), ticket stubs, and other cinema paraphernalia. His goal was always "Opening Day / Front of the Line!" And if the film was good, there was no limit to the number of repeat viewings, committing much of the dialogue to memory in the process.
Always up for a good action or sci-fi flick, Steve is just as "at home" with a solid romance, comedy, documentary, or indie. It seemed only natural that he became a critic, having written reviews for his company, Ericsson, since 1998.
Steve resides in the Dallas area and is proud to be a native Texan. 
