Toy Story 3 (2010)

Woody, Buzz and the whole gang are back. As their owner Andy prepares to depart for college, his loyal toys find themselves in daycare where untamed tots with their sticky little fingers do not play nice. So, it's all for one and one for all as they join Barbie's counterpart Ken, a thespian hedgehog named Mr. Pricklepants and a pink, strawberry-scented teddy bear called Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear to plan their great escape. - synopsis from IMDB

 Cast  - full listing

 Genres

animation, comedy

 Facts & Figures

Directed by Lee Unkrich.

Rated 8.3 on IMDB from 581497 votes.

Runtime: 103 min.

 Review

Armed with some hugely unfashionable glasses, which are, according to the package, not suitable to wear as sunglasses (who would know?), I sat down with no real expectations towards Pixar’s newest movie, Toy Story 3. Not having seen the first two (at least not in their entirety), I had no idea about the story either but assumed that wouldn’t matter. Which it didn’t.

To get right to the point, this is a great movie. Pixar delivers a children’s movie which is great for adults, again. Witty humor (for both children and “us”), amicable characters and a broad span of emotions, all wrapped in a light-hearted story that holds the main stage at all times. Some valuable lessons for kids (including some of the “darker” sides of life) are included as well.

Another thing that’s well done is the pacing. The flow of scenes is tremendously fluent and any pacing changes are unnoticable. It’s one big adventure from the get-go. You sit down and you won’t get up till it’s done. And of course, since this is a Pixar flick, once it’s done, it’s not really done.

Speaking of which, as with every Pixar movie, once it starts, it doesn’t really start. This is one of the best prelude mini-movies they’ve made. This time it’s not hilarious, but it’s clever. I won’t give much away but let’s just say the sentiments and particularly the bond of friendship displayed are brilliant.

The only thing Toy Story 3 failed at, is letting me laugh out loud. Sure, it’s amusing and I enjoyed it a lot, but had there been one or two more really funny jokes, it might have just had that edge for 5 points.

Now for the obligatory 3-D comments. In this one, I must admit there were very few of the obvious effects used. The whole extra dimension was integrated apparently seamlessly into the movie so it was not tiring to watch, not overloaded and actually very enjoyable. Again, Pixar got this one right.

Seen: 25 Jun 2010

Toy Story 3

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