Last week, I caught Toy Story 5.
I've seen every Pixar movie in their theatrical runs. Yes, even the "Disney Plus" exclusives: Soul, Luca, and Turning Red. With the fifth entry of the story of toys, I can happily say that the streak remains intact.
Well, with two exceptions: The Incredibles (never got around to it) and Onward (lockdown happened just as I was gonna go see it).
But anyway, my verdict: way better than Toy Story 4. Nothing will ever top the first two, or most of Toy Story 3, but overall I enjoyed it.
Did this movie need to be made? No.
Did Woody need to be in this movie? No.
Was it good anyway? Yes.
(WARNING: Spoilers ahead)
They tackle the "tech vs toys" plot pretty well here. It's not "oh no, tech is here and making kids dumb!" like a lesser movie would do. If anything, the tension between the toys and Lily is a parallel to Woody and Buzz in the first movie: a new, advanced toy shows up, upstages the older toys, they eventually learn to coexist, complete with the requisite chase scene at the climax.
It also shares a lot of plot beats from Inside Out 2 in a way: Lily is like Anxiety, the new toy/emotion that thinks it knows what's best for Bonnie as she tries to make friends, casts out the old guard, finds out the hard way that their way alone doesn't help (Bonnie getting cyberbullied hits HARD, not gonna lie.), the old toys and the new ones learn to balance their involvement in Bonnie's life. Everyone wins.
Oh, and Jessie is the lead in this movie, and it delves into her backstory that'd been on the backburner since her introduction in Toy Story 2. Did you ever cry at THAT scene? Well, they revisit it. And prepare to get emotional over it.
If I had to say a negative about this movie it's that the cast is too damn big. Every movie introduces a new "gang", which leads to less screentime to the older "gangs" over the series, with this one being no exception. Most of the old guard gets a line or a bit to let their voice actors retain their SAG benefits, and they spend most of the movie in a box in the garage. Rex and Hamm still deliver the goods, and Mr. Potato Head finally got recast, so he has actual lines again. As for Bonnie's toys, my favorite of the new group is Forky. He's so blunt about everything, it sets him apart from the sardonic and sarcastic Andy toys.
Hell, I was surprised to see some of the Toy Story 4 gang, too. Duke Kaboom (the one played by Keanu Reeves) was the only one that talked. That's how stuffed this movie was.
But the MVP of the new "Gang" is Smarty Pants, voiced by Conan O'Brien.
Yes, he's an early 2000s potty training device, with all the bathroom jokes that go with it. He can only count to 2, he has two buttons, he'll make any pun about gas, it makes a toilet flush sound every time you pull his handle, and he looks like a damn roll of toilet paper. You get the idea.
It's incredible character design. There's one sequence that gives him Conan's hair, and the resemblance is uncanny. And his first scene has him acting like a belligerent drunk. You just gotta think Conan was having a field day in that recording booth.
Oh, and he can text and interface with a camera and a GPS somehow. Don't think about that too hard.
But the best part is that, yes, there is a real toy of Smarty Pants and does everything he does in the movie, even the drunk talk. There's a video of Conan seeing it for the first time and he is HORRIFIED.
"I'm being interrupted by myself!"
"Join the club!" says everyone else lol
But the biggest surprise was the voice of Snappy the digital camera.
It was Shelby Rabara! The voice of Peridot from Steven Universe!
Snappy even acts like Peridot, too! Well, more like post-character development, but she's still anxious, and tiny, and uses a digital interface, but she's more positive.
All in all, a definite recommend.
And now June, Pride Month, comes to an end. And now we enter July: Wrath Month.
Especially if the five day forecast is any indication.
