Toy Story 3 (spoiler-free review)
In a word - perfect.
While Toy Story 3 was in production, a friend of mine at Pixar (who was sworn to secrecy) would only describe it as "like visiting with old friends". I have to agree with that sentiment. I was concerned that Pixar had an uphill battle in making a worthy sequel to two of the best-loved animated films ever, and the commercials that they've been showing didn't really alleviate those concerns. However, this is easily my favorite of the three. The sense of adventure in this film surpasses the previous two. There are a lot more unknown factors at work in this movie that have never been dealt with in the series before, which makes it more uncertain for the characters, and more engaging for the audience. There are also some of the funniest Toy Story moments in this movie - ever.
The commercials, mercifully, haven't really spoiled anything (yet). But if I were you, I'd take no chances, and go see the movie before they let something critical slip out. There's a lot more to this movie than you'd suspect from the commercials, and quite a few things I wasn't expecting at all. They went places I wasn't anticipating, and there were twists I didn't see coming (although there were some things you could kind-of predict, but never quite knew how they were going to get where they needed to).
Toy Story 3 felt exactly like it should. Like these are characters we've spent years with (because we have) and who have spent years together. Time hasn't always been kind, but it's all dealt with honestly. There are some tense moments in the film, which some critics have derided as "dark". Nonsense. These moments are essential to the emotional core of the characters and the story, and are more than counterbalanced by the funny and heartwarming moments in the film - and there are plenty of those. (Favorite moment: Mr. Potato Head's mission.) This was the perfect film to wrap up the Toy Story trilogy. Very emotionally satisfying, and extremely entertaining. Well worth the ridiculous amount of money I paid.
The short that precedes it - Day and Night - is brilliant. It's very different for Pixar, and shows them being willing to take risks for the sake of making the kind of films they want to make. The only negative is the narration, which isn't really necessary. It seemed a little heavy-handed, and the visuals got the message across just fine without it.
I saw it at a packed 10:05 PM showing in 3-D (stereoscopic, that is). The 3-D worked very well, especially in the short film where it was one of the cleverest uses of 3-D I've seen. During Toy Story 3, after awhile, I basically stopped noticing it, which I think is the best thing that can be said about it. It became non-obtrusive.
The same can't be said though about the rest of the evening. First, the screen was dirty. This is especially noticeable when watching something in 3-D, since the crud is always hanging in space, in the same location, no matter what else is on screen. After awhile, I could mostly ignore it. Worse though, was the endless string of commercials they run while you're waiting for the movie to start. There had to be a half-dozen or so just for product tie-ins to Toy Story 3. Come on... I'm already paying $16 + snacks to see the movie! Leave me alone for a few minutes, can't you? Then, when the commercials ended, they had you put on your 3-D glasses. Great! Time for trailers, right? Nope. First they had 3-D commercials!! We had to sit through even more commercials, before we could even get to the trailers! I lost count of how many trailers there were. I do remember three things though: 1) there was no trailer for Tron: Legacy 2) Despicable Me looks hilarious, and 3) the Smurfs movie looks like it will be the worst film in the history of everything.
Anyway, I highly recommend Toy Story 3. It's a real treat to visit with these old friends again.
11/10
(Okay... that's cheating slightly. But I really did have that good of a time.)
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