Sep 7, 2010

Toy Story 3 (2010) - to brilliance and beyond


directed by Lee Unkrich / voices by Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty

I finally saw Toy Story 3 last weekend. A very much wanted to see it before, but they played only the dubbed version in our local cinema. When I went to Tampere for the weekend to see my friends I convinced them that we should go see it (to be honest, I didn't have to do much convincing). And yes, oh yes. The film may have kept me waiting for a long time, but who minds a little wait if this is what you get.

Many things have changed since 1999. Andy has grown up and is leaving to college in just a few days. This also means winds of change to our dear toy friends, Woody the sheriff, Buzz Lightyear the space ranger and co. - who gets thrown away, who ends up in the attic in a small hope of getting played with again when Andy has his own kids, who gets donated and who gets to go to college with Andy? After a few twists of fate, they all end up in the Sunnyside daycare centre, which first seems like the perfect place to everyone - except for Woody, who just can't get over Andy. Very soon it becomes clear to them that Sunnyside is actually an evil, corrupted prison, ruled over by Lots O'Hugging Bear, or Lotso, who was once embittered by the loss of his owner. The stakes are higher than ever as the toys get ready for the great escape.

What can I say? Pixar once again proved that whatever they have for breakfast is superior to everyone else's morning meals. Gee, who would've thought a third instalment of an animated movie series would be one of the best movies of the year, if not the best? ... Actually, I know I'm not the only one who believed just that. Pixar can't seem to do wrong.


Like the two previous films, Toy Story 3 was sweet, funny, intelligent and heartfelt, but this time darker and deeper, and seriously, there were times when I threw the hopes of a happy ending away, far away. And that's saying a lot about a film that has something to do with Disney, you know. It's amazing how attached I felt to those characters, every single one, each of those three Pizza Planet aliens and even Jessie the cowgirl, who kind of annoyed me in the second film. And of course Woody is just great. ("He'll never give up on you... ever. He'll be there for you, no matter what." Ah, goosebumps.) My favourite is still Buzz. I always cherish every "return of the astro-nut". The Spanish mode was pure genious, hilarious, just hilarious... I can't wait to put my Buzz straw from Disneyland into action! Haha. God bless the impulse purchases. (PS. I kind of miss Bo Peep.)

Let's talk about the new characters! There were lots of them, which troubled me a bit beforehand, but luckily they didn't steal the stage from our old friends, only shared it with them peaceably. I cracked up to Mr. Pricklepants and his posh accent, and I'm not even getting started with Ken and his extensive wardrobe, ooooh dear (and how it's totally normal for him to wear high heels? Hahahahaha)... I think it was a brilliant idea to make the pink, fluffy, huggable, strawberry-smelling teddybear the big bad villain. He was really scary, but you can't talk about scary without mentioning the Big Baby. Damn! That 180 degress turn of the head. Kids will have nightmares all over the world. Also, the monkey's creepiness rate isn't much lower than the baby's.

And thumbs up for Barbie for proving she's not just a silly blonde! "Authority should derive from the consent of the governed, not from threat of force." You said it, girl. Also, you kick ass. Awwww, there were so many charming and funny bits, I'm going mad, I need to see it again! NOW! Come DVD, come.


Ah, a word or two about the 3D. This was my most pleasant 3D experience so far. Avatar was torture, Alice in Wonderland not quite so because it was shorter, but anyways, my eyes were sore which was disturbing. Now, I don't know if my eyes are just getting used to 3D, but I was a bit bothered by it only in the beginning. My guess is, I forgot about my sore eyes, because I was thinking about nothing else but the movie. I wasn't even conscious of the third dimension all the time, which means it was just the nice little finishing touch for a film that would've worked well otherwise, too. (I wish this 3D phenomenon passes, soon.)

Toy Story 3 was wonderful, so wonderful. Inception has met its match, quite possibly. I'm now stuck thinking about the ending and how perfect it was... Oooh dear. That's it, I'm going to see it again. There are much worse ways to spend 10 €.


 "Buzz, you're back!"
"Uh, yes, yes I am. Where did I go?"
"Beyond infinity, my friend."

4 comments:

Harri said...

I watched this last weekend. And like you - I did like it ! I laughed out loud many times and felt sad at the ending. The end was almost as good as possible. Just great.

In my opinion Pixar's Wall-E is little bit better than Toy Story 3, but both of them are just awesome. Pixar/Disney rocks or something. :D

I promised to watch this again with another friends and I don't feel sorry about that at all. :D I'm glad to watch it again soon.

Eeva said...

Wall-E is brilliant too... I don't know if I can or want to rank them, right now I feel that Toy Story was better, but that's because of the obvious reason that I just saw it in cinema. They are both amazing films, best of Pixar!

I also volunteered to accompany another friend, as she wanted to see it too. The pleasure is all mine! ;)

M-link / Marja said...

Toy Story 3 is absolutely the best Pixar film in my opinion. I don't care if my judgement is a bit muddled because of my affection with the previous two installments. I laughed, I cried... the film made me really feel something, which is a lot more than most of the other films I have seen this this year.

Eeva said...

Yeah, you said it... Can't wait till Friday and getting to see it again!!