Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the rest of the gang embark on a road trip with Bonnie and a new toy named Forky. The adventurous journey turns into an unexpected reunion as Woody's slight detour leads him to his long-lost friend Bo Peep. As Woody and Bo discuss the old days, they soon start to realize that they're worlds apart when it comes to what they want from life as a toy.
As I'm sure was the case with many of you, I had a lot of hesitation about this film. Toy Story 3 felt like the perfect end to the three-story arc that the characters had completed, ending the franchise on an unexpected high note. It's really rare to have a franchise that wasn't taken advantage of and eventually ruined through poor execution. Just look at what has become of Star Wars and Indiana Jones. So I definitely felt uncertainty going in as I didn't want the respect I had for these films to be ruined by Disney's greed.
There was also the concern of the time that has passed between the films. Who the film would be targeting was unclear; the franchise started 24 years ago, and most kids that would be watching this new iteration wouldn't have been around then (in fact, many wouldn't have been around 9 years ago when Toy Story 3 was released), which makes it feel like the film would have more appeal to the nostalgic adults than the kids. Getting that balance of mature content in a children's film would be the big factor on whether the film does well or not.
Toy Story 4 does not disappoint.
There is always that risk--especially with the fourth film in a franchise--that the writers will fall into the same tropes and clichés, and for the first few scenes it does feel a bit familiar. It feels like it will be a retelling of the usual "getting old and being forgotten" fears of the toys that we have seen before, but then it changes direction and gets much deeper. Toy Story 4 goes way down the rabbit-hole towards self-reflection and existential dread. A well-developed analysis of purpose and selflessness in the wider scheme of things.
All of this manages to happen while still having a fast-paced adventure from start to finish. The film allows very little time to rest, with a constantly shifting goalpost. With some exceptional direction--considering it's Josh Cooley's feature film debut--the cinematography and art direction of the film are on point. Each environment feels unique, with its own colour palette, lighting, and other environmental features e.g. dust and rain, the quality of the rendering is exquisite. What makes it all the more surprising is that the quality of the story is so good that you don't really notice the visuals so much because you are that engaged with the plot.
In terms of the cast, we have the original cast returning, as well as several new characters being added to the ensemble. There is a definite shift towards the newer characters (with the exception of Woody, Bo Peep, and maybe Buzz), with the remaining OG characters getting largely sidelined. It was a good idea to keep everything manageable and keep a coherent story flowing, but the change in the main cast does lead to a slight shift in tone. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it does feel notably different.
As with most of the Toy Story films, Woody is still the main protagonist in the film, but he is rejoined by Bo Peep who has an incredible amount of character development. One of the first female characters in the franchise to really get this strong story focus, and she is absolutely kick ass.
The writers do a really good job of balancing the tone of the film, as there are some legitimately dark bits, some really emotionally deep sections, and they interchange between that and lively comedic antics really well. Even the foreboding antagonist isn't quite what they seem, and the uncertainty feeds really well with the conflict in Woody's frame of mind.
While it feels like it is following a recognisable route, there is a fair amount of misdirection involved in the script of the film, and it leads to a lot of genuine surprises and twists when it is finally revealed. Toy Story 4 isn't so much a continuation of the story from the first three films, it is its own complete standalone story, and it will definitely make you feel something.
It's fun, it's dark, and it has that emotional kick that lets you know that you really care about these characters.