Toy Story 3: My first impression

Toy Story 3: My first impression

by SouthernFriedInfidel | Published on June 19th, 2010, 4:51 pm | Arts

Just got back from seeing "Toy Story 3" in 3D. Lucky for me, I had most of my bill paid by Disney, in the form of vouchers contained in Toy Story DVDs we bought a while back. At Four Seasons Grand, an afternoon matinee in 3D costs you $9.75 each. Which I expect is a big reason why my showing on a Saturday afternoon was mostly empty.

Be that as it may...

What I find most interesting about this particular franchise is how the quality of the story only seems to get richer with every installment. I won't spoil anyone's enjoyment of the story with details, but my general comment is that this movie has a LOT of great qualities to it: suspense, comedy, love, terror. It was a finely-balanced plot from start to finish, with only 1 minor hole in it that I could recall after we left the theater. I have to hand it to the execs at Pixar: they set the bar for CGI animation unbelievably high. Not only in the technical fields, but in terms of story quality. The industry can only advance by huge strides as they try to keep up with these people.

The story, in general, is very much like a WW 2 prisoner of war escape film. Andy's toys start off with a lot of stress because Andy has finally grown up and is going to college. Because of a mix-up with his mother, the toys end up in a day care center (no surprise, I expect: the scenes of the stampede of toddlers have been in ads for weeks). The plot darkens when the head toy of the center turns out to be a ruthless dictator, running thing in the toy world with an iron fist and a contingent of ruthless lieutenants.

The escape from this world of terror and suffering is one of the most entertaining sequences I've seen in movies for a very long time. And I have to echo the comments I saw in the first review of the movie that I read: the way they made a tortilla walk was both amazing and hilarious. I could NOT get enough of that section of the movie.

Be warned. This film's story is dark. While little kids may go in thinking it will be just funny hijinx, it could lead to some nightmares. But as always, the story has a happy ending, one that left both me and my wife with tears of joy. And I thought that the villain had a properly Dickensian fate handed to him. It was very satisfying, overall.

Regarding the short subject that accompanies this film.... Pixar shorts are always something to marvel at. They find odd ways to stretch the normal boundaries of animation in these little films, and this "Day and Night" short is no exception. I have to admit, it took me a while to warm up to it. But in the end, I had to say that it, too, is a worthy addition to the Pixar canon of short subjects.

If you don't think that nearly $10 a person is worth the trip out, I would strongly suggest at least trying out the standard 2-D version. The film does not need 3D to be worth seeing. And it IS definitely a film I would urge all to go and see. I predict great things for this film... and I purely hope they one day put together a Toy Story 4.
:dance:

The kids went and saw the film today with the grands, and seemed to like it well... seems as though there's no damage from the darkness. Then again they do live with me.

The short (Day and Night) was fantastic! I don't know what was wrong with the rest of the folks in the theatre, but I was laughing out loud right away at the imagery for what was going on with "Day."

As for the feature presentation, I'll wait until we have a spoiler-filled thread to discuss this at greater length, but I agree, it had a dark side. I don't know that it would necessarily be nightmare material for young children, though some things may be a bit disturbing for them, though I think there are worse things to see on evening news! For me personally, one of my childhood fears (one that to this day STILL freaks me out) was showcased in Toy Story 3. I had heard about it prior to seeing the movie, but I had no clue what it would entail. Pixar did well... a little too well with bringing that childhood fear to life! However, they also managed to put me on a rollercoaster that made both my emotions and my maturity level go a bit topsy turvy. The child in me still cannot stand this particular "character" and the adult in me knows it's an illogical fear. So this particular scene had me both cringing and laughing. Go figure.

I did notice an article earlier this week where "Toy Story 3" was on a top 10 list of saddest kids movies, and I have to disagree at least with the naming of the list. Most of the movies on the list have tear-jerker scenes but overall are not sad movies. Everything works out in the end... resolved. Anyhooooooo.... I bawled at the life montage of Carl and Ellie in "Up!" and I was somewhat prepared for something "sad" to happen in Toy Story 3 but it wasn't what I expected and I identified with it entirely too well from the actual to the symbolic. This may have jerked more tears for me than UP! But in the fine tradition of Pixar, they had perfect timing. More laughter to make the tears stop, and a nice clean finish to the story, which in this case also wraps up a triology.

1) Just curious -- was the showing you went to crowded? Was it a 3D showing? Just wondering if my experience was atypical.

2) I agree that this film very neatly wraps up a trilogy. And it does seem to allow for future movies, should good plot lines get developed.

This was something my wife and I discussed as we left the theater. I remember reading years ago that when Pixar started work on TS2, they initially expected it to be a direct to video throw-away like a lot of Disney cartoon sequels are. But as they worked on the plot, they quickly realized they had the makings of a better film than the first one. Thus, TS2 became a step up in every respect for Pixar.

We noted that this installment waited quite a few years. Presumably, Pixar execs know to respect the franchise enough that they won't dilute its value with knock-off rubbish just for the sake of selling a few million DVDs. You gotta respect that. I know I admire that sort of attitude.

SouthernFriedInfidel wrote:1) Just curious -- was the showing you went to crowded? Was it a 3D showing? Just wondering if my experience was atypical.

We went at 7:00 on a Tuesday night (and yes, the 3D show...our tix were $23), and I'd estimate that including the pair of us, there were 10-15 attending and I think I am being VERY generous. We were "running late" when we arrived there at 6:45 but we still walked into an empty theatre and picked out ideal seats. Weeknight shows generally don't have a big crowds, but I am a bit surprised that you mentioned low attendance at a Saturday matinee. That's kind of like "prime time" for families with young children.