OVP: Toy Story 4 (2019)

Film: Toy Story 4 (2019)
Stars: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Tony Hale, Christina Hendricks, Joan Cusack, Keanu Reeves
Director: Josh Cooley
Oscar History: 2 nominations/1 win (Best Animated Feature Film*, Original Song-"I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away")
Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

I swore a few years ago that I would be boycotting Pixar's Toy Story 4 when it came out because it seemed completely and totally unnecessary, and for nearly a month after its release, I stuck to that pledge.  I feel we are seeing the effects of this franchise fatigue this year, with sluggish box office and repeated disappointments in the theaters (unless you're Marvel, in which case you can just keep printing money).  However, I skipped Aladdin and have every intention of waiting until it's released on video (if ever) to watch The Lion King, so I feel like Disney was getting my message; plus, I've had a rough few weeks in my real life and am making a point of hitting a few movies to catch up (I'm a bit behind my theater total compared to previous years), so I figured of the three this one felt the least objectionable considering the reviews.  After watching, I get where critics are coming from, but I also feel like I was right in the boycott-this is fine, might even say pretty good, but a totally unnecessary coda to a story that ended so beautifully nine years ago.

(Spoilers Ahead) We pick up roughly where we left off last time, but first with an introduction telling us the story of how Bo Peep (Potts) who wasn't in our last installment, disappeared from Andy's world and nearly brought Woody (Hanks) with her.  Bo was discarded by Andy's little sister Molly in a "child dismissing her old toys situation," and Bo asked Woody to go with her, but seeing that Andy needed him still, he stayed with his best pal.  Years later, we rejoin Woody with Bonnie who got him from Andy in the last film, who has relegated him to the closet, a toy that she doesn't find useful.  Woody, after years of being Andy's favorite, isn't adjusting well to not being in charge and the toy that everyone wants, and when Bonnie can't bring a toy to school, he sneaks away with her anyway, and in the process helps her to make a craft project of a spork and some googly eyes who becomes Forky (Hale), a neurotic creature that knows he's supposed to be trash, and doesn't want to be a toy.  As Bonnie & her family set off on an a road trip, Woody tries to keep Forky safe, seeing it as his only way to serve Bonnie who doesn't want him like she wants Forky & the other toys.  Along the way, he meets up with Bo, and has to take on a toy named Gabby Gabby (Hendricks) who lives in an antique shop and is trying to steal his voice box in hopes of finally getting noticed by the antique shop owner's granddaughter.

The film is considerably funnier in a "laugh out loud" sort of way than previous entries in the series, with a marked tone of physical comedy and zippy one-liners that wasn't present in particular in Toy Story 2 and 3, with most of their power coming from a tug on the heartstrings.  This is probably for the best, as it makes comparisons to the other installments harder to make-this is more a happy adventure than growing up parable.  The movie features not only Hale as an amusing Forky, but also Keanu Reeves (Pixar, always brilliant with voice casting, choosing well an actor-having-a-moment right now) as a Canadian action toy whose previous owner didn't want him.  Reeves is perfect as the noble but dimwitted Duke Caboom, and basically steals the movie when he's onscreen.

And the film does do a solid job of trying to prove its existence.  The film frames up well with the last picture as both an extension but also a tangible sequel, making the argument that the fourth installment was needed to prove that this was not Andy's story, but Woody's all along.  This is seen in the movie's final moments, when Woody chooses to not go back to Bonnie & his friends, staying in the attic while they are looked after, but instead going out with Bo on the open road, becoming the favorite of new kids and having his own life/adventure.  It's a sad ending (you'll cry) watching Woody give up forever the likes of Buzz, Jessie, & the gang in hopes of finding a purpose that is his, and not some arbitrary child, and it almost works.

Except it's hard to compare this movie to the other films without saying it's "good, but not good enough."  The final moments are beautiful, and it's easy to praise a film like this as being fun, but save for the goodbye (which feels more triggered by 24 years of movies at this point than just the 2019 edition), it doesn't have the emotional depths of the first three films, and frequently borrows from other stories, particularly with the villain once again being a discarded toy, a retread of the second & third movies.  There isn't enough new things to say, and the separation of a character to live their lives already happened.  It's repetitive, and while it might make more sense to frame this as Woody's story than Andy's (he is, after all, the main character), it also isn't as elegant of Pixar to frame it around a toy rather than a lost childhood, considering the audience can more easily relate to the Andy onscreen than Woody.  It's unnecessary.  A good movie, and a fine enough coda, but it does take away from the shockingly compact nature of the last three films (considering that the two sequels were never planned, they fit together brilliantly), and takes away the power of Toy Story 3's finale, which is a shame as that's a decidedly better film.