Toy Story 5: A Review

"Rendezvous with Star Command!"- Buzz

Toy Story: Chapter 5

This weekend Pixar releases the latest in their Movie line up. Toy Story 5. It brings the original cast back and adds new faces. This will be a spoiler review.

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Okay. Let's get into it.

The Story

The story follows Bonnie, a little girl who loves to play with her toys but finds it very difficult to connect to other kids her age. This makes her a bit of a loner. The toys, Jessie, Buzz and the rest of the gang, keep entertaining Bonnie, but really hope that she'll connect with other kids to be friends.

Bonnie's parents want her to have friends too. They decide on getting her a Lilypad (iPad for kids) to help her connect with other kids better. And thus, technology enters the house. Captures Bonnie's attention instantly, goes out of her way to take care of Bonnie, by connecting with classmates, and after witnessing the fruit of her work, is ashamed and tries to recycle herself. But gets redemption with Jessie's help and connects Bonnie to a girl that understands her creativity of play. And after making one friend, Bonnie starts making more.

The synopsis of the story is a timely one. Technology vs Toys. Who wins the battle of the child's attention? The timeline of the movie is a little hard to pinpoint given that Bonnie is still a kid even after all these years. But it does a nice job at framing the true villain of our time, not technology, but Cyberbullying.

The Characters

Lilypad

An iPad for kids to help them develop social skills and connect with other kids virtually and in real life.

Lilypad is framed as the villain for taking over Bonnie's attention. Directing her to games and a online chat with her classmates. Her programming is simple. Do what's best for Bonnie. This includes setting up a sleepover and smuggling herself into the car so that Bonnie can fit in better. Getting annoyed at the other toys attempts at intervention, uses her online and social capabilities to kick the toys to the garage, or in Jessie's case, the curb.

Like everything, technology is given a bad reputation. A stereotype from the previous ages as technology slowly edges out entertainment from the past. But technology is useful and convenient. It just needs better supervision, so it doesn't become sentient and literally make choices for us (cough cough).

Jessie and Bullseye

Jessie, after Woody's departure in the last film takes on the role of Sherrif. Directing the toys under Bonnie's imagination. Making Buzz her deputy when she takes on a mission to help her kid, by trying to help Bonnie make friends. After failing at this, she gets sidelined by Lilypad who takes over Bonnie's attention in a bad way. Trying to keep her ground as Bonnie's toy, gets tossed aside because "Nobody plays with dolls anymore".

But Jessie is part of the Roundup Gang. So, she's stubborn in moving on. But in her attempts to get back to Bonnie, is taken with Bullseye, back home. Not to Bonnie's house, but to Emily's.

That's right. The movie revisits Jessie's old wounds but taking her back to the stomping grounds of her first kid. Fighting over technology to keep her place as a fun toy, until she learns what Woody learned, that aging is normal and as a toy, it's the job to be there for your kid.

The house of her first kid is now occupied by a young rancher family. The kid in the house is Blaze. And she's basically Emily incarnate. Collects horses and has a creative imagination. Through Jessie's help, and the tech she learns to accept, she brings Bonnie and Blaze together in a new and flourishing friendship.

Bullseye actually has a big part in this movie. In the previous films Bullseye is always the sidepiece who is just kind of there, lurking in the background. In this film, Bullseye is Jessie's equal. By her side, making choices and actually speaking. Not just neighing but actually talking (via imagination).

As the movie opens, it reflects on Jessie's first kid Emily. Transitions to Bonnie now taking care of her toys. If you remember Toy Story 2, Jessie's arc was struggling with abandonment because she didn't believe she was fun anymore. That kids didn't want her anymore. Emily growing up scarred Jessie and made her feel insecure about herself. Now this movie resolves that with Blaze and Bonnie, but not in the way it should have. Jessie in a moment of reflection comes across an old lunch box of Emily's that shows Jessie just how much she mattered. What I was really hoping for, was Jessie to be reunited with Emily in her older age and give us the audience a trip of nostalgia as she recollects her imagination with Jessie. Giving Jessie further confidence in herself and sticking the point that toys can be for anyone regardless of age. Pixar being known for emotional moments, I would have bawled like a baby if we got a Coco moment with old lady Emily and Jessie. But again, the movie isn't clear on the timeline or even how old Jessie is or Emily would be.

Missed opportunity for sure.

What we did get was the end of a flirtatious relationship between Buzz and Jessie. They tied the knot.

Buzz

Buzz is the deputy of Bonnie's room. Keeping it in check when Jessie can't. Buzz as a character is back to his usual self. Not fumbling over his buttons listening to his space ranger conscious. However, he's not quite the leader he was in 3. His whole drive is to be good enough for Jessie. When Jessie doesn't come home with Bonnie, he doesn't care about Bonnie, he cares about Jessie. It's a little sweet, given how their feelings have developed over 3 movies. But the lack of care for his kid is concerning. Not too much to be said for Buzz in this story other than his unnecessary rivalry with Woody.

Woody

Yeah. Woody is back in this sequel. How or why is unclear. Last we saw Woody was traveling with a circus with Bo Peep. Now he's in a park a couple blocks from Bonnie's house. And he has a walkie talkie to communicate with the gang in Bonnie's closet...no idea how both parties got a radio. Anyways, Woody thinks Jessie needs help in saving Bonnie from tech and shows up for a little reunion. The rest of the Lost Toys go back to the park. Since Woody made Jessie Sherrif in the last movie, he has no authority over the toys like he used to. Buzz is the deputy and treats Woody like he's invading the space...which he kind of is. Sure, they are friends, but Woody is a Lost Toy. Therefore, he's completely unnecessary to the film. Speaking of unnecessary...

The Gang

The Gang as we know them: Slinky, Potato Head's, Ham, Rex, Trixie, Dolly, Mr. Pricklepants, and Forky with new toy Knifey (Karen Beverly).

These guys combined had maybe 25 lines total. They don't share the spotlight and actually spend the majority of the movie in a box in the garage. Other than at the beginning when Bonnie plays with them and at the end when she plays with them, they are completely second-rate characters. Which is a shame when you think about Toy Story 3 which gives every character ample lines and screen time.

The Parts That Don't Make Sense

The movie was great. Truly entertaining. Good adult humor without crossing a line into graphicness. But the movie also had parts that literally made no sense. Let's review.

1- Buzz Lightyear's

The movie opens up with eyes opening and looking around and heavy breathing. It's similar to how Buzz first woke up in Toy Story, which is how you know it's a Buzz Lightyear. But then it's chest lights up. And the Buzz gains full sentience and observes his surroundings. He's on a beach. And off in the distance are other Space Ranger boxes thrown in the sand. Scattered throughout leading to a crashed cargo container, that was either from a train derailed or a ship that sank. We don't know. But it's full of other Buzz Lightyear's. And so the lone ranger decides to unpack each Buzz, and in doing so, somehow connects himself to them via his chest plate. And so the whole squad of Buzz Lightyear's then travel the land in hopes of escape until they realize they're trapped on an island. But after building a campfire and noticing a bright North star, they believe they are being called to Star Command via their character programming. And so they take off to Rendevious at Star Command...following the North Star.

It's later determined by Lilypad that the Buzz's are actually technological like her. And after she scans a QR code on their backs, activates a drone mode in all the Buzz's allowing them to actually fly. Of course this is after they the scene from the trailer takes place where the Buzz's emerge from water. Which makes me wonder, as technological toys, that are hotspots to the internet, either need charging or batteries, how were they not fried after emerging from the water? And then they abduct Woody, looking for Jessie, who's the sherrif, but Buzz is in charge as the deputy, who then explains to the Buzz's that they are all toys meant to be played with and that Zurg is their father. It's comedic for sure but still random. But not as random as this.

2- Disney-Pixar Crossover?

In one scene with the Buzz Lightyear's, they are walking through a forest when they come across a buck. Now, you wouldn't think much of this, except the soundtrack from Bambi starts playing and all the Buzz's are playing with the woodland creatures, including rabbit's, like Thumper. This is all interupted when a family walks by looking for their camping place. Whilst in the process of trying to hide, one of the Buzz's get's caught by the family and taken to be played with. Adopted as a toy. But this raises a question. Is Bambi canon in Toy Story now?

3- The Walkie Talkie

I've already stated how Woody's involvement in this movie was unnecessary. But let's talk about the plot device that made him relevant. The kids' radio, aka, the walkie talkie. Radios only have so much power to broadcast their signals. For a kid's radio, we're talking about a neighborhood's length. Yet Jessie uses this to talk to Woody, who's in a park instead of with the circus. There has been 7 years since Toy Story 4 and now 5. The only content that followed Toy Story 4 was Forky Asks a Question series. None of them covered a radio being given to Bonnie from Woody or vice versa. When you wondered how Woody was going to reunite with Buzz, via Tim Allen's twitter post about the movie going into production, I feel like the writers could've come up with a more believable way to make it happen.

4- The Toys Sub-Existence

Throughout the Toy Story franchise viewers have been trying to figure out how the toys come to life. In Toy Story 4, we thought we were getting an answer to this question with Forky's creation. We got a passing answer, but not a definitive one. It's quite clear now, after 5 chapters of this franchise that almost every object in the Toy Story universe has sentience. Anything from a sand pit to a computer has sentience. And...how to the humans not notice? One of the hijinks of this movie is that Lilypad has conversations with an older generation device called Smartypants (a device used to help a child go to the bathroom). But throughout all the digital conversations, the kids and especially the parents, have no clue what's happening and just kind of go with it. The Buzz Lightyear's randomly freeze up when a human is around despite not knowing they're toys. The most important question we need to know is who is sentient in this universe and do the humans know? I have to believe that some humans had to know. Like Andy. I'm sure Andy, on some level knew the toys were real, which is why he wouldn't give them up even when going to college.

The only human we know for sure knows of toy sentience is Sid. And an untold story I'm sure he convinced others too.

Summary

All in all it was a very enjoyable movie. I laughed, came close to crying, was very engaged in the story. I wish it gave more answers than questions but it's still a very solid film. 4/5 for me.