Toy Story 5

Very interested in the hoops they’ll jump through to get Woody back with the gang, because Toy Story 4’s entire premise and big emotional ending rested on him moving on 😅

I think it’s comfortably the worst in the series so far, but that’s not to say it’s ‘bad’. It just gives ‘this week on Toy Story’ vibes, in that it feels more episodic and scattershot while revisiting and recycling a lot of familiar beats.

There’s absolutely fun to be had. The multi-Buzz plot is basically shoved into the first half with no elegance whatsoever, but it does pay off with a series of worthy gags and reveals. Centering Jessie was smart, even if she basically reconfronts emotions she had reconciled back in Toy Story 2. It still has that mix of funny bits, sad bits and cute bits that defines a Toy Story film.

But yeah, they’re pushing against the limits too in a way that’s been obvious for a few sequels now but is pretty inescapable here. There’s no good reason for Woody to be here, and they should have been brave enough to leave him be (or leave him for a cameo). The supporting cast is so packed most of them are background characters now, though the new ones at least are well handled. The tech stuff drives the plot but also feels rather scattershot and half-realised in key respects. And while it has its big, teary emotional moments, IMO they fall well short of the sheer sentimental brute force of Toy Story 3 or the Toy Story 2 Jessie flashback.

I watched Hoppers a week or two ago, which is probably my favourite Pixar film in a half a decade or more - a genuinely imaginative, playfully unhinged and regularly laugh out loud funny film that may not be perfect, but reminded me of Pixar at their 2000s best more than anything else they’ve put out recently. Toy Story 5 does not reach those heights, and is much more standard modern Pixar sequel fare. At least it’s still perfectly fine, even if they run the increasing risk of missing that bar with each passing entry. It’s right at the bottom of the Toy Story top 5, even if the baseline quality here is still something Illumination or their ilk will never come close to.