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Toy Story 3 3-D (Film)

by Cara Nash | June 21, 2010 14:48 | Edited June 22, 2010 10:43

While packed to the margins with witty jokes and visual gags, the charming third instalment never loses sight of its emotional core.

Fans of the Toy Story films can breathe a collective sigh of relief. Even though it has been eleven years since the last instalment, Toy Story 3 loses none of the charm of its predecessors and effortlessly shifts between hilarity and poignancy without missing a beat.

 

Now eighteen, Andy is headed for college. Excepting Woody (Tom Hanks), Andy packs up his toys for the attic but his mother mistakes the bag for trash, setting in motion a series of events that lands the toys in the Sunnyside Day-Care Centre. At first the prospect of being played with by new kids delights the toys but Lotso (Ned Beatty) - an evil plush bear - designates the newcomers to the untamed tots. When the toys argue back, they soon learn that the centre is run more like a maximum security prison and the gang embark on a jailbreak escapade.

 

In addition to all the familiar faces, there are many entertaining rivals. The highlight of the bunch is metrosexual Ken (Michael Keaton), who takes Barbie to his Dream Home and delights in holding a fashion parade for her. There are plenty of laughs offered from original characters, such as when Buzz (Tim Allen) has his language button switched to Spanish and Mr Potato Head tries to reassemble his features on a tortilla.

 

While there are ample inside jokes, Toy Story 3 is darker than its predecessors and the bleakest moment comes deep into the film when the toys realise that despite their resourcefulness, they have reached a dead end. In other children's films, such a crisis would be met with a quick gag or laugh but the Toy Story films never shy away from these grim moments. In this heartbreaking sequence, the frightened toys clasp hands determined to face their fate together. The scene reveals the strength of the film: the witty banter and visual gags are always secondary to the very real emotion.

 

At the heart of Toy Story 3 is a moving meditation on loyalty, letting go and love. The gentle resolve of the final sequence has to be contender for the most touching and bittersweet scene that you will see in the cinema all year.