Directed by Lee Unkrich
|
Toy Story 3
Let
me start with “Toy Story 2,” (1999) which in my view is a classic
because it asks the existential question: Should Woody live forever, behind
glass, in a museum of toys? Or should he choose to be rescued by his gang of
toys and live only a while with his friend Andy, who will discard him as he
grows up? Which will he do? “Toy
Story 3,” unfortunately, does not have anything like the existential
questions of the last film, and is little more than a series of
toy-threatening adventures and narrow escapes – in fact it is so scary
and so brutal that I’m surprised it got a G rating. Andy has now grown up and is going off
to college. He puts his toys in a
bag destined for the attic of his house, but by a mixup
they are donated to a day-care center instead. All of which would be fine except that
when the children are not there, the place is run by a proto-fascist bear
named LotsoHugs, who imprisons Woody, Buzz and the
others each night. The
rest of the story of “Toy Story 3” is about how Andy’s toys
manage to get away from Lotso and his gang, survive
a near-death experience in a land-fill, and get home to be safely sequestered
in the attic, waiting for Andy’s children. Is this funny? Give me a break. There are a few funny moments, and if
you don’t mind I’ll tell you what they are. Mrs. Potato Head has lost an eye, but
it can still see things like danger, no matter how far away. New toys Barbie and Ken, missing from
the earlier films, are very much here and in a nice switch we watch Ken trying
on and modeling dozens of outfits.
Then Mr. Potato Head is transformed from a potato and becomes Mr.
Tortilla Head. Unfortunately in
an hour and a half that is about all I can remember being wittily conceive in
a way that surprised and amused me. “Toy
Story 3” is another John Lasseter film, the
voices are once again fine – Tom Hanks and Tim Allen reprise their work
as the voices of Woody and Buzz, and the film is preceded by an animated
short, also by Pixar, called “Night and Day,” which strives for some kind
of universal meaning, i.e., what each one is good for, as in swimming pools
(day) versus Las Vegas (night.)
If you didn’t get it early on, I can’t help you. |