'Toy Story 4' - Pleasant, Albeit Unnecessary

I walked into Toy Story 4 with my expectations deliberately lowered. After the perfection of the previous installment to the series, I was afraid that I’d be disappointed. But I needn’t have worried; Toy Story 4 is an enjoyable, hilarious, and gorgeous piece of cinema. But does it live up to any of its predecessors? Not quite. 

There is a very slight but distinct lack of magic in comparison to the previous three films, but I was pleasantly surprised with the relative freshness of the plot, which may have been helped by the fact that I didn’t actually see much promotion or trailers beforehand.

Although I was disappointed by the lack of involvement from well-known characters such as Rex or Mr Potato, the new faces are just as entertaining, and I was happy with the strong female character in the re-designed Bo-Peep. I was particularly impressed by the creepy Ventriloquist dummies, which, if I was a kid, would probably be giving me nightmares for weeks.

The ending, while emotional, wasn’t exactly what I had hoped for, and felt almost as if it was designed just to make nostalgic viewers cry, which is what Toy Story 3 was famous for. Even though I praise the writers for doing something a little different, it was nowhere near as satisfying as the ending to the previous film was.

I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ll see of Woody and Buzz Lightyear, despite what the filmmakers may say. And although the series would have been perfectly fine if left alone, as far as unnecessary sequels go, Toy Story 4 is a joy to watch.