Toy Story 3

Everyone already knows how great Pixar is at making movies. They are born storytellers and do what they do better than anyone else. Here’s a totally unnecessary history lesson: their very first movie was “Toy Story,” and it has become the flag ship of the company. They beat the odds by making a sequel, “Toy Story 2,” that was as good if not better than the original. And ten years later the company has really changed. They make different kinds of movies now and the kids who grew up with “Toy Story” aren’t kids anymore. So now to conclude the trilogy that started simply about a boy and his toys trying to make it through moving day intact, they tell the story of that same boy, all grown up.

In “Toy Story 3” the owner of the iconic toys Buzz Lightyear and Woody the cowboy, Andy, is no longer a boy and is going to college. There is no greater tragedy of life than growing up, and sadly Andy must get rid of his boyhood things and embark on a different journey. The toys get sent to a day care center which ends up being more like a prison. And so the toys must find a way to escape and once again return to the owner that they love unconditionally. Somehow Pixar finds an ingenious way to continue the journey of these familiar characters while telling a completely different story than the other films. It’s different from the way the “Shrek” movies or the “Ice Age” movies just give you more of the same crap, over and over again. This film is reminiscent of a prison escape movie, but through the eyes of a toy trapped in a day care it gives it a unique and clever spin.

Nobody needs me to tell them this movie is good, no one is surprised that it’s a great movie. It also is a fitting way to end the story that Pixar set in motion fifteen years ago. Sentimental does not begin to describe the emotional intensity of this film. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t weeping like a baby at the end of the film. I think everyone can relate to growing up and having to get rid of the things that you cherished whether literally or figuratively. I think I might be welling up just thinking about it again. So I will conclude this review by saying you should go see this movie, and you should go see every Pixar movie, because I haven’t been let down by these filmmakers in the entire history of their existence. On a side note: the 3D in the film did not make me want to vomit so that’s always good, however I am over the appeal of 3D in general. I don’t need to be immersed in every movie, I’m started not to even notice it. I hope this trend dies out quickly, and James Cameron burns in hell for unleashing it on us. If I see another 3D movie it will be too soon. But I digress, go see this film and cry your eyes out.