Review: 'Toy Story 3' closes the Andy trilogy excellently with a moving story

Toy Story 3    G        

            The epic 'Toy Story' franchise, now a trilogy, comes to a smashing conclusion in this follow up to the two previous movies, spread out over the past 15 years. Opening with a series of 'home movies' from Andy and family, and the heartwarming number, 'You've Got a Friend in Me', the story pics off in the toy box in the preset day. Andy is now 18 and off to college. His tween sister tosses out her Barbie and his Mom accidentally donates the toys to a local day care, Sunnyside, but Andy at first believes she accidentally tossed them out. The movie had a vignette about two bizarre characters whereas one shot rainbows, and later on rainbows appear in the movie. Pixar does realize the double meaning of the 'relationship' between Buzz and Woody, it seems, and in part 3 relishes in it. Woody would do anything to rescue Buzz and his friends from the clutches of an evil care bear that smells of strawberries, and Barbie meets Ken, who is clearly a pretty boy. Jessie falls for an accidentally turned Spanish Buzz. The T Rex meets an even more hyper triceratops. A giant baby with a lazy eye and a cymbal clanking monkey terrorize the toys. Married couple the Potato Heads continue their banter as really the only 'conservative' couple. The story would make an even more fascinating character study than the first or second. They are toys, but the way Pixar and Disney did this, it instantly grabs you and you believe in and feel emotional for them. Andy would be nuts to still play with his string cowboy, but not so much for playing with Buzz. He's like an action hero space robot. (I even took Transformers to college a few times, in a backpack, but maybe that is weird). Anyway, the direction, casting and animation are top notch. Only Pixar (as a US animation studio) can really make plastic things emote well. The giant animae eyes help. (Yes, the Japanese are good at this too). The story touches the kid in all of us, which does sound sentimental, but really it was an excellent film for genuine sentiment, and made for the first best movie of 2010. 
Review by Adam Browne