(film review) - Toy Story 4

The Toy Story movies can legit go on forever!  I mean when you think about it, there is always a new toy being made and there is always a story to be told.  We won't be able to have Buzz and Woody forever, but it would be interesting to see how far they could take it without losing what makes Toy Story great.  I mean, I near cried in the last one as they were successfully pulling on my heart strings and for the most part, we didn't need any more at all.  So, when I heard about them doing a fourth one, I thought "this is how you milk a franchise!".  Not to say that any franchise that is beyond 3 films is milking it, but there comes a point where you wonder if they can continue holding the bar THAT HIGH and keep it there without wobbling/folding.

If you are up-to-date with the Toy Story, story, Andy is all grown up and he is off to college during Toy Story 3 and his former toys now reside with their new owner Bonnie (Madeleine McGraw), who in this film is starting her first day in Kindergarten.  On her first day, Bonnie creates a toy named Forky (Tony Hale) but with forky, not knowing what he is, Woody decides to take forky under his wing and teach him the ropes of being the new favourite toy.  However, on a road trip forky goes missing and Woody goes after him meeting up with Bo Peep (Annie Potts) and a couple other toys, like Ducky (Keegan-Michael Key) and Bunny (Jordan Peele).  But when forky goes off with another toy, Gabby Gabby (Christina Hendricks) and her ventriloquist dummies, Woody devises a plan to make sure Bonnie and Forky are back together, that no toy is left behind and to do this they enlist the help of Duke Caboom (Keanu Reeves).

Just when you think it's all in the bag, the people behind Toy Story have done it again.  Fun, funny, flavorful and heartfelt.  I'm not sure if I would rank this as THE best Toy Story they have done, but it IS waaaay up there.  It's like, there isn't a bad sequel in the franchise.  All the voice acting is superb but the imagery is phenomenal.  the attention to detail is literally beyond amazing.  The world is soo well realised and from when you could see scuff, scratches, dirt, hair strands and such in such detail, let alone actually seeing them, you can tell a lot of heart, time and effort has been put into this franchise.  It would be interesting to see how far they might take it and we will see the loss of particular favourites but as long as they keep the child and adult humour as well as the lessons being taught, I can see this franchise going on for a few years.
A few standouts are definitely Keanu Reeves.  I mean who knew he would be soo good in voice acting? Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele are very hilarious together as well, but one of the characters that stole the show for me was Giggle McDimples (Ally Maki).  For the short time she was on screen, I just loved it.  But these guys have not lost a beat in Story telling at all and I hope to see at LEAST two more.  It can be done.  Even though a Trilogy is an odd number to end on to complete story arcs etc, let's just have two more so we can have two trilogies ending on an even number, then maybe they can leave it for 30-40 years and bring the franchise back, maybe.

A great watch, Enjoy!