Toy Story 4 (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Director: Josh Cooley
	Actors (voices): Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts
	Country: USA
	Genre: Animation, Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 14.11.2019, in-flight entertainment, 10" tablet screen.
Synopsis: Cowboy toy Woody (Hanks) would do anything for his kid, even pushing a new toy forward while he is himself rejected. A road-trip will be the opportunity to show how far he is ready to go.
Review: Toy Story was a pioneer, Toy Story 2 has been called the best sequel ever, but I don't have a very strong or positive memory of Toy Story 3 which felt like a cheap direct-to-video for kids, while its predecessors had deeper layers of meaning for adults as well. I was thus positively surprised by the U-turn operated by this 4th movie in the new themes it tackles. Our favorite characters are still all together but are now with their third kid as the previous two outgrew them. So the toys have evolved not to be attached to one kid in particular, but they want to bring joy to any kid. This is a lesson learned in particular by Woody and in that respect his role fells like one of a young parent, which is maybe why the movie talked to me. He would do anything to support his kid through good and bad times, to the selfless point of being supplanted by the new toy Forky (this reminds the story of the first movie as well). The movie is centered on Woody, introduces Forky as I wrote, brings forward Bo Peep to a leading role, while putting the older characters including Buzz on the side. But this is not bad, the duo has lived its best days and to succeed Toy Story 4 had to go for a fresh story. The adventures lived by the toys are all entertaining and keep a good pace, and the encounter with the new toy / villain Gabby is interesting until its resolution. Finally, during the whole movie I had in the back of my mind the feeling that something was going to happen when seeing how Woody was reacting and feeling like he kept going through the same things over and over again. The ending thus didn't disappoint me, and contributes in making this movie more than an easy-to-watch sequel. Should they decide to stop the franchise here or wait a little and take it somewhere else, both options could be satisfying to me.
Rating: 6 /10