In 2010, Toy Story 3 came out and left me sobbing in the theatre as we concluded one of the greatest movie trilogies of all time. Then nearly a decade later Pixar went back to the well to cheapen the third film's beautiful ending by continuing the story. Despite not needing to exist, Toy Story 4 is honestly pretty great. It doesn't live up to the first three films, but it's a solid follow up. Toy Story 5 falls into a similar space, a film that I do hesitate with due to how special those first three films are, but one I wound up really enjoying.
Toy Story 5 continues the story of the toys and Bonnie, with Jessie taking the lead at playtime since Woody left the gang to follow Bo Peep. With Bonnie struggling to make friends, her parents buy her a tablet (a "Lilypad" named Lily) to help connect with other kids her age. Naturally, she becomes obsessed with it, and Lily takes command in order to help Bonnie. When Lily pushes Bonnie to the wrong kind of friends, Jessie and the gang find themselves on a quest to help Bonnie make a friend that will actually want to play rather than sit playing tablet games all day.
A critique of technology was a clearly natural next step for the series to go, and I found it handled quite well. As sad as it is, we do live in a world now where many kids are more drawn to screens than toys, so having a movie that shows the importance of play and imagination just makes a lot of sense. I was impressed by how nuanced the film's take on technology actually was, as the story shows the benefits of technology while simultaneously showing why it can't be the only outlet for kids. Lily is an antagonist, but one that is doing the wrong things for the right reasons and ultimately has an arc I appreciated a lot.
We've followed Woody and Buzz for decades now, so having Jessie fully take the lead here was a real treat. Woody and Buzz are still important to the story, but Jessie and Bullseye are the ones taking action and it really felt like a needed breath of fresh air. Along with Lily we're also introduced to some supporting tech characters, an old kid's flip phone, a kid's camera, and some play device used for potty training. They almost act as a step between a toy and modern technology, giving them a really fun dynamic with the anti-tech Jessie. In focusing on Jessie we also get a bit more of her backstory with her pre-Andy owner Emily, a narrative point that offers the Toy Story trademark emotional gut punch. I really thought I was going to be fine, but there's one moment that immediately sent me to tears.
Visually this is another step forward for the franchise, offering some truly stunning animation and character models that are updated but not so much that they feel different. There is also a really fun visual style to the scenes of Bonnie playing that I loved as a fun twist to the series' style. I do think there's still that feeling from Toy Story 4 of this not needing to exist, but it does feel like the filmmakers actually had something to say rather than letting this be a straight cash grab. One thing that did sadly upset me was the absence of Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head. Sadly him and the voice actor that played Mrs. Potato Head have both passed away, but hearing a different voice for him really just felt wrong. That's obviously not something I can critique the film for, just a small piece that made me sad.
All in all I do still wish we lived in a world where the Toy Story movies were this perfect trilogy that would never be touched, but despite that I really enjoyed this new entry. As long as the filmmakers have good stories to tell I guess I'll be seated for each movie, and I'd definitely recommend checking this one out. 4/5
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