Runtime: 100 minutes
Directed by: Josh Cooley
Starring: Many famous
faces... many of which only have what amounts to extended cameos here
From: A company that
doesn't seem to believe in original ideas all that often
It's that time again: I
have an unpopular opinion!
This movie can go fork itself.
I realize that hardly anyone will agree with my opinion of this motion picture and unlike Armond White, my opinion is not a bizarre troll job... I honestly did not like this movie at all. My recent revisits of the first three show that all of them are still an utter delight to watch, full of funny dialogue, touching moments, quality setpieces, and a lot of heart. I've never wanted a 4 as 3 wrapped up the story perfectly and it seemed utterly pointless. It wasn't until I discovered there were characters voiced by Carl Weathers (albeit, for one scene) and Keanu that I decided to actually see this on the big screen.
Believe it or not, even now I never saw any trailers for Toy Story 4 and not even a full commercial... I was somewhere and saw part of one ad, and what I saw did give me concern as it did NOT seem like Pixar at all. Yet practically everyone around the world loves this movie so I managed to be spoiler-free except for knowing of some characters and one setting of “carnival.” Another concern was knowing that the big new character was named FORKY as it was a spork-which just seemed incredibly lame to me. Yet I swear I did go into this with an open mind, as why would I want to be a hater with something nearly universally beloved?
In context, the character itself I do not have a problem with... Forky being incredibly annoying was. “I'm Forky! I'm trash!” was not funny the first time, so experiencing that for 10 minutes in a row turned me off from Toy Story 4 right then and there. The story: I hated it, it has to be stated bluntly. I did not care about the villain or its lackeys in the slightest, as I could not give a damn about their plight... also, what a strange and dark plot for a film designed for children. The only new character I found not awful was Duke Caboom, and that probably is only because of his Fu Manchu mustache and the voice being from Keanu Reeves... although honestly the character is pretty forgettable as talk about one note.
Then again, Duke and even Forky are works of genius compared to two fluffy newcomers I might as well call “Skids” and “Mudflap” as EVERYTHING surrounding them was obnoxious, irritating, intolerable, and brutally unfunny... the last point is a problem with this movie as a whole. The first three offered plenty of laughs for me-but this, I only chuckled a few times and that was it. None of the running jokes worked in the slightest.
Even worse, I hated how the story wrapped and I had big problems with how most of the supporting characters who return here only have glorified cameos as they disappear for long stretches and when they are around, they have nothing memorable to do or say. Yet another gripe: the toys have to break the established rules for their universe-and often-to make everything work and it was SO not needed. To be blunt, that reminded me of something I'd expect to see in a DreamWorks or an Illumination picture... I can only presume so for the latter as I have never had the “joy” of experiencing anything from that studio.
Ultimately, I never felt that this movie ever gave me an adequate reason for it even existing, especially when it feels completely different in style and tone and characters compared to the first three. The only strong compliment I can give this is that the CG looks stunning, to the point of being photo-realistic at times. I am glad most love Toy Story 4 but personally, in my canon I will happily pretend the series ended with 3 and this strange fever dream where toys will happily break kayfabe and interact with humans on multiple occasions was just that, a fever dream.
I realize that hardly anyone will agree with my opinion of this motion picture and unlike Armond White, my opinion is not a bizarre troll job... I honestly did not like this movie at all. My recent revisits of the first three show that all of them are still an utter delight to watch, full of funny dialogue, touching moments, quality setpieces, and a lot of heart. I've never wanted a 4 as 3 wrapped up the story perfectly and it seemed utterly pointless. It wasn't until I discovered there were characters voiced by Carl Weathers (albeit, for one scene) and Keanu that I decided to actually see this on the big screen.
Believe it or not, even now I never saw any trailers for Toy Story 4 and not even a full commercial... I was somewhere and saw part of one ad, and what I saw did give me concern as it did NOT seem like Pixar at all. Yet practically everyone around the world loves this movie so I managed to be spoiler-free except for knowing of some characters and one setting of “carnival.” Another concern was knowing that the big new character was named FORKY as it was a spork-which just seemed incredibly lame to me. Yet I swear I did go into this with an open mind, as why would I want to be a hater with something nearly universally beloved?
In context, the character itself I do not have a problem with... Forky being incredibly annoying was. “I'm Forky! I'm trash!” was not funny the first time, so experiencing that for 10 minutes in a row turned me off from Toy Story 4 right then and there. The story: I hated it, it has to be stated bluntly. I did not care about the villain or its lackeys in the slightest, as I could not give a damn about their plight... also, what a strange and dark plot for a film designed for children. The only new character I found not awful was Duke Caboom, and that probably is only because of his Fu Manchu mustache and the voice being from Keanu Reeves... although honestly the character is pretty forgettable as talk about one note.
Then again, Duke and even Forky are works of genius compared to two fluffy newcomers I might as well call “Skids” and “Mudflap” as EVERYTHING surrounding them was obnoxious, irritating, intolerable, and brutally unfunny... the last point is a problem with this movie as a whole. The first three offered plenty of laughs for me-but this, I only chuckled a few times and that was it. None of the running jokes worked in the slightest.
Even worse, I hated how the story wrapped and I had big problems with how most of the supporting characters who return here only have glorified cameos as they disappear for long stretches and when they are around, they have nothing memorable to do or say. Yet another gripe: the toys have to break the established rules for their universe-and often-to make everything work and it was SO not needed. To be blunt, that reminded me of something I'd expect to see in a DreamWorks or an Illumination picture... I can only presume so for the latter as I have never had the “joy” of experiencing anything from that studio.
Ultimately, I never felt that this movie ever gave me an adequate reason for it even existing, especially when it feels completely different in style and tone and characters compared to the first three. The only strong compliment I can give this is that the CG looks stunning, to the point of being photo-realistic at times. I am glad most love Toy Story 4 but personally, in my canon I will happily pretend the series ended with 3 and this strange fever dream where toys will happily break kayfabe and interact with humans on multiple occasions was just that, a fever dream.
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