Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3 (2010)

98% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 195 reviews)

Runtime: 103 minutes

Directed by: Lee Unkrich

Starring: The voices of Tim Allen, Tom Hanks, Ned Beatty, Michael Keaton

From: Disney/Pixar

Yep, I finally went and saw this movie. It was this past Friday afternoon, and I saw it in IMAX 3-D, and at a legit IMAX theatre not one of those faux-IMAX screens that have popped up using the name but it not being quite legit due to how tiny the faux screens are in comparison to the old ones. It’s a shame that IMAX decided to whore their name out quite like that… but anyhow, I saw it at the one legit IMAX screen in Orlando, which is at Regal Pointe Orlando.

Remember now, I saw the first two movies in 3-D this past fall and talked about it here. In short, both were pretty great to see in that format, so I had high hopes for this one, and I’ll say that this one is also fantastic, although at this time I’ll say that it’s the least of the movies. That should be seen as no slight, though, as it’s like determining which kid of yours is your favorite. Even though the first two are just a little bit better, it’s still great and it’s amazing to have all three movies in a trilogy be of such high overall quality. People on IMDb certainly enjoy this (as you can see from clicking on the embedded link that's above (the "Toy Story 3 (2010)". I always link to a movie's IMDb page that way)

Oh, and I also saw the first two movies recently on Blu-Ray (via rental) and they both look awesome in that format, as it does seeing this film on a legit IMAX screen… although it will cost you 17 dollars per ticket (!) Then again, the 3-D isn’t “in your face” and it more enhances things and you’ll probably enjoy it in 2-D also. I mean, the 3-D stuff gets a workout in the short they show before the movie. It’s some oddball thing about two blobs and I thought it was more interesting for the 3-D stuff and the music rather than whatever story it’s trying to tell in 5 or so minutes. The choice is up to you.

I will not spoil too much of the plot for those of you who haven’t seen it yet but I’ll state the things that have been brought up in the reviews and the trailers. Andy, the kid who has played with the toys back in the 90’s, is now a 17 year old, about to head off to college. He still has his major toys around, the others sold off at garage sales or thrown away. He now has to decide what to do with his remaining toys, and there’s miscommunication with his mom, and it results in Buzz, Woody, and company meeting new toys, such as the strawberry-scented Lots-O’-Huggin’ Bear, a Ken doll that goes along real well with Barbie, and the greatly named hedgehog known as Mr. Pricklepants. Various adventures happen and it’s a great old time.

Once I saw the movie I started to read the reviews of it and man, some people need the “Mr. Pricklepants” name more than that hedgehog! The reason why it’s not 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes is due to a few critics bellyaching about it. It’s mainly them being dumb and in one case, the critic (Armond White, who writes for some rag in New York) is a middle-aged dude who is nonetheless a troll! I kid you not, a troll. He’s a total contrarian who does it just to get attention and hey, it works. He doesn’t like anything from Pixar and yet praises stuff like Transformers, Jonah Hex, and G.I. Joe! Then again, people should just ignore him. Sure, in reading what he writes, you may spot why stuff that critics like isn’t so great, or why bashed movies have some merit, but his contrarianism and troll manners isn’t worth it to slog through his material. Lord knows, I can have different viewpoints at times but I’m not a contrarian, or at least I’d like to think I am not. It’s just that at times I have ripped highly rated movies and given praise to stuff that critics (and maybe some of you) wouldn’t care for. I’m just not a shit-stirrer like Armond White apparently is. And really, the Rotten Tomatoes rating isn’t worth too much besides what critics think in general; I know, I post the RT rating when I can, but it’s more trivial stuff, IMO.

But man, White is a softy and even-keeled compared to some of the bitching and griping and arguing that’s gone on various messageboards over the movie, how great it is, its demerits (it’s not perfect, like Toy Story or its sequel almost are) or how it “botched” various things, and it’s all ridiculous. Talk about micro-analyzing to find any miniscule faults and blowing them way out of proportion, to show that you’re “hip” on those boards or what have you. It’s ridiculous. I won’t explain what their chief complaints are, as hey, spoilers, but it’s pretty sad to see people get worked up over such silly things like that. And some wacky fan theories have also sprouted up, claiming the movie is really a coded message for various things (some of which are very tasteless, including a rather horrible thing that went on in the 1930’s and 40’s) and that it’s nihilistic (I don’t know about that, although this movie is certainly the darkest in the series and I’m surprised at how far they went at times with various things, especially the end), and man, people on the Internet are just strange and wacky in general, but I’m sure you know that already.

Anyhow, I give the strongest recommendation for you to go out and see this, whether it’s in 2-D, 3-D, in IMAX, or what have you. It’s a great time and there’s thrilling stuff in the second half that’s even to a higher scale than what you see in TS2, and like I just mentioned, there’s some moments where you’re surprised at how far they went. I didn’t get teary-eyed at all during the movie (like many others have apparently reacted to it) but your mileage may vary, and hopefully you’ll find this a worthy flick to go along the first two amazing Toy Story movies.

I'll be back Friday night with at least one new review.