I am a 24 year-old male and have no problem telling the world that my favorite movie trilogy is Toy Story. You can take your Lord of the Rings, Matrix, hell even Godfather and just go somewhere else with them. Part of my fondness for the franchise is the fact that during their first two releases I was 10 and 14, respectively. But the other part is they tell a good story and are extremely well-made. It's kind of like when I explain why I like Grand Theft Auto to non-game players. Yes, it has a negative stigma, but is so well made and the story is rich. If those were not there, people wouldn't play it. Same goes with these movies. Yes, it is animation, but it's production values are fantastic and the script is better than most live-action movies.
Needless, to say I enjoyed Toy Story 3 to no end. It has a great opening sequence that really breakdowns the essence and the concept of toys. They are what you imagine them to be. Sidebar, won't you join me for a moment. Last Christmas I was at a cousin's house and they have a 2 year-old. He has more toys than one kid needs, and every single one of them blinks, makes noise, moves, or has some sort of action to it. What happened to the days of leaving something to the imagination? It was only a mere 18 years ago when a young Zach would set up Turtle battles against the Foot Clan on the molten lava that was the spare bedroom's red carpet. Kids these days don't have to do that, the toys do it for them. I feel bad for those kids. The scenarios you came up with, were cooler than the toys themselves.
TS3 ultimately turns into a jail-break action set piece, and it's a pretty good one. As you can guess the toys get themselves into trouble, but ultimately end up where they belong. The ending puts a nice boy on the story, and I must say, evoked teary eyes from yours truly. Damn you Pixar!!!! (the last two movies to tear my eyes are TS3 and Up) Though not as bad as the 50-something woman behind me who was flat-out hysterical. And there in lies the rub of the movie franchise. People cared about the toys. Why? Because when everyone is little they cared about their toys like they were their best friends. And the movies showed us a new side that the toys cared just as much as we did.
I give Toy Story 3 a glowing review and look forward to one day sitting down with my kids and watching these movies with them. Because that's the way the toys would want it. Always played with and always loved. (Cue sappy Randy Newman music)
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