Toy Story 4 was directed by Josh Cooley and features the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Tony Hale and Keanu Reeves, plus many others.
The plot concerns the toys' life with their new owner, Bonnie, who makes a toy fork who comes to life and decides that the conventional toy life is not for him. So Woody and the rest of the toys go to find him, and encounter some friends both old and new along the way.
For performances I thought most of the actors worked best with scenes that were best suited to their abilities. As always, Tom Hanks as Woody creates a very good screen presence, especially when the film needs to be dramatic or heart-warming, but he does also try to have some light-hearted fun when given the chance. Annie Potts as Bo is given more screen time than she has had in any of the previous instalments and does her best with the material she has. Her efforts are appreciated, but come off as only mildly engaging as she is surround by unquestionably superior talent. From the new cast Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele definitely stand out. They have great chemistry together and enjoy some funny lines and moments. And it's refreshing to have new characters who are so enjoyable to watch.
The script is by Stephany Folsom and Andrew Stanton, and is certainly impressive to say the least. There's the usual likeable brand of humour that these film are known for, but this one feels slightly different due to its emphasis on emotion. And to its credit, the film feels very fast-paced and rarely drags, and when it does occasionally slow the pace, it picks up relatively quickly. Another first is that I feel for the first time in this franchise we get a few characters that are fleshed out well and not just given basic details. Plus the ending is unexpected but still a surprisingly appropriate way to bring the film to an end.
The cinematography is by Patrick Lin and Jean-Claude Kalache and unfortunately nothing about the film's visuals stand out for me, but then again when it comes to films like this I feel it's the animation that does the talking for the visual aspects. Speaking of which, the animation is stepped up in a big way from the last film in the franchise, and it's definitely noticeable, especially in the way certain rooms are lit - from flashy and upbeat to dark and depressing.
The score was composed by Randy Newman, and his work here sounds decent enough, but resembles too much what he brought to these films before. The music goes well with the scenes it accompanies, but I feel that sometimes Newman tries a little too hard to make the viewer emotional; sometimes it can just start to work, at other times it doesn't and you just ignore it for a few minutes. I would have to call it decent enough but a bit recycled and emotionally manipulative.
The one flaw that I feel this film has is that, while all the previous instalments had original plots and ideas for their stories, this one has a similar plot to the second one. If it was possible for the writers to come up with an original plot all those years ago, then why couldn't the same have been done here? This is something of a step down for the franchise, so let's hope any future films made by this studio don't make the same mistake.
The conclusions I draw from this are: that Toy Story 4 has good voice performances; an impressive script; unremarkable cinematography that is somewhat made up for by good animation; a decent if manipulative score; and a minus point for being driven by a recycled plot.
Having taken all my pros and cons into account, I'm going to give Toy Story 4...
B+
Thank you for reading.
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