Reviews

More than 30 years after the original Toy Story, Woody, Buzz Lightyear and co. are back for another instalment in the beloved animated franchise.

After being introduced in Toy Story 2, cowgirl toy Jessie has mostly been a side character, however, she is upgraded to lead status in Toy Story 5 and is now the leader of Bonnie’s room following Woody’s decision to leave in the fourth film.

Their owner, Bonnie (Scarlett Spears), still enjoys playing with her toys, but she struggles to make friends because most kids her age consider toys uncool and have ditched them for devices.

Bonnie’s parents buy her a child-friendly tablet called Lilypad (Greta Lee) to help her make connections, and Jessie and co. become convinced that Lilypad is their nemesis and that she will render them obsolete.

Toy Story 5 is a fun, charming and topical film with emotional depth, a sharp sense of humour and great attention to detail about human behaviour. It accurately represents our relationship with technology and its effects on real friendships and connections.

Even though we see some negatives about tech – such as Bonnie being bullied in a group chat – director/co-writer Andrew Stanton makes sure that the film doesn’t deliver a blanket statement that all tech is bad.

Older tech devices, like hilarious new characters Smarty Pants (Conan O’Brien), Atlas (Craig Robinson) and Snappy (Shelby Rabara), want to be played with as much as the toys and are also at risk of being discarded when their kid grows up.

Sadly, the core characters aren’t together very much as Jessie and Bullseye end up separated from their gang for most of the movie, and Woody (Tom Hanks) doesn’t have a ton to do in comparison to previous outings, but somebody had to take a reduced role to give Jessie room to shine.

In addition, the central conflict is resolved a bit too easily, and the film’s message is a touch too optimistic, however, these are minor complaints for a film that is overall an entertaining and vibrant animation.

Cusack once again voices the plucky Jessie with hot-headed spirit and determination, and Lilypad is a brilliant new addition who mixes up the dynamic.

It’s a delight to hear Hanks back as Woody and Tim Allen gets to voice a horde of Buzz Lightyears in a funny sequence.

Toy Story 5 doesn’t quite reach the soaring heights of the first three films, but it is still a good, delightful movie with a lot to say about our relationship with technology.

Now that they’ve declared “the age of toys is over”, where can the franchise go from here? We’ll have to wait and see!

In cinemas from Friday 19th June

By Hannah Wales

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