Review: Toy Story 3 (U) (From This Is Lancashire)

Review: Toy Story 3 (U)

12:40pm Monday 26th July 2010 in

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Men sobbing, kids wailing - you would think the World Cup was still going on.

Yet all this hysteria is over a children’s cartoon.

And, as a sequel, Toy Story 3 is that rare thing - a film as touching as the original with the added bonus of 3D technology, which could have been made for animation like Toy Story.

So what is so earth-shatteringly emotional about the film? What could be so hard-hitting about a group of unwanted toys being given to a nursery?

If you look at the type of films Hollywood is producing these days, you get a clue. The kids who watched the blockbusters of the 80s often now have children of their own - or are actually in the business themselves, pitching ideas they are passionate about that inspired them as kids.

In these penny-pinching times, films are aimed at the emotional jugular, recreating fond memories of a more halcyon time.

And many people have grown up with the loveable tale of Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and the gang and, like the owner, Andy, still have an emotional connection.

But all this would not be possible without a taut, entertaining story to hang it on – and Toy Story scores on all levels. There are thrilling action sequences, belly laughs aplenty, and twists and turns, all brought to life in 3D so that we feel a deeper connection and part of the story. We forget these are mere animated toys and feel the fear, the loss, the pain that they feel.

That is not to say that Toy Story is some over-wrought weepie – as evidenced by the laugh-out-loud comedy of the scenes with Barbie and Ken, the comic references to gangster films, and even the sinister feel of Dolly. Toy Story 3 has grown with its audience, reassuring us with old favourites, yet entertaining us with new characters and situations.

But did it make me cry? Well, seeing as I'm neither male nor of the age where I'm fascinated by In The Night Garden, I can safely say that I didn't – though I admit to having a lump in my throat by the end and maybe kept my camouflaging 3D glasses on strictly longer than necessary at the end...