Cinephilic Ramblings

I cannot stress enough how incredibly wonderful this film is. I grew up with the “Toy Story” franchise and this final film by director Lee Unkrich delivers a satisfying and emotionally compelling end to the trilogy.

“Toy Story 3” features everything that makes Pixar films so consistently amazing: strong characters, perfect comedic timing and the emphasis of story over everything else. Last year when I saw “Up,” I cried for the first time in a movie theater in ages. Pixar again brought tears to my eyes at three different moments in this movie.

I love this world and these characters. Woody is one of my favorite movie characters of all time and the character traits that endear me to him are in full force. He is diligent, clever and so unabashedly loyal that it’s nearly heartbreaking.

I think A.O. Scott of “The New York Times” said it best in his review of the film.

“This film — this whole three-part, 15-year epic — about the adventures of a bunch of silly plastic junk turns out also to be a long, melancholy meditation on loss, impermanence and that noble, stubborn, foolish thing called love.”

Please, see this movie. In fact, see it twice.

It’s almost painful to write a negative critique of a Pixar film, but this movie just isn’t good by any stretch of the imagination. The storytelling is uncharacteristically clunky, with none of the emotional moments in the movie feeling earned in any way. Pixar is generally known for avoiding the cheap jokes and obvious punchlines, but here they seem to relish the ability to indulge in every cheesy and cringe-worthy bit of dialogue.

When the movie finished, I had this strong desire to run back to my DVD collection and put in any of the “Toy Story” films, “Up” or “The Incredibles” just to forget the entire experience. For the first year since its inception (and it brings me zero joy to say this), the Academy Award for Best Animated Film should not go to the Emeryville-based studio.

I never though an animated film would be the one to tackle emotions such as love, loss, grief and mourning with such unrelenting honesty, but Pixar is always out to prove that animation is a medium just as capable as any other genre in exploring the human condition. “Up” is my favorite of the Pixar films and its first fifteen minutes consistently brings me to tears.