336. Toy Story 4; movie review

TOY STORY 4
Cert U
100 mins
BBFC advice: Contains very mild violence, scary scenes

Regular readers of the blog may have noted that this is the least enthusiastic I have been in chasing the everyfilm quest since it began in 2011.
There is a simple reason - the ridiculous number of sequels or remakes. They have submerged any fresh material.
Toy Story 4 demonstrates why major studios won't take risks on original ideas when they are making a substantial killing from old ones.
Latest figures show that it has made more than a billion dollars so far - three times as much as the original and still counting.
Will there be a fifth instalment? Well, its conclusion would lead us to believe that it is the end of the road but who knows?
In John Cooley's film, the tale of Andy's toys has already moved on several years and they now belong to a little girl called Molly.
Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) has been sidelined (where have we seen that before?) but he re-emerges from the closet when she has a school preview day.
Therefore, he is one of the chosen few when it comes to a holiday.
However, her most cherished toy is one she made herself, called Forky (Tony Hale) - and, yes, a quick peek on the Disney store shows one retailing at £14 (not bad, when it was meant to be created by a four-year-old from a plastic utensil and pieces of rubbish).
I digress.
Woody becomes Forky's chaperone and gets him into all sorts of scrapes - particularly in an antique shop where a doll (Christina Hendricks) with a broken voice box rules the roost.
Oh, and then there is Woody's love interest in the form of Bo Peep (Annie Potts).
Let me be clear - Toy Story 4 isn't bad - there are moments which are quite charming and there is even a scene which has, apparently, prompted tears (not from me or Mrs W).
But it lacks an edge because it isn't fresh.
How could it be? Its concept is more than a quarter of a century old. What a pity that studios are not challenging their creative teams to try to match it rather than repeat it.

Reasons to watch: It's Toy Story
Reasons to avoid: Same old, same old

Laughs: Two
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7/10

Did you know? Buzz Lightyear was originally named Tempest after the animators' obsession with the Atari game Tempest and he was only six inches high.

The final word. Tom Hanks: "It [saying goodbye] was terrible. I started recording Woody in '91. That's when we actually got together to do the first one. I was in the same studio, with the same microphone, with the same glass. And then they said, 'Okay, great. Thanks!' And just like, twenty or however many years were over."

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