Review of "Toy Story 4": Pixar delivers another cinematic grand slam

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This is an impressive accomplishment, which should not be taken for granted since the original director of "Toy Story" and the creative brain of Pixar, John Lasseter, were forced to do so. absent in 2017 to finally leave the company. Josh Cooley was the director, but with the credited scenario of Pixar veterans, Andrew Stanton and Stephany Folsom, and the story of several others, it was clearly a collective effort, brought together with attentive care.

Perhaps no animated property has shown more ambition in describing the vagaries of childhood – even through the eyes of toys, whose lives are wholly defined by the service they offer to children . This has included, sometimes heartbreaking, to be surpassed, forgotten and put aside by the little mercurial people whose love drives them.

"Toy Story 4" takes this central vanity to an extreme so logical that the new owner of the toys, Bonnie, starts in tears in kindergarten. With the help of the trusty Woody (as always expressed by Tom Hanks), she slaps Forky (Tony Hale), a spork that animates when Bonnie scribbles his name.

"She literally made a new friend, "Woody tells the band.

Entering the toy world via this unorthodox channel, Forky does not know his role. However, because Bonnie is attached to him, Woody – fallen out of favor – has a mission to keep Forky in the vicinity, a task that becomes seriously problematic if he escapes while the family goes on a trip.

Woody, Bo Peep and Duke Caboom in

The premise allows the introduction of several new memorable toys, including Gabby Gabby (Christina Hendricks), an antique doll; Duke Caboom (the ubiquitous Keanu Reeves), a Canadian daredevil who can not help but pose; and Ducky and Bunny (Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele), a pair of plush carnival prizes whose delusions of grandeur are positively unleashed.

Woody, meanwhile, finds himself once again plagued by what is literally an existential crisis in terms of the central goal of a toy. Bo Peep (Annie Potts), the old friend, complicates this tension. While Woody alludes to the small voice in his head – that is, his conscience – produces a long gag of the film involving Buzz (Tim Allen) otherwise, plays a more moderate role than usual .

It's almost a cliché of talking about Disney / Pixar movies operating on parallel planes, delighting the kids with their bright visuals and their wide slapstick and marveling the adults with the depth and emotion that they bring to these characters.

Nevertheless, the way "Toy Story 4" straddles this chain is clever enough to be taken for granted, and the story takes unexpected risks that speak to the true creative art at work here, not just as an engine to push consumer products (rest assured, there will be many too).

For those who wiped tears when the toys joined hands in the third movie, "Toy Story 4" will also bring bumps to the throat before the end. But the deeper message may well be what the film says about the power of imagination and the simple notion that what drives a toy is not a pile, but love.

"Toy Story" has been around for a quarter of a century, so Pixar did not reveal them exactly. Yet when (not so) the fifth installment finally arrives, with friends like these pulling the strings, the franchise is in very good hands.

"Toy Story 4" begins June 21 in the United States. It is rated G.

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