I'll never forget seeing Toy Story 3 in the IMAX. Especially the ending.
That heartwrenching moment when our main character has to grow up and put his childhood behind him is burned in my memory and is a surefire way to make me cry during a movie. It wasn't so much what was happening that made it such an impactful scene, it was what it meant for each of us on a personal level that made it just... work so well.
Toy Story 3 was the perfect spot to end the series. The ending of that movie was a perfect bookend to the story.
Toy Story 4, therefore, is the three or four additional chapters tacked onto the end of a long novel that should've been left on the cutting room floor. Take the heart and adventure of the first 3 films and the emotionally wrenching conclusion of the third one, suck all the life out of them and you have Toy Story 4 in a nutshell.
From what I saw, I couldn't pick out any distinct message the film was trying to portray, really. Maybe it's something that requires another viewing or two; I have no idea. But my first impression of this movie is that it's just... pointless. It's fluff. It shows that Disney is fine putting out a story about growing up and leaving your toys in the past only to rush right back to them as soon as its nostalgic enough to turn a decent profit. I guess it worked; it performed well at the box office (and, yes, Disney sold me the BD combo pack) and it apparently got a high rating (likely for the sake that it's a group of animated things that resemble the characters you know and love. They felt like hollow shells of themselves, however; lacking anything of substance.
Ultimately, this movie left me with a sour taste in my mouth. The original trilogy were such perfect pieces of storytelling, each serving its purpose, telling unique stories and developing the characters. This one, if anything, undoes that. It's a presentation of these characters for no other reason than that Disney knows we'll buy it again.
I really hope this is the final instalment in the Toy Story series. Anything beyond this will enter into self-parody. It should've ended on the third one, but it didn't, and now we can only hope that this is the last toy story.
