5.5/7 🪩🪩🪩🪩🪩
I’m a little late to the game with this review, mostly because I was looking through my camera roll and suddenly realized I completely forgot to write it. Oops!
Toy Story 5 is a pleasant and surprisingly meaningful story that transcends generations to deliver a message that feels important for all of us: don’t let devices take away the things that make us human. Meaningful connection is much more important than “being cool” and playing on tech. We are so tuned into our phones, games, and social media that sometimes we forget the most rewarding human connections don’t happen through a screen. They come from actual human experiences. In that sense, I really appreciated what this film was trying to say.
Let’s start with the visuals. Animation has come such a long way, and there is an incredible amount of detail packed into nearly every pixel of this film. It made me genuinely happy thinking about how much creative freedom artists now have to build these stunning animated worlds. I never want to see AI take over the heart of the animation process, so knowing that real artists helped shape and craft this experience kept me in awe of the work on screen. There is texture, personality, and an incredible attention to detail throughout the film. Stunning work.
The music was fantastic and gave the film so much of its character and emotional warmth. Randy Newman has always had a special ability to create movie magic, but there was such a sweetness in the music accompanying Jessie’s story this time around. Some of those moments genuinely stood out to me as some of his best work in the franchise. The score understood exactly when to lean into nostalgia.
As for the voice acting, most of it was great. However, I’ll be honest: I expected the movie to be much funnier. A lot of the dialogue felt a little stiff to me, and while I appreciated the overall story and its message, I wanted more interesting interactions between the characters. At times, the film simply felt too serious. That’s okay to a certain extent. I understand that the story is dealing with the sadness of leaving something behind, the fear of no longer being needed, and even the emotional pain that comes from bullying. There are some heavy ideas here. I just don’t think the balance between humor and drama was always right.
The pacing also felt off. Editing animation has to be incredibly difficult. I can’t imagine cutting a scene knowing artists may have spent weeks or even months bringing it to life. Still, there were moments I wanted the movie to slow down and expand upon, while other scenes could have moved much faster. The journey involving the high-tech Buzz Lightyears is a perfect example. By the end, I finally understood what the film was trying to do with them, but for most of the movie that storyline felt disconnected from everything else. I really appreciated the final act and the energy it finally brought to the story. I just wish more of that energy had been present in the first half. Honestly, I almost fell asleep at one point.
Despite those issues, Toy Story 5 is still one of my favorites in the series. Its message about technology, play, and human connection really worked for me, and I hope that five or ten years from now, Pixar finds another way to explore where we are as humans and how our relationships with technology continue to change.
It’s not a perfect film, but it’s still a great one. At its heart, Toy Story 5 reminded me that sometimes we need to put the devices down, look up, and actually experience the world around us. And maybe, every once in a while, we just need to play.
Emotion: 5/7
Editing & Story: 5/7
Visuals: 7/7
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