Toy Story 4 is Delightful, Fast-Paced and Only a Little Tired

Woody and the gang return in this fourth and final installment of the 25-year-old franchise as they travel on an RV vacation with their kid Bonnie and her parents.

Before we leave, we meet some of Bonnie’s preschool toys, voiced by some veteran performers who really are only cameos (I’ll let you see if you recognize them), and on the trip we meet up with long lost friend Bo Peep, as well as some new friends (some hilarious, some irritating and some creepy as heck).  

Ongoing themes including how all toys just want someone to love them are included again, but some elements of the story are a little muddled and may be confusing. 

Still, as always, the story is dazzling, appeals to our short attention spans, and still manages to be a delightful and entertaining offering.  Fans of the story need to be surprised by some of the twists and turns of the story, so I will offer little more about the plot. 

Our old friends reappear in this outing, as do new friends voiced by Keanu Reeves, Key and Peele and Christina Hendricks.  As with humans, the lives of the toys have changed somewhat and even Woody has to adjust to some new challenges and decisions. 

Pixar still does an amazing job with this picture as it has with the others, and all the razzle dazzle covers up for a few tired and rushed elements.  As a fan of the franchise, I’m glad to get some closure on the whole story, but I wonder if it might have been a better idea to end the story at #3.  I’m thinking some viewers who are curmudgeons like me will feel the same way.  Still, as I said, I was entertained, laughed a lot, and even shed a tear or two. 

Go see it, just so you can say goodbye to our old friends.  My grade: B.

Toy Story 4 stars  Tom Hanks, Annie Potts, Tim Allen, Bonnie Hunt, with a cast of old and new favorites and opens June 20. Running time is 100 minutes.