Director: Andrew Stanton
Cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Greta Lee, Conan O’Brien, Tony Hale, Craig Robinson, Shelvy Rabara, Scarlett Spears, Mykal-Michelle Harris, Matty Matheson, John Ratzenberger, Wallace Shawn, Blake Clark, Jeff Bergman, Anna Vocino, Annie Potts, Bonnie Hunt, Melissa Villasenor, John Hopkins, Kristen Schaal, Ernie Hudson, Bad Bunny, Keanu Reeves, Ally Maki, Alan Cumming
Screenplay: Andrew Stanton, Kenna Harris
102 mins. Rated PG for some thematic elements and rude humor.

With the release of Toy Story 3, fans around the world proclaimed the trilogy complete and stated that they don’t need another installment and it would only lessen the impact of the series. With the release of Toy Story 4, fans around the world proclaimed this was unnecessary. I was on the other side of things, finding that, while Toy Story 3 had a great ending to Andy’s story, Toy Story 4 had the perfect ending for Woody’s story. So now, with the impending release of a fifth chapter, fans are likely asking if we need it. For the most part, Toy Story 5 finds a new and worthwhile story for two of its most enjoyable characters even if it struggles to shed some of its past in favor of forging a new path.

THE AGE OF TOYS IS OVER. Tech has arrived in the neighborhood, and Bonnie (Scarlett Spears, Wicked For Good) is having trouble making new friends without it. When her parents buy her a Lilypad (Greta Lee, Past Lives), she’s open to the endless world of…screen time. As Jessie (Joan Cusack, School of Rock) fears being abandoned by her child yet again, Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen, The Santa Clause) is trying to be her partner in leading the toys through this potential disaster. As Jessie tries to help Bonnie by making real friends that she can really spend time with instead of cyberspace friends who never look at each other in the face, she teams up with a potty-training tech toy named Smarty Pants (Conan O’Brien, The LEGO Batman Movie) to keep Bonnie from becoming another child dedicated to a device.

I love that Toy Story 5 evolves the story of Jessie and Buzz in the absence of Woody, seeing them take on a larger leadership of the toys, and they get to actively tackle a new threat, one that feels so important to the now. The battle over tech toys and screen time is something that only a long-running franchise like Toy Story can really take on, given that these were not issues or topics when the first film released three decades ago (ooof, that made me feel old). Even though elements of this story, like Jessie’s abandonment issues and the toys being slowly relegated to uselessness, feel familiar to previous entries, I liked that they were further expanded upon this time around, and the new characters and evolutions of legacy characters fit in very well in this world. The screenplay, from Andrew Stanton and Kenna Harris, is much more nuanced in terms of the tech discussion, as it views Lilypad sympathetically having the best of intentions and being more prideful in their abilities. There’s a repetition to Woody’s concerns over the new hot toy in the first film with Buzz now in that role.

Each Toy Story film (and a few of the shorts) have a knack for building upon the world and finding new ways to loop back to these characters in a new light, and this is no different, but including Woody (Tom Hanks, Forrest Gump) was a mistake. It’s clear that he has no purpose in the narrative, everything he does in the film could’ve been done by Buzz, and there’s a reaching quality to his inclusion, but he’s not necessary. In fact, moving on without Woody feels like the simpler and more powerful statement, and allowing Buzz to team up with some of the other toys just feels right. A lot of the secondary toys feel very sidelined in Toy Story 5, and I’d have loved to see how the dynamic has shifted in the vacuum of Woody moving on, but instead, he’s here, and it feels like a merchandising choice more than anything.

There’s a subplot including Buzz Lightyear toys that opens the film and it feels disjointed at first, but I appreciated the side story and how it ultimately contributes to the main narrative including the best set piece (a chase sequence) of the movie, one that is an all-timer for the franchise. This sequence comes from an overcomplicated third act, but one that is just so much fun that I can forgive some of the later plot movements.

Toy Story 5 struggles to move on past some of its characters and into new places, and I don’t think this film is on the level of at least the most recent two films, but there are lessons for young ones and important themes for families that hit hard here. It doesn’t need Woody because there is so many new and legacy characters that can fill that space, and there are plenty of laughs and heartfelt moments. Toy Story 5 may not be as pristine as its predecessors, but I applaud the team at Pixar for finding new ground with this long-running franchise.

3½/5
-Kyle A. Goethe

For more Toy Story: Toy Story of Terror, Toy Story 4