Does ‘Toy Story 4’ have a friend in this franchise?

Pixar is back to rule the summer with the release of their newest sequel “Toy Story 4.” It’s probably no stretch of the imagination to say that the “Toy Story” franchise has left an impact on many, with the each entry being more highly regarded the last. The supposed final installment, “Toy Story 3,” left a perfect stamp of finality to this legendary series, so the news of a fourth installment left a skeptical taste in the mouth of many. Will this sequel be a stand-out or stretched-thin effort from Pixar?

The film focuses on our band of toys who are getting ready to go on a road trip with Bonnie and her family. Before this occurs, they are greeted by a new member to their family, a spork named Forky who Bonnie creates in school one day. On their trip, however, Forky gets lost and Woody, realizing the toy’s importance to Bonnie, ventures out to find him. This eventually leads Woody into running into his old love interest Bo Peep, who has been living an adventurous life by herself for many years. From here, Woody must do his best to hold things together while meeting a variety of new and colorful faces.

Simply put, “Toy Story 4” has absolutely no business being as good as it is. While probably the weakest of the “Toy Story” series as a whole, the film on its own and as a follow up, feels like a surprisingly natural continuation of the third film with plenty going for it. First and foremost, it goes without saying, but the overall production is truly spectacular. To see the lengths Pixar has reached since the release of the original “Toy Story” with their animation is unbelievable. The creative and energetic character animation lends itself to the wide variety of toys here and successful conveys their personalities while keeping a believable sense to the materiality of the world. First-time director Josh Cooley makes an impressive feature debut here, imbuing the film with the larger-than-life sensibility this franchise has thrived on thanks to its energetic and expressive cinematography and editing.

The narrative certainly didn’t play things safe, which was a welcome treat to see in a film such as this, which could have easily been a cheap cash grab with a throwaway plot. The tone balances moments of emotion, excitement, sorrow and even genuine terror extremely well, which keeps the viewing experience consistently engaging. This film’s story centers primarily on Woody and Bo Peep, and their arcs are illustrated perfectly.

Woody is brought to some very interesting places that push his character in some unexpected ways while Bo Peep is given more to do than ever before and proves to be wildly entertaining in the process, while still providing enough grounded emotion to keep you invested. The colorful collection of new characters are too many to list, but each has a moment to shine and their expressive personalities help this film rank up with “Toy Story 2” as possibly the funniest entry in the franchise. While some of them aren’t given much in terms of emotional arcs and are clearly there for comic relief and/or marketing, they all prove entertaining enough for you to not care.

That said, there are issues that make this film feel slightly lackluster compared to the previous three. While Woody and Bo Peep are given engaging arcs, the same can’t be said for the other old characters. The subplot with Buzz Lightyear, while not terrible, feels largely disposable, while Jessie, Hamm, Potato Head, Rex and the rest of the gang are practically relegated to glorified cameos. This was likely due to the heavier side of the story being focused on Woody and Bo, but the film does little to hide this, making the scenes with the older cast feel tacked on at times, messing with the pacing. At times, it feels like the movie could have cut out a large amount of content and would’ve worked just as effectively as a 30-minute or one-hour TV special in the vein of “Toy Story of Terror” or “Toy Story That Time Forgot.”

Regardless, the end product is still worth seeing and makes for an entertaining watch. While not quite as masterful as its predecessors, “Toy Story 4” still proves to be engaging and emotional enough to be amongst Pixar’s library. This solid follow-up to such an iconic trilogy may go down in history itself as the perfect example of how to continue a supposedly finished series in the best way possible.