Toy Story 5 Fun Playtime with Familiar Plastic Faces

Film review: Pixar’s ‘Toy Story 5’ is enjoyable but too familiar

The common fear that most people shared before “Toy Story 4” was released in theaters 7 years ago was that it wouldn’t live up to the rest of the series.

A fun time: ‘Toy Story 5’ is not the best film in the franchise, but it’s enjoyable

The Toy Story franchise continues to lose momentum with its fifth chapter—but because the legendary series started off on such a high note, Toy Story 5 is still a fun time. Jessie (the voice of Joan Cusack) takes center stage in a chapter where Woody (Tom Hanks) is a supporting player. That’s not a bad thing; in fact, Jessie is a cherished part of the character lineup, and her getting the majority of screen time is a welcome development. The toy…

Toy Story 5 fun playtime with familiar plastic faces

Toy Story 5 relates to its predecessor, Toy Story 4, without quite the level of sweaty “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” backpedaling that The Rise of Skywalker had with The Last Jedi. Still, this new installment does seem intent on “placating” certain audience complaints about Toy Story 4, a film I found on repeat viewing to be surprisingly strong. Though not without some mighty fun charms, this “course correction” signals larger storytelling problems ke…