TOYSTORY4(U)
Oscar-winning computer animation studio Disney Pixar comes with a belated rip-roaring fourth instalment that will have parents dabbing at their eyes with almost as many sodden handkerchiefs as its predecessors. Admittedly, popular characters including Jessie and Rex are largely sidelined by a freewheeling plot that borrows heavily from past glories. Director Josh Cooley's harebrained rescue mission was always going to disappoint after the noteperfect resolution to the third film. The fractious central relationship between Woody and Buzz, which stretches back almost 25 cinemagoing years, reaches a gorgeous, heart-rending crescendo that closes this toy box of wonders with a soft and satisfying emotional thud. Woody, Buzz and the gang are now the property of a little girl called Bonnie, who is nervously preparing for kindergarten orientation. The tearful tyke overcomes her nerves by creating Forky from discarded arts and crafts supplies. ‘I am not a toy!’ rages Forky. 'I'm a spork. I was made for soup, salad, maybe chilli ... and the trash.’ The repurposed plastic utensil becomes Bonnie's security blanket during a family road trip to Grand Basin, which lights the touch paper on more than one existential crisis. When Forky falls into the clutches of sinister doll Gabby Gabby and her army of ventriloquist dummies, Woody co-ordinates a daring rescue. He is reunited with Bo Peep and her three-headed porcelain sheep Billy, Goat and Gruff, and makes a new ally in self-doubting motorcycle stuntman Duke Caboom. Meanwhile, Buzz stalls for time by delaying the departure of Bonnie and her parents from Grand Basin. Toy Story 4 opens with a lustrous flashback set during a torrential downpour that epitomises the immaculate attention to detail in every frame of animation. Vocal performances complement the technical excellence and Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele are shameless scenestealers as megalomaniacal fairground prizes. The script quietly preaches the beauty of imperfection between breathlessly staged action setpieces and a barrage of visual gags, which demand a second viewing. ‘You can't teach this old toy new tricks,' sagely observes Woody. True, but when the old tricks work beautifully, the wizards at Disney Pixar can still cast an irresistible spell. Released tomorrow.