I am literally shaking with anticipation for this movie. Pixar is an assembly of animating Gods and I can't wait to see it this Saturday morning. In a 4 day stretch I'll be seeing THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH, SLEEPY HOLLOW, THE CABINET OF DR CALIGARI (with live musical accompaniment at the Drafthouse) and TOY STORY II. Sometimes the week just smiles atcha. I'm all teeth this week.... all teeth, here's Darth Siskel with the word...
Toy Story 2 Review
Harry,
Darth Siskel reporting. Today me and Darth Tso's Chicken got a sneak peak at Toy Story 2! This was the toughest screening we've ever infiltrated. They weren't letting people in without a kid, and us being Sith and all, we are only two at a time. This problem was solved before the show, when me and Darth Tso's Chicken found two wandering kids on the street. We flashed them some of those goddam ChinPokomon cards & invited them to the movie. We were in !!!
Let me start by saying, Pixar is simply amazing. This movie was really good. Going in, it was obvious to us that the story would be nice, and the animation would be top notch, it is after all a Pixar movie, but there was really some damn stunning animation here.
The story involves Woody being stolen by a toy collector. The collector is voiced wonderfully by Nedry from Jurassic Park (aka Newman from Seinfeld). This is one of those guys that buys toys only to have them encased behind glass where they stay for eternity, only looked at and never played with. This notion is a major theme in the movie.
Once Woody is stolen, Buzz Lightyear & friends go out into the world to rescue him. The whole gang from the first movie is back including BoPeep, Rex, Hamm, PotatoHead, Slinky Dog, Troll, Andy & family, the Army Men, etc. A few new toys are introduced, and they are likable and add alot to the storyline, especially the CowGirl character, & the Barbies.
The movie was very, very funny, and entertaining from beginning to end. Already knowing most of the characters, it was great to see them back, and in the situations they're put in during this movie. It was a great story for a sequel, and I really feel like these Toys are my friends. They are three dimensional characters in more than one way. Much new is revealed about them, but really the thing that I enjoyed most about this movie was the animation. The character animation was near flawless. Better than the first movie! Great performances all around, almost to the point where these toys should be getting Oscar nominations for acting.
The lighting, camerawork, & editing was just perfect. Like Toy Story & A Bug's Life, there are some shots in this movie that look like live action footage. The 3D modelling and texture work....the attention to detail in all the background sufaces, the streets, the cars, the floors and walls, just everything made for such great environments. In one scene, we get really closeup to the toy collector character, and you can see the hairs in his nose, the lines in his skin, the stubble on his chin, the subtlety of veins under his skin & damn it looks good!
There are some great references in the movie to Starwars, other films and past Pixar projects, but best of all, there's a cameo from a character from one of Pixar's other movies! I won't say who, but it is sooooo damn cool.
Wow....I really don't know where else to go with this, but to say the movie was great. There's no way in hell anyone will be disapointed with this outstanding sequel !!! Let me turn it over to my apprentice, Darth Tso's Chicken!
Darth Tso's Chicken loves him some Toy Story 2. What seems to amaze me the most with Toy Story 2 is how simple it seems on the outside. From the story to the animation it appears to be so... so... simple. The story appears fairly straight forward, the characters themselves appear simple in design and their behavior....yet.... within this simplicity is wherein lies it's magic. The story tells us one thing, but by the end somehow I found myself thinking about dozens of things...from about how people live their lives (sparked by how the toys viewed their lives) to the way I've been handling my own collection of action figures (Yes even the Sith must collect action figures).
The same goes for the animation. It doesn't appear to be very complicated, no Pod races, space battles, or dinosaurs (actually there is a dinosasur)... yet at the same time I found myself forgetting that I was even watching a CG movie. The evironment and elements in this movie were that convincing and natural looking. To sum up, this movie is about more than just toys. I believe that this movie along with some of the other GOOD animated movies such as Iron Giant, and Antz is slowly (and very subtly) saying animation need not only be for kids. Perhaps with Princess Mononoke and the upcoming Final Fantasy movie, that fact will be just a little more obvious.
-Ending Transmission-
