Filmociraptor

Whenever movies I love pop back into theaters like this it's such a nice treat, and in the case of Toy Story, seeing movies that I saw in theaters 15 years ago was a nice memory to revisit. I don't feel like it's necessary to break down every nuance of the films since you've probably seen them half a dozen times already, and if you haven't then DEFINITELY get to the theater. Instead I'll just remind you briefly about how awesome Toy Story was, is, and will always continue to be. 

These movies hold up. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. In the wind tunnel of 21st century Hollywood hustle and bustle, Toy Story's candles will never be blown out. The story is timeless and the quality of the film making was proved in the theater tonight when the majority of the people in our incredibly empty auditorium were people in their mid-20s looking for that reminder to bring them back to when they were 10 or 11 years old seeing their first Pixar movie and instantly becoming a fan for life.

It's kind of sad that the reason I want to have kids at all is so that I have an excuse to sit down and watch movies like this with them and hope that they appreciate them the way that I do at age 25. And of course I want to read Harry Potter to them while they fall asleep.

3D added a small iota of extra fun but I'm still would not have cared if it was just the movie I've grown up with slapped up on the big screen again. For Toy Story 1 the 3D was almost totally throw away. There wasn't much of anything that screamed "HOLY SHIT LOOK HOW MUCH COOLER THIS IS IN 3D!". Its only major noticeable change was that the wide shots all had a believable depth to them which made them feel really rad. However, Toy Story 2 was much different in that Pixar CLEARLY had the idea of 3D in their head when they were making this and were just waiting for the technology to be on their side before the checked off the '3D' box on their software and let it render for a few days.

There were shots in 2 where had I not known better I would have easily been persuaded to believe that they filmed actual action figures and didn't build them in a CG realm. The 3D truly did help that feeling out, thrusting you deeper into the already immersive story. Nothing about it was obnoxious, and I didn't walk out of the nearly 4 hour experience with even the idea of a headache.

Aside from the Toy Story films being shown in 3D, you also get every syllable of Randy Newman in 3D as there's no way to avoid being pummeled mercilessly by his nasally voice while he reminds us for an hour and a half at a time that we have a friend in him. I had forgotten just how Randy Newmany Randy Newman is. Sure we joke about it, but Family Guy has it right on. It's a little jarring.

I'm glad I got the chance to check these out again in theaters. My only real beef is that I would really have loved to have caught an 8pm double feature and then stayed though a midnight opening of Toy Story 3, and if they do decide to do that in June then I'll be sitting through these first two again. Great stories that remain solid, animation that defined what we see today, and Tom effing Hanks.

5 Stars all around