Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich, 2010)

Toy Story 3 is a blindingly fantastic film. Not blinding in the way that the sun is, more in the way that a torrent of tears is. This film will make you cry if you're an adult. And have a soul.

The main focus of the film is on the characters and their relationships, which change constantly throughout the film. Woody and Buzz still remain the leaders of Andy's Toys, but a growing conflict sets them apart from each other, Woody being Andy's favourite toy and Buzz left to tend the flock on his own. Buzz takes a number of turns throughout the film, going from co-leader of Andy's toys, to bona fide leader, to captor, to a completely Spanish and random tangent which is hilarious. Woody sees himself alone for the majority of the film, being singled out as Andy's favourite toy puts him on a separate journey which in the end decides the fate of all of Andy's toys.

His commitment and loyalty to Andy is one of the many touching elements of the story. Another being Andy's final playtime with his toys, which lovingly made me utterly bawl. There is also another moment in the film (which I wont give away) where the toys make a big decision; a decision to do something together which will leave most of the cinema in tears, only to wrench them back from sorrow with laughter and a sudden flood of happy tears.

The film's main aim is to make the adults cry I think, and Pixar do just that. This is the main aspect that Dreamworks films miss; the ability to connect and entertain adult audiences as well as younger ones. The writing is so clever that children will feel all the fear and laughter and happiness contained in all Pixar films, whereas adults will feel the pwoer of the decisions the characters make, and the implications of their decisions so much more than the children.

Coupled with a fantastic score from the legendary Randy Newman, this film absolutely lives up to the classics that are Toy Story 1 & 2, perhaps even improving on them. My generation was the one that grew up with Toy Story from the beginning and I'm proud to be a part of that generation.