58) Toy Story 2
Director: John Lasseter
Year: 1999
Plot Summary: While Andy is away at summer camp Woody has been toynapped by Al McWiggin, a greedy collector and proprietor of Al's Toy Barn. In this all-out rescue mission, Buzz and his friends spring into action to rescue Woody from winding up as a museum piece.
It doesn't quite reach the level of brilliance that its predecessor or successor achieved, but Toy Story 2 is, nevertheless, a fun rollercoaster ride of a movie.
As is always the case in this franchise, every character is well-constructed and memorable and every scene jumps to life with gorgeous animation. Moreover, as is always the case with Toy Story, these aforementioned scenes are as exciting as they are witty. The scenes in which the ensemble are in Al's Toy Barn, for example, are a clever insight into how, in this alternative reality where toys come to life, they would cope with being stocked in a toy shop. The Barbie dolls who have a beach party in the girls' aisle provide one of the most humorous moments of the story.
Furthermore, while it isn't as emotionally involving as the other two outings, it's not without its touching, tender moments. The friendship between Woody and Buzz, once again, is one of the most beautiful ones that has ever been committed to celluloid and its hard not feel moved by Buzz's determination to rescue his best friend. However, the most emotional moment comes from one of the lesser characters: Jessie. She is mostly just a minor character in Toy Story 2 who helps to develop the existential crisis Woody finds himself in, but when Jessie is given a small 3 minute scene of exposition, it's the highlight of the entire film.
This aforementioned tongue in cheek existentialism - whether it's better to just be a child's play toy who is loved for many years but may be thrown away at a later date, or whether it's better to be a collector's item who will be loved forever but never touched - makes this movie as involving for adults as it is for children. But it's not the only thing in Toy Story 2 that does that. There are also tons of little references to classic movies that will make any film fanatic light up with joy, from Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Airplane and 2001: A Space Odyssey to Goldfinger, Raiders Of The Lost Ark and Metropolis.
Another piece of magic from Pixar.
4/5
7 comments:
I think I posted my thoughts on the film on your Toy Story 3 post so yeah, see over there.
By the way, rewatched On the Waterfront last night. I feel pretty silly for thinking it was merely great. It's a masterpiece of perfect storytelling. Don't really like the heavy religious angle it pummels in there just for the fact that it actually existed rather than striking some obvious parallels with Terry and a religious figure (for example, Cool Hand Luke and Christ) but otherwise, loved it.
Inspired me to do something similar...
Awesomeeee. :) Yeah, I don't agree with some of the religious, conservative themes of the movie either, but you can't fault a movie for its politics. :)
For some reason, that reminded me of something I forgot to tell you... I went on IMDB the other night and was looking through some of the user reviews. Anyway, I ended up finding one written by you! So I read through all your reviews. :D They were great to read!!
Hahaha, oh God. They're ages old and either crap or convoluted. How did you find me, haha?
Oh yeah, it's also that and a few of the scenes following Charley's death till the ending, that slow it down from being perfection for me. Definitely essential scenes but could've been constructed a little better and neater to not lose steam.
Strangely enough, I was looking at reviews of Up In The Air. At least I think it was! :P And I saw the username tenthavenuefreezeout and assumed it would be you! :) The reviews were very good!
Really? I thought those scenes were very well made. Each to their own I guess. Glad you enjoyed watching it though! :D
I'm going through a lot of classics that I'll admit now, didn't really pay enough attention to, to fully absorb and understand why they're classics. Here:
- The Godfather
- The Godfather Part II
- Seven Samurai
- Casablanca
- Rear Window
- North By Northwest
- Lawrence of Arabia
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- The Third Man
- The Bridge on the River Kwai
- Some Like It Hot
- The Maltese Falcon
- All About Eve
- Rashomon
- Metropolis
- Rebecca
- The Sting
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
- Touch of Evil
- The Seventh Seal
- For a Few Dollars More
- The Wizard of Oz
- Strangers On A Train
- High Noon
- Notorious
- The General
- Yojimbo
- The Big Sleep
- It Happened One Night
- Witness for the Prosecution
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
- Wild Strawberries
- Gone With the Wind
- The Wages of Fear
- The Thing
- 8 ½
- Les Diaboliques
- Night of the Hunter
- The Killing
- The Exorcist
- Sunrise
- The Best Years of Our Lives
- Nights of Caribia
- The Hustler
- Rosemary’s Baby
and that's a pageworth of films - therefore difficult to narrow down except work through it as it is there as to what I can get my hands on. Most of them are great and were instant favourites but I couldn't exactly recite to you why. Always good to rewatch.
P.S. Do you get notified when someone posts on a comment from a month ago? I was going to put that about Waterfront on your post about it (which, looking back, love your observation on Joey's coat. I forgot to say that it is easily the quintassential moral dilemma film) but I wasn't sure if you'd see it. Then again, it's more a pain in the arse for me to find it again, than for you, hehe.
I think I need to the same thing with a lot of those films actually. I do love a lot of the classics that appear in every 'favourite movies' list and are always raved about my audiences and critics alike, but there are also a good few of them that I, frankly, don't understand what people rave about.
- Some Like It Hot
- The Maltese Falcon
- All About Eve
- Metropolis
- The Seventh Seal
- Strangers On A Train
- Notorious
- The Big Sleep
- Wild Strawberries
- 8 ½
- The Best Years of Our Lives
They are all movies that I watched and didn't really like. However, the likes of 8 1/2, The Seventh Seal and Metropolis are all praised everywhere I look!
So I think I need to give them a second go. Maybe doing a little bit of research into them beforehand to understand why they have gone down in cinematic history as much essential movies might help.
Having said that...
- The Godfather
- The Godfather Part II
- Seven Samurai
- Casablanca
- Rear Window
- North By Northwest
- Lawrence of Arabia
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- The Third Man
- Touch of Evil
- Night of the Hunter
- The Killing
- The Exorcist
...are all absolutely incredible films. Especially the two Godfather films which are as deep and rich in meaning as any film that has been made before and after. Plus, they're just breathtaking character dramas which are so well made and so well acted.
I'll get around to watching a few of them soon and put my reviews up. :)
It pains me to admit this, but there are, actually, a good number of classic films I've never bothered to watch. Such as:
- The Bridge on the River Kwai
- The Sting
- Yojimbo
- It Happened One Night
- Witness for the Prosecution
- Gone With the Wind (I know, I know)
- Les Diaboliques
- Nights of Caribia
- The Hustler
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