Review: Toy Story 5 shows a franchise offering diminishing returns in tech vs. toys showdown

Like every other millennial, Toy Story holds a special place in my heart. For so many of us, this is a franchise that we've grown up alongside; the nostalgia runs deep. The first two movies hit in the prime of my childhood. The third (my favorite) came out the summer after I finished my freshman year of college. I saw in theaters six times its opening week. After that perfect finale, Toy Story 4 came along, feeling both unnecessary and justified, a thoughtful coda about what life might look like for a toy once your prime playtime is behind you. These movies, and these characters, have meant a lot to me over the years.

Even so, I was a bit dubious about Toy Story 5 coming along. It's easy to look at it cynically. What more is there for this franchise to tackle? We've already delved into toy stores, collectors, antique shops, daycares, kids growing up. A whole gamut of experiences from a toy's point-of-view. With this latest entry, the franchise tackles a very timely concern: the increasing prevalence of technology as a replacement for toys, and the ways that shift affect kids. 

In this case, tech is embodied by the character of Lilypad, a frog-shaped educational tablet that Bonnie's parents begrudgingly buy for her after seeing how so many other kids are already glued to their screens. Lilypad's arrival seems to put Bonnie under an immediate spell: suddenly, the other toys are forgotten as she endlessly clicks through various games and sends messages in the group chat with the other girls from her dance class. These girls seem older than Bonnie, if not more mature, sneering at the idea of still playing with toys.

"The age of toys is over" is a refrain that Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and the rest of the gang hear over and over again. Throughout this latest adventure, they encounter different toys who have been abandoned, thrown out, forgotten, and left behind in lieu of computers, tablets, and phones. It's a stark devision -- toys vs. tech -- with each side feeling like the other is either obsolete (classic toys) or an existential threat (tech). Of course, the wizards over at Pixar aren't so cut-and-dry in their storytelling (more on that in a bit), so the film lands somewhere in the middle. Sure, tech can be a cause of a lot of stress and isolation for a kid, and cause them to grow up too fast, but when it's used in moderation (and alongside more IRL forms of play), it doesn't have to be so bad.

Something that has stood out about the previous Toy Story movies is how rooted in character they've been. Character is story, and these movies have exemplified that, particularly in Woody, who underwent a magnificent arc (multiple arcs, really) over the course of four movies, finally finding his own bittersweet happy ending at the end of 4. Maybe it's the shift in protagonist (this time, Jessie takes on the starring role), or that Disney wanted to get this movie out by an arbitrary date to get another billion dollars, but Toy Story 5 feels much more forced than any of its predecessors. You can feel the effort that went into shaping it and cobbling it together, the various pieces being pounded into place to make a complete picture. The plotting is a bit haphazard, and goes back to the nostalgia well far too many times. Remember how great the "When She Loved Me" sequence was in Toy Story 2? Well this time, Jessie is going back to Emily's house, the melody from that song will play constantly, and we're going to find out what happened to Emily. Because it made you cry, remember? Now cry again! (I did cry again.)

This isn't to say that the storytelling is bad, but it certainly lacks the elegance I've come to expect from the franchise. There's a friction here, perhaps most tangible in the ongoing b-plot of a bunch of tech-enhanced Buzz Lightyear toys who emerge from a waterlogged shipping container on a deserted island and eventually intersect with the main plot. They represent the intersection of classic toys and tech, and their scenes are fun, but they really feel like a contrivance. You're really telling me that a kid's toy is both a Wi-Fi hotspot and a drone? Sure, Jan.

While mining Jessie's backstory for all it's worth feels a little cheap, and like an emotional shortcut, it is fun to see the rowdy cowgirl as the star of the show (though, by turn, it feels weird to see Woody and Buzz relegated to supporting roles). And her specific trauma gives way to insightful character development, as she realizes that being part of the journey of growing up is the gift for a toy, at whatever pace that growing up happens. She might not get to see the fruit that grows from the seeds she plants over countless happy playtimes, but those experiences matter nonetheless. So, yeah, Toy Story 5 also manages to make its mark on the oddly sprawling tapestry of life lessons borne out of the experiences of plastic playthings.

As Jessie and Bullseye set out on their adventure, they meet quite a few new toys, most notably a trio of older tech including a hippo-shaped GPS and a kid-friendly camera. But the real star of the newcomers is Smarty Pants, a potty training device who slurs like a drunk when his batteries are low. Voiced by Conan O'Brien, Smarty Pants is an absolute star, and such a fun foil to Jessie. He wields potty humor (a favorite form of humor of mine) so beautifully, and has so many great lines -- he's the breakout character here, much like Forky in 4.

Speaking of Forky, it is a bummer that he, along with so many of the classic characters (Hamm, Rex, Slink, etc.) are largely sidelined. It makes narrative sense, but as the cast continues to grow, it's sad to see some of my favorites left on the shelf. Funnily enough, Ducky and Bunny make a mute appearance, presumably because Key and Peele didn't want to come back -- we all know those characters never shut up.

In true Pixar fashion, this movie looks fantastic. These characters have never looked better, and it's especially fun to see how they're rendered in the sequences when they're being used during playtime. For these scenes (such as the wedding scene that was shown in the film's trailer), we shift to a kind of pastel/watercolor look that's really beautiful and fun. Always a fan of studios leaving their comfort zones and trying something new. (Which is why I'm so looking forward to next year's Gatto.)

People love to talk about how Toy Story should've ended after the third entry, which is a fine and fair opinion, but with the later sequels, Pixar has proved there's still some storytelling gas left in the tank, even if the returns are diminishing. Toy Story 5 feels like fairly inessential Pixar, but even when the studio feels like they're going through the motions, or trying to just print some more money, they can't help but churn out something enjoyable, poignant, and watchable. I don't know how many more chapters they'll be able to even pretend to justify, but I'm sure they'll try, and I'll be curious to see how they turn out.