Change Your Fate.

Film: Brave
Year: 2012
Director: Brenda Chapman, Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell
Written by: Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Mark Andrews, Irene Mecchi
Voiced by: Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Robbie Coltrane, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson.
Running time: 100 min.

Whenever I watch an animated film, the little kid always comes out in me. When the Disney introdutction came on, with all the fireworks bursting behind this huge fantastical castle, I saw a kid, maybe five years old, sitting in front of me jumping around in his seat in excitement. While I wasn't exhibiting the excitement in my heart in the same way, I felt exactly like him. And from the first moment I saw Princess Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald), the new Pixar heroine from their latest, Brave, with her beautifully curled red hair, I retreated to being the little kid that still lingers within my heart. That little kid that exists beyond the little film snob that I've become. Over the years (and the most recent years at that, since I wasn't a huge movie watcher as a really young child), I've laughed with animated movies, I've cried with animated movies, I've sat with big googly eyes in front of animated movies. Most of which have been Pixar movies. In fact, Toy Story 3 held the record for being the movie that made me cry the most until I saw Requiem for a Dream. Pixar has set the bar consistently high, even garnering themselves a spot in the Best Picture for two years in a row, before caving in with their misfire (but honestly not that terrible) Cars 2. Aiming to salvage the so-called 'mess' it created (OH NO! Pixar made a not so great film! The world ended for about two weeks!), Pixar is back with a new original effort. One that got the little kid inside of me to come out and show itself to the world, regardless of whether this will reserve Pixar a spot with the big-wigs in the Best Picture race next year.

DVD--Toy Story 3

or: The best animated film ever made?

One word to sum it up: Heart breaking.

It's all over?

I may have once been skeptical about the making of Toy Story 3. To be honest, I thought it was just made to be a cash cow and one of those movies which tries to revamp the whole series by being 3D. Being made 10 years after the last one? That was an odd move, too. But after watching the first two the nights before watching this one, I really, really, did not want the series to end. I enjoy the small things in life, and the Toy Story franchise is something which I enjoy much more than a younger kid probably would. Seriously, anyone who doesn't feel some kind of emotion at the end of watching this is a clearly a very cynical person. Toy Story 3 is the best (and you know there are a lot of good ones) movie to be made by Disney Pixar, end of story.

Andy is now 17 years old, and is off to college to start his new independent life, leaving Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the rest of the gang to ponder their future. When they discover they are moving to Sunnyside Daycare, they are happy that they will be played with again. Unfortunately, they find there are two awful horrors that they experience while living at Sunnyside: the kids aren't as nice or gentle as their former owners and the other toys at Sunnyside are setting out to make life miserable for the gang. The toys must plot an escape plan so they can get out of Sunnyside, which proves to be no easy task.

Toy Story was great. Toy Story 2, to me, was still good but lacked the charm that the first one had. However, Toy Story 3 blows them both out of the water. There's always that feeling that a third movie will be the worst of them all, but this one seems to be the extremely rare exception. We are introduced to new characters, and we also have some real villains this time, which helps make the movie more exciting. I mean, Lotso, the strawberry scented bear, and the slightly mishandled baby doll were enough to give me nightmares. I actually got really frightened in some of the scenes in this, but that's what makes this movie so great.

2010 has been a seemingly bad year for movies. However, this, Inception and The Social Network are three movies which have gone down in history for their service to their genres: animated features, sci-fi actioners and biographical dramas respectively. Over the years, we have seen so many great animated features, particularly coming out of the amazing dreamworld that is Pixar. Toy Story 3 definitely tops them all. It has that edge over them: taking something ordinary like a toy and making them extraordinary; amazing computer generated animation that isn't bogged down by the fact it was made in 3D; a hilarious script which both young and old will have a laugh at; but most of all, it has that emotional edge that comes from the fact that we genuinely care about these characters. We've all had a toy which has become our best friend. We all wished so much that they would come to life. Call me a little kid, but I actually felt sorry for the toys I have locked away in my closet after watching this. And the end of this movie made me feel so sorry for them that it just brought out the little kid in me.

In the last five minutes of this movie, I couldn't help but bawl my eyes out. There were so many emotions: nostalgia, moving on, happiness, sadness, optimism...but most of all, I hated that it had to end. Any fan of the series will probably feel the same as I did. My recommendation is that you watch the first two reasonably close to watching this one. It's one of the best cinematic experiences I have ever had. Look at it this way: Toy Story 3 is perfect for any age. It's just an all-round perfect movie. I don't mean to overhype it for you, but there it is. Toy Story 3 will win Best Animated Picture at the Oscars next year, will even get a nomination for Best Picture, and will go down in history as the greatest animated feature ever made. It really is as great as everyone says it is.

Woody, Buzz, Jessie, the rest of the gang: I will miss you loads!


THE VERDICT: I LOVED this movie. Doesn't matter how old you are, Toy Story 3 is a classic and a must watch for fans of the trilogy.

10/10

Classic--Toy Story 2

or: The fantastic dud of the trilogy.

One word to sum it up: (still) Memor-iffic

Why do I hail Toy Story 2 as the fantastic 'dud' of the trilogy? Well, while it is still very, very good, I didn't find it as charming as the first one, or as (insert amazing description here) as the third one. But don't worry, there was no way I was going to hate Toy Story 2, as it makes up what may be the greatest trilogy of all time. It still has everything the first one has, but suffers from the sometimes inescapable second-movie syndrome.

While Andy is away at summer camp Woody (Tom Hanks) has been toynapped by Al McWiggin (Wayne Knight), a greedy collector and proprietor of Al's Toy Barn. In this all-out rescue mission, Buzz (Tim Allen) and his friends Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles), Slinky Dog (Jim Varney), Rex (Wallace Shawn) and Hamm (John Ratzenberger) springs into action to rescue Woody from winding up as a museum piece. They must find a way to save him before he gets sold in Japan forever and they'll never see him again!

I was so happy when I found that Toy Story 2 has the same formula as it's predecessor, and uses all the tricks in the bag to make us really root for these characters. In most sequels, they will always try to overblow the franchise and get more than they did for the first one. It's like reinvesting money just to get some more interest, but most of the time that investment gets lost in the mail or the finance company goes bankrupt. That's not the case with Toy Story 2. It's a wonderous sequel, and really holds its own in the trilogy. Come to think of it, the trilogy really holds it's own among every other film. They all have that warmth and honest emotion we never see in a kids movie; also a message which isn't thrusted in front of our faces, but is put in there with such subtlety that we can't help but love the movie.

Again, the computer graphics are amazing, and this is really the benchmark of animated cinema. Sure, the 2D sketch animations by Disney were great, but Toy Story 2 ensures that we all like Pixar's computer generated animation. And we do. Film doesn't really get much better than this. However, if I have one thing to say about this fluffy sequel, it's that this get's a bit too melodramatic, and doesn't have the same happy/emotional edge that the first one had. But given that minor issue, the rest of the film is enjoyable, well composed, and definitely one of the best examples of why Pixar makes the best movies. Yes, they're even better then the live action ones.

THE VERDICT: A great sequel, with all the charms that one could expect from a Toy Story movie.

8/10

Classic--Toy Story

or: One of the scariest movies I have ever seen.

One word to sum it up: Memor-iffic (in other words, brings back the memories).

Since Toy Story 3 is making it's way to the DVD shelves this week, I thought I would run through the series in sequence, just to bring out the little kid in me. I still tend to believe that you are never too old to watch animated films by Pixar or Dreamworks, because they have something for everything. They have that heart, pure comedy and that all-round enjoyment that you don't get from today's live action films. The unfortunate thing about the 1995 release of Toy Story is that we started to see a lot of computer generated animated features instead of the 2D classics that I so love. Anyway, every movie that comes out of Pixar proves to be amazing, and we have Toy Story to thank for that.

A little boy named Andy loves to be in his room, playing with his toys, especially his doll named Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks). But when Andy is not with the toys, they come to life. Woody believes that he has life (as a toy) good. However, he is worrying about Andy's family moving, and he also does not realize that Andy's mother gave him an action figure known as Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), who does not believe that he is a toy, and quickly becomes Andy's new favorite toy. Woody, who is now consumed with jealousy, tries to get rid of Buzz. Then, both Woody and Buzz manage to get lost. They must find a way to get back to Andy before he moves without them, but they will have to pass through a ruthless toy killer, Sid Phillips

I still think that Toy Story is one of the scariest movies I have ever seen. Why? Because Sid Phillips is one demented kid, and I genuinely prayed for the safe return of Woody and Buzz to Andy. This just proves that Toy Story reminds me that I'm still a kid at heart. I could watch a proper horror movie that's R18 and not be scared, whereas I watch this G-rated animated flick and I still get really scared. Pixar made the most perfect kids film, but it's one that the adults can watch and still feel completely fulfilled by everything it achieves. That could be because the story takes something ordinary and makes it extraordinary: toys coming to life. Forget animals talking, that had been done before. Once the toys started talking, it kinda made me reflect back to my younger days when I had boxes filled with Barbies and play ponies. I used to try and make them come to life. But did they ever do that? Every kid used to think that, and that's why this movie works. Andy would do anything for his toys, but his toys would do more for him. Sometimes I have to wonder how my toys feel now that they have been locked up in the darkness of my closet for eternity.

I believe that Toy Story set the bar for future Pixar creations. They all seem to have this sort of formula: a strong message, taking ordinary things and making them extraordinary, a very low reliance on slapstick comedy, and they always have something for young and old. That formula works, and each time they come back at it, it never gets old. It's amazing that Pixar had improved on Toy Story, but then again, this movie will forever be one of the best. Toy Story truly is beyond great, and serves as the best reminder of my childhood (even if I was born the year it came out).


THE VERDICT: The most fun I could have in 77 minutes.

10/10