Comments on: This Is the End, Beautiful Friend

By: ‘Dogtooth’ and Anthony Mann on Monday Morning Diary (June 28) « Wonders in the Dark

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 02:04:41 +0000

[...] The ever-reliable Andrew Wyatt at Gateway Cinephiles has penned a lovely review of Pixar’s Toy Story 3 that deserves one’s full attention: http://gatewaycinephiles.com/2010/06/22/this-is-the-end-beautiful-friend/ [...]

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 02:33:04 +0000

Thanks for your kind words, Frank!

By: Frank Gallo

Frank Gallo — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:57:23 +0000

Having such deep feelings for plastic toys does sum up the emotional wallop that this film has over the previous two.

Masterful review.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 11:59:08 +0000

MovieMan:

The Brave Little Toaster is a sweet little film, but it really can’t hold a candle to this film. And, speaking as someone who has always thought that the first two Toy Story films were fun and beautiful, but a tad over-praised, I felt like the emotional poignancy that Pixar has brought to most of its films since Monsters, Inc. finally finds its home here. I didn’t really appreciate how compelling Woody and the rest are as *characters* until this late chapter, when death is staring them in the face. There’s a moment in the film when I truly thought that the toys were going to be destroyed on-screen. It’s a silly notion–this is a *Disney* film, after all–but the potency of the scene is such that you get swept away and start to fear for the “lives” of these little hunks of plastic.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 02:59:42 +0000

Thanks for the kind words, as always, Sam.

I walked out of the theater very impressed and satisfied, but not really blown away. The more I think about this film, however, the more it feels like a real achievement, and the more I feel than I need to see it again.

By: MovieMan0283

MovieMan0283 — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 00:52:00 +0000

The more I read about this film, the more I wonder if it won’t be the first Pixar film in a decade I catch in theaters instead of waiting till it’s on DVD (always kicking myself after the fact). You tap into a lot of compelling themes here - and once again I’m reminded of The Brave Little Toaster, an underrated gem from the 80s which also deals with the “mortality” of toys as a metaphor for the aging of people. Great stuff.

By: Sam Juliano

Sam Juliano — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 00:26:25 +0000

“On another level, however, the true villain of Toy Story 3 is mortality itself, which menaces our little heroes in a manner that is almost disconcerting for a childrenâ€™s movie. The emotional earnestness of the Toy Story films has always seemed a bit suspectâ€”Can we truly be moved by the travails of plastic junk, no matter how robust the allegorical aspects of their story?â€”but here the dread of abandonment is paired with a genuinely frightening threat of outright annihilation. One of the filmâ€™s most affecting scenes confronts the compulsive need to struggle against oblivion, and, with superb poignancy, reveals our heroesâ€™ grim resolve to face their demise handâ€“in-hand. (Their eventual salvation by means of a deus ex machina only moderately detracts from this sequenceâ€™s potency.)”

Absolutely beautiful work here Andrew, and a final assessment I do embrace in every sense. There is an underlying sadness in this tale under all the sleapstick adventure and humor, that certainly recalls last year’s UP and even the previous year’s WALL-E. It’s the “deepest” of the three TOY STORY films, and it makes a strong claim to being the strongest of the three in its craftsmanship and emotional resonance, leaving it as one of the greatest of all the Pixars. And yes, the work here is even more impressive than much of RATATOUILLE, and it certainly represents the latest advancements.

You’ve really captured the film’s essence when you speak of the end of childhood, which in retrospect is one of the most painful of all life’s realizations, and TOY STORY 3’s final wrenching scene is suffused with incmparable poignancy.

I have seen this film now twice over the past week (once in 2D and once in 3D) and I can’t say I noticed any difference, meaning of course that 3D offers nothing integral to composition or narrative. It’s a gimmick that is quickly wearing off.

Again, this is truly a fabulous essay, typical for you, Andrew.