Toy Story 2
***1/2
Rated on a 4-star
scale
Screening venue: Odeon (Liverpool City Centre)
Released in the UK by Buena Vista International on February 11, 2000; certificate
U; 85 minutes; country of origin USA; aspect ratio 1.85:1
Directed by John Lasseter; produced by
Karen Robert Jackson, Helene Plotkin.
Written by Doug Chamberlain, Rita Hsiao, Andrew Stanton,
Chris Webb.
Photographed by Sharon Calahan; edited by Edie Blehman, Lee
Unkrich.
CAST.....
Voice of Tom Hanks..... Woody
Voice of Tim Allen..... Buzz Lightyear
Voice of Don Rickles..... Mr Potato Head
Voice of Jim Varney..... Slinky Dog
Voice of Wallace Shawn..... Rex
Voice of John Ratzenberger..... Hamm
Voice of Annie Potts..... Bo Peep
Voice of Joan Cusack..... Jessie the Cowgirl
Voice of R Lee Ermey..... Sergeant
Voice of Kelsey Grammer..... Prospector
Voice of Wayne Knight..... Al
Well, do you really care whether or not
David Schwimmer gets the girl? I sure don't, and yet that's about as challenging
an issue as you'll find in most movies intended for grown-ups. No wonder
kids are so sharp -- they have movies like "Toy Story 2" to
fire their imaginations. The film's central dilemma, albeit one that has
to be faced by a cowboy doll, is a complex question of loyalty that requires
careful diplomacy to solve. This is not just 85 minutes of mindless cartoon
action, but a work that could conceivably be shown to an ethics class, as
stimulus for group discussion.
Or to a drama class, a parody-writing class, a
nursery class... "Toy Story 2" is wonderful universal entertainment, a worthy
sequel to "Toy Story" (1995), which was the first ever feature film created
entirely through computer animation. It's not quite as good, but I didn't
expect it to be -- the original was one of the most involving movies ever
made. But it is even more ambitious, and delights us in different
ways.
Less of this film's appeal lies in discovering
its world; it assumes familiarity with the first movie, where we were introduced
to the toys in the bedroom of a kid named Andy. Whenever humans were out
of sight, the toys came to life, and made sure their domain was running smoothly.
They've really got their work cut out for them this time; the stakes are
now much higher than a fight for Andy's affections.
It all starts with greedy toy merchant Al (Wayne
Knight) stealing cowboy doll Woody (Tom Hanks) from Andy's house. Woody,
it seems, was the star of a hit puppet show on television in the 1950s, the
merchandise of which has been like gold dust ever since the programme was
cancelled. A toy museum in Japan is prepared to pay Al millions of dollars
for the complete set of "Woody's Roundup" action figures, which he now
has.
Surely the other toys must save Woody before Andy
gets back from summer camp! Space-ranger Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) takes
charge of this mission, bringing along the motley crew of pig-shaped money
bank Hamm (John Ratzenberger), dinosaur model Rex (Wallace Shawn), Slinky
Dog (Jim Varney) and Mr Potato Head (Don Rickles). This is a grand adventure,
and also leads us to Woody's aforementioned dilemma.
You see, Woody would love to return to Andy; the
kid and the toy rely on and enjoy each other. But if he leaves the "Woody's
Roundup" characters, who have all been abandoned by their owners, they will
not be bought by the museum and will be put back in storage, which is as
close to hell as toys can go. Who needs him the most? Is it worth going back
to Andy, when one day the boy will grow up and forget about him? Is living
in a museum a tolerable self-sacrifice?
These are questions worth caring about, for characters
you just gotta love. Some have criticised "Toy Story 2" as a marketing tool
to sell a bunch of toys; even if that were true, it would be okay, because
these are beautiful toys. They may have been created on computers, but they
still have energy, perfect comic timing and an astonishingly natural sense
of irony. I once saw a short film from the same animation team, PIXAR, which
contained nothing but two jumping lamps -- and somehow the geniuses made
even these faceless objects convey emotion.
With so much revolutionary technology involved,
I really think it says something that the most awesome things about the "Toy
Story" movies are elements of plot and character. The screenplay provides
obvious heroes with simple goals, but still never settles into formula; and
so we never know how much more of the story is left to unfold, we get lost
in individual moments and the time flies by.
"Toy Story 2" deserves to be analysed with more
depth and elaboration than this. But my strongest memory of the film is simply
the laughter of myself, my companions and the rest of the audience. It is
a pure, innocent, visceral delight -- good fun for adults, and nothing short
of a gift for children all over the world.
COPYRIGHT© 2000 Ian
Waldron-Mantgani
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