Hey folks, don't fear folks, while it may at first seem as though this is coming from Moriarty's arch foe.... nothing could be further from the truth. Sherlock Jr is a magical stone faced fella that can step in and out of the very fabric of film. He's an amazing trickster, and as all good tricksters can do, he pulls himself out of our reality and into the reality of having already seen.... TOY STORY 2. The single most powerful filmic presence in my room is a 6 ft tall BUZZ LIGHTYEAR, above the stainglass window that my first girlfriend made me in my room hangs WOODY. I love TOY STORY. I LOVE TOY STORY. I REAALLLLY REAAAALLY LOVE TOY STORY. Sigh.... I can't wait. And from the sound of this.... man oh man oh man.... Wowzers. WARNING... BIG HUMUNGO SPOILER REVIEW! Not the entire film, but some of those surprises that make you go.... "OH MAAAAN, I DIDN'T WANT TO KNOW THAT" Suffice to say.... He really really liked this film ALOT. So... rest easy!
From Sherlock Jr.
Saturday night at THREE KINGS, a guy was asking "Would you like to see TOY STORY 2 on Monday?" Sure. I called the toll-free number and gave my info. The lady was perfectly nice but she asked me the same questions over and over till I wanted to scream at her. "But be nice since she submits your name to get in" I told myself.
I invited some kids, 2 boys 11 and 12 and a 17 year-old-girl. They were all excited to see it. Once at the theater, the people from Disney and Pixar were surprised to hear that we all knew what movie we were seeing. It's a good thing they told us or there might have been a crown expecting the next THREE KINGS. The large theater was pretty full by 5:15. Executives and many Pixar folks working on the film sat in the middle 3 rows and the show started about 10 minutes late.
Luxo comes onscreen as part of the Pixar logo getting a laugh of recognition and then a visual and audio explosion caused most of the audience to jump in their seats. We open with a very exciting outer space adventure starring Buzz Lightyear. It is action packed as he prepares to battle the evil Emperor Zurg. Won't spoil what happens next but eventually we find ourselves in Andy's room where Woody is preparing to go with the boy to Cowboy camp. All the familiar characters are on hand with cute jokes and a knockout CG dog who at first appears to be atacking the tiys but turns out to be a friend in a most joyous little comic adventure.
A torn arm for Woody results in his being left behind, practically breaking his heart. When Wheezer the rubber penguin gets thrown into a garage sale box, Woody leads the gang to save him. But before he knows what is happening, Big Al (a toy store owner seen earlier in hilarious TV commercials) spots Woody as a very rare doll from the 1950s and steals him to complete his Woody's Roundup collection of toys. He plans to sell the collection to a Japanese museum for big bucks. At Big Als house he meets a cowgirl named Jessie and Stinky the Prospector (never removed from his box because he didn't sell well) from the same toy set. They show Woody a video of an early TV show he starred in as a marrionete. This inane kids show of long ago is in black and white and could fool one into thinking it was authentic live footage of the puppets. It is a wonderful touch.
Big Al brings in a toy restorer to fix up Woody in a charming sequence. The old man will be a nice surprise cameo for Pixar fans. Meanwhile Buzz is leading a bunch of the toys on a long trek to save Woody. Crossing traffic hidden in orange street cones is hilarious and scary. The rescue is exciting but not before some emotional decisions are put to Woody. There is a song by the cowgirl puppet about her owner and what happened that brought me to tears. Woody is seen and heard singing "You've got a friend". Tom Hanks has a charming singing voice. More excitement and laughs (the martians from the Pizza Planet mobile are very funny). Hope I haven't given too much away but there are plenty of surprises left.
I forgot to time the screening but it probably is just under 90 minutes. There isn't a moment wasted. It is increcibly fast-paced but with a solid story, characters we care about and lots of laughs. It never slows down. The audience got a real roller coaster ride, both the thrills and emotions. The computer animation is beautiful, the toys rendered realistically and the humans appropriate to their personality. We see the faces of the humans. Andy and his mother are perfectly nice, if bland. Big Al is sleazy, creepy-looking and the perfect villan.The camera angles on him are bizzare and add to making him evil.
It is filled with "in" jokes though the book spines weren't named after early Pixar shorts and generally appeared to be straight. Pixar's address on Cutting Blvd. is prominently displayed at one point. A brief musical homage to 2001 is early in the film and a final battle between Buzz and Zurg has several laughs at the expense (loving) of Star Wars. The appearances of Barbie dolls is a loving spoof. A very funny jab at toy dealers who didn't stock enough TOY STORY toys the last time and BUG'S LIFE product placement in the toy store continue the "in" gags. I'll leave the rest for your own discovery come Thanksgiving.
The film appeared to be a finished version though there were no closing credits (too bad because we wanted to know who the new characters were voiced by. This started out to be a direct-to-video sequel. Impressed with the story, evidentally Pixar and Disney ecided to make it a theatrical feature and they reshot the entire film for the more demanding big screen. Rumored trouble with at least young directors led to John Lasseter coming to the rescue and he has done his job well. The audience applauded at the end and seemed very happy with it, adults and children. My only complaint is a tiny detail that I might have misunderstood. Big Al's commercials state "Nothing over a dollar" yet the place is packed with expensive items like the newest Buzz Lightyear models. I doubt they are closeouts at $1.00
TOY STORY @ is a hit and I can't wait to see it again. And no, I don't work for Disney or Pixar.
*******
P.S. Forgot to include that several people at Pixar have seen all or part of the film projected digitally and they are blown away. Because the film has been created digitally it has a depth and presence not captured on film. Expect 6 engagements in the U.S. to be shown digitally. Based on seeing PHANTOM MENACE with the Texas Instruments technology and some other tests, it will be worthwhile to seek out one of these showings to get an insight to the future of movie exhibition. But that is another story.
Sherlock Jr
