No time to make an abridged version, and honestly, don't really feel like it. So here, have a massive emotional ramble, as initially posted to my LJ and just copied into here because I... could go on about this a lot, actually, and probably left out a million things I wanted to freak out over, but it's not like that's the last time I'm going to see it so yeah, I'm going off again because I... It's so fucking good.
Oh, my god. It was... Buy into the hype. Take the first two movies which I watched yesterday and loved and squeed and laughed and cried over and add this one on and it's just perfect. It fits in seamlessly, everyone is spot-on and it just hits all of those levels so... It's so touching and moving and such a fitting third movie, an addition to the series that's all so deserving and so ... I... yeah.
We got there well in advance, because I'm paranoid and need amazing seats and to not miss a thing and not chance a sell-out even though it's 1:15 PM in the afternoon and the theatre was rather empty when we got there but it filled up and... just a range. People my age, young kids, young parents, people a little older than me just on their own; just, so much... Oh, my god. All-inclusive and so universal even though it felt more aimed at, well, us. It was a fest of all of these characters we know and love, callbacks left and right to the first two movies that tie in just brilliantly, full of scenes that are beyond touching, a fair amount of it due to just who the characters are but it all comes together and it's...
I'm overly sentimental, so, yeah. I cried. A lot. The ending did a pretty solid job of wrecking me, but there was more throughout, whether it's just through remembering the characters or what's happening on-screen at that moment and... yeah.
It's stunningly beautiful, full of life and colour, and it's amazing just how much the animation has improved over 15 years, all of the quality and yet it still looks the same and it's still the exact same world. Sure, Sunnyside looks much more intricately designed than a lot of the other places, but it's still gorgeous and it's just more of the world. And I... Just. It's so, so good.
What an amazing beginning. The exact same start as the first but seen through the imagination and wow. Fucking wow. That's beautiful, and it's so surreal to see these characters in such an intense environment, and acting like it's completely their world, everything catered to them, but it works because of how much we've seen of their adventuring, and it's fresh and just delightful to look at. And it just... It's hilarious and all of these reenacted lines and everything just coming together so beautifully, the start of all of the callbacks present throughout the film that all fit in so naturally and amazingly. I loved it, the reversion to real life and seeing the way the first Toy Story started out... Followed by that fucking montage that was present in the initial trailer that was seen with the double feature that got me so worked up over the beginning and it just goes from there.
To how depressing it's become as we all grow up. Woody calling for a staff meeting and the fact that that was all of them... That hit hard. The whole notion of growing up and the overall arch of letting go and moving on despite how hard it may be but you can still have fun with it on the way and it may not necessarily have to be for forever or--
I'm getting so ahead of myself, but goddamn, that ending. I just need to... The way it ended. Was just beyond beautiful and brilliant and just a mess of crying but it's so heartwarming and sweet and amazing. From seeing the younger Andy at the beginning and how involved he was with all of his toys to passing them on to Bonnie at the end and the two of them playing together and having another adventure, plus I really liked all of Bonnie's toys that we saw so seeing additional supporting character for the ones we love to all have fun with, particularly over the ending credits and just how much they added on and kept it all going and I never wanted it to end, just little plotless but overarching bits with everyone and all of the playing...
Because Woody's day with them looked like a lot of fun and was brilliantly reminiscent of how Andy would play with all of them. And I loved Trixie and Buttercup and Pricklepants; the tea party bit was brilliant. The improv, the seriousness, the... It looks like such a great home and such a brilliant way of being passed on. And the way the movie ended with Andy spending the afternoon playing with Bonnie; and goddamn, I found myself getting emotional over Andy's leaving and he isn't that important of a character to begin with, just the amazing glimmers we get and from the perspective of the main characters with an established solid credibility but nothing made me happier than seeing Andy run around with Bonnie. Particularly the fucking ultimately reflective shot of Andy running around, holding Woody around his neck, a perfect mimic of the younger footage of him at the beginning and it's just... wow, does this hit all of the buttons emotionally and brilliantly and it isn't contrived in the slightest because I-- whoa.
Even Lotso was great, for being such a dick. And I loved how his fate was so reminiscent of the Prospector's. That had to be a nod and it worked so beautifully. Not to mention that he, just like the Prospector, was a great character and a villain with some easily sympathetic nods but ultimately too warped-- They have a similar build, similar arc and everything, but Lotso still feels completely original. The Prospector was the toy that was completely passed over, and Lotso was the toy that actually was able to obtain it all and completely lost it. The flashback - and by the way, Chuckles is brilliant as well - was really, really touching. And really depressing. And really easy to see where Lotso was coming from.
And I really have to keep on handing it to Woody for his own spirit and just how kind-hearted he is. His loyalty and how there isn't a bad bone in his body; sure, he can be a totally conceited and selfish ass at times (demanding everyone follow him back before they even knew what a hellhole Sunnyside was, because they were Andy's toys, even though he was the only one going to college-- and goddamn, the shot in the beginning, of Andy holding Woody and Buzz and I was so shocked to see Buzz get tossed in the attic bag but Woody going to college; I was simultaneously like "yay, Andy!" and "boo, Andy!" for holding onto one of his most sentimental objects but... dude, Buzz. Splitting Woody and Buzz up is just wrong.
Rambling away about nothing but I love how easily Buzz can be manipulated; the fault of the electronic toys, huh? Because in the first one the thing with Buzz was that he was new and modern and... I love Space Ranger!Buzz. So much. He's hilarious. Spanish!Buzz was brilliant as well (including Jessie's unaware and then fully aware manipulation of him).
The plan to escape Sunnyside was so amazing to watch as well. So involved and intricate and really using everyone's abilities so wonderfully-- and on the tiniest of detours here, yay, Mrs. Potato Head got her eye back! And it was a very relevant plot point! not to mention brilliant and so well-utilized, watching Andy stressed about their misplacement and realizing Woody was telling the truth, yet another callback though Woody is less blameable in this one-- and just, wow. Woody and Slinky teaming up to dispose of the monkey, Mr. Potato Head's brilliant, Rex and Ham fighting and the whole thing, sneaking out, actually making it and it was just so THRILLING.
Also, Ken and Barbie. Ahahah. Both amazing. Feeling right for Barbie, right off the bat about how she and Molly had been growing apart and her own sobs and how she finds Ken and also she's a totally badass chick on her own; her torturing Ken was AMAZING, her governmental knowledge, her deviousness and how she converted Ken who was just an absolutely hysterical character, a definite gag machine but with more to him and... There's a reason he's so overly advertised, obviously, but-- Ahahah, a great gag was the Bookworm noticing Barbie's high heels in the space suit and still thinking it was Ken. Ken is fucking hilarious. I was afraid he'd be overused but he's... It's perfect.
And I'm so happy that Woody did end up with everybody else in the end, even though he was still separated from Andy, because it's just, these guys really don't belong apart. The first time he's leaving them, in the beginning, is already pretty sad. I mean, Bullseye. And Buzz trying to shake his hand and goddamnit I squeed over this yesterday a lot but Woody and Buzz together is perfection and they really do not belong separated ever; not after everything built up in the first movie and brilliantly maintained in the second and the strong ties everyone holds carried right on through and... nngh.
I. There's, uh, other things to be sure... It's so LONG but it doesn't feel it! I never wanted it to end! It kept going and going and going and I just wanted more and more and more, there's so much story there and it's so involved, touches on so many ideas and things; Andy's growing up, betrayal, the utopia that is Sunnyside, the real utopia that is Bonny's room, corruption, more betrayal and intense loss and just being fucked up, and twistedness, and amazing action/adventure and brilliance and so well-planned and danger and death and moving on and bright futures and I just... There's so much but it all fits in so naturally.
I mean, I cried a lot throughout the whole thing, but I really lost it at the end, and really when everyone was facing a fiery death and still managed to all join hands; that they're the survivors and they've had a good run and they're going to go out together because that's where they've always been and just, everyone reaching to join hands is so touching and the whole thing was so scary but it really, really-- No, it was really scary. I was seriously wondering like, oh god, are they going to actually end it on an EVERYBODY DIES note? There's no way but it actually felt like it was. What a brilliant scene, and god, it was so huge and the animation and direction really communicated that and...
I figured that the claw thing might be coming. And then it did. And. I love those little squeaky aliens. Just more perfection, more brilliant callbacks-- the "YO" car, hahahahaha, I laughed so hard at that-- and...
God, it just functioned so brilliantly. A series that started out 15 years ago, and it's been 11 years since we really had them and it delivered so well. And it was such a fitting ending, with life going on but it's a new scene but ultimately it's... Things are still great and with the same general atmosphere and I'm so thankful for just those random fun scenes at the end showing us their new life, after things have settled down, after Andy gave them away and actually played with them one last time before leaving because he really hadn't touched them in years-- that beginning with the cellphone was so heartbreaking, and aw, Rex-- and he went through it one last time, in such a passing-off movement and I...
It was just the perfect ending. If nothing else (and there's a whole lot else), these characters get the best finish that anybody could have ever asked for. I'm... It's really great.