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Bo Peep (voiced by Annie Potts), Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Bunny (Jordan Peele) and Ducky (Keegan-Michael Key) in Toy Story 4 (category I), directed by Josh Cooley and also featuring the voices of Christina Hendricks and Keanu Reeves. Photo: Disney/Pixar

Review | Toy Story 4 film review: Woody and friends return in Pixar’s wonderful new instalment

  • Featuring fresh voices including Tony Hale, Christina Hendricks, Ally Maki and Keanu Reeves, Toy Story 4 is full of fun and exciting new characters
  • The film is yet another dazzling showcase of animation from the Pixar stable, balancing action, comedy and misty-eyed emotion

4.5/5 stars

Harry Potter, James Bond, Star Wars – few film franchises maintain a high level of quality beyond the early entries. Animation masters Pixar can now proudly add Toy Story to this elite band, although after the sublime sob-inducing third film it was always going to be a risk reuniting audiences with Woody, Buzz Lightyear and all the other talking toys.

Toy Story 4 begins where its predecessor left off, with Woody the cowboy (voiced by Tom Hanks) being separated from his beloved Bo Peep (Annie Potts). Loyalty, loss and love are central themes to any Toy Story, but this instalment ramps up all three as the toys are no longer the possession of original owner Andy. These days, they’re played with by young Bonnie.

While Woody is also no longer the favourite toy, he still feels protective towards the others – and that includes Forky (Tony Hale), a new “toy” made of trash that Bonnie pulls together at kindergarten. But when the family takes a road trip, events conspire against Woody, who not only struggles to keep an eye on Forky but is drawn to an antique shop, where he thinks he might find Bo Peep and her flock.

Scripted by Andrew Stanton and Stephany Folsom, this is very much a Woody-centric story (“you can’t teach this old toy new tricks,” he says, before being taught exactly that). It means some of the other toys are sidelined – notably the Tim Allen-voiced Buzz, though the space ranger with an inner voice does get some choice moments, and his “To infinity … and beyond” catchphrase gets a lump-in-the-throat airing.

There are some fine new characters muscling in on the screen time – notably Duke Caboom, a Canadian motorbike stunt-rider toy voiced by Keanu Reeves, who helps Woody and co in a daring rescue mission. There’s also a 1950s-style doll, Gabby Gabby (Christina Hendricks), in search of an owner as she gathers dust at the antique store, and a miniature motormouth police officer named Giggle McDimples (Ally Maki).
Duke Caboom, voiced by Keanu Reeves, in a still from Toy Story 4. Photo: Disney/Pixar

Directed by Josh Cooley, Toy Story 4 doesn’t quite wrench at those heartstrings in the way that its predecessor did. Nor does it quite have the nostalgia factor the earlier films brought, as they reintroduced toys from our childhoods. Still, seeing Woody and the others again is like welcoming back some old friends.

Balancing action, comedy and misty-eyed emotion, this is yet another dazzling showcase of animation from the Pixar stable.

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