Toy Story 3, in unfinished 2-D form (said to be 85% done) premiered at ShoWest yesterday in L.A; the very first outside of Disney/Pixar screening held anywhere in the world.
A handful of mini reviews (nothing in-depth that could bring on a lawsuit) have begun popping up all over the net and the general consensus is that the movie is excellent and Disney have a massive hit on their hands. From the sounds of things, there’s not a dry eye in the house.
Jim Hill Media (The ultimate Disney authoritarian) called the film “terrific” and said:
So what can I tell you about “Toy Story 3” without revealing any significant surprises? Well, for starters, you should bring Kleenex. Lots & lots of Kleenex. Because I can guarantee you that you’re going to spend a good portion of the last 30 minutes of this film in tears…I mean, I sat in that hall today surrounded by hardened industry professionals. Exhibitors who care more about how much popcorn & soda they’re selling than the movies they’re currently showing at their multiplexes. And these jaded theater owners – as Toy Story 3 entered the home stretch – were openly weeping. Tears streaming down hundreds of faces as the ultimate fate of Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the whole Andy’s Room gang was decided.
Steve Weintraub of Collider and Peter Sciretta of Slash Film both tweeted about those final 30 minutes:
@colliderfrosty “Toy Story 3 continues pixars [sic] streak of brilliance. Last 20 or 30 minutes wrecked me.”
@slashfilm “Toy Story 3 was great, last 30 minutes were pure brillance [sic].”
MORE…Latino Review:
it’s a great, great addition to the Toy Story films….just as funny, sweet, adventurous, sad and goofy as the previous Toy Story movies. Lee Unkrich put his co-directing gigs behind him and gave us a fantastic end to the series. All of the toys were present (except for a few, which is explained in the film) and the movie looked great.
the story about how we outgrow the things we grew up with seemed to hit a lot of people in the theater. The last act had some around me crying, probably thinking back to when they had favorite toys of their own growing up.
Alex Billington at First Showing:
it is a very wild ride. It’s actually a great story that has a few twists and turns and deviates from the norm quite a bit, but it’s still as great as any other movie from Pixar. I did really enjoy it and have a fun time watching it, but that’s really all there was, nothing more to make it extraordinary. It’s a bit hard to say, because I love Pixar so much, but it felt like this lacked the same magic of Pixar movies of past (at least up until the ending). But if you love the Toy Story movies, you’re going to love this one, too.
