The Dink

 

This review may contain spoilers!

The Dink is a sports comedy film about former junior tennis prodigy Dustin Boyd. Now a trainer at his father's tennis club, Dustin sees a chance to prove his worth to his father when the tennis club clashes with the local pickleball players. Will Dustin reclaim his tennis glory days, or will he discover something new about himself through the sport of pickleball?

Happy Gilmore. Dodgeball. Blades of Glory. Sport comedies used to be a thriving sub-genre where some of the most prolific comedy actors put a decent bend on a sports concept. The Dink wants to propel us through one of the fastest-growing modern sports trends: pickleball. The one enduring trope that seems to work well across the mediums is that an older man-child learns to grow up and take responsibility for his life through playing the sport hilariously. Jake Johnson leads this film and presents quite an arrogant tennis player, whose own sense of ego sees him hurt. He has to learn a bit of empathy through playing pickleball and coming to appreciate another sport. Johnson has a casual, dry wit that is absolutely brilliant and suits the rough edges of our protagonist. Yet, watching him slow down and actually fight for something in the last match of the film is something special.

In saying all of that, this is a film that just doesn't hit. It's a very simplistic comedy; the main character is stunted and needs to grow up, confronting the father issues the film keeps throwing up. Overall, The Dink likes to play it tame, but silly. The tennis club is a pretentious institution that thumbs its nose down at those who play pickleball. Yet we get a very leisurely point of conflict, with both sides looking to play against one another lest pickleball be banned from the club. All the while, our lead character is sedately weaving his way through porn-obsessed doctors and the same back-and-forth he has going with his father (Harris) all film long. The move to playing pickleball is a series of dull instances of skit comedy, not really instilling much change in our lead beyond a mega crush on an older pickleball player, Candance. The film then detours pretty heavily to ponder this romantic storyline before bumbling back to the schoolyard competition to see if pickleball is banned from the club. This is the sort of comedy that really can't leave you laughing all the time; it works at points but is equally as capable of missing the mark.

There are some points where I looked at the cast and couldn't really believe the talent that had shown up for this. Ed Harris might be in one of the more boring roles of his career, but he leans into that 'Dad who is hard to find love from' persona. Likewise, having a comedy veteran like Mary Steenburgen creates some witty camaraderie between her and Johnson. I was almost disappointed that they built in the older woman romance story; it felt like a waste of what Steenburgen was able to bring to this feature. Even Chloe Fineman's couple of scenes as a demanding ex-girlfriend really brought a bit of energy to this film. Although nothing quite prepared me for what the tennis players would bring to the acting aspect of this. Andy Roddick made a good competitive foil for Johnson in this, while John McEnroe very nearly steals the movie with his comic sports commentary.

The soundtrack for this film has some character-defining moments when using the western music, while also remaining hilarious with some brilliant needle drops. Britney Spears' 'Work Bitch' playing while Aaron Chen gives that incredible swimming scene is perhaps my favourite scene of the film. But The Dink was often lucky to have Chen; you could never really predict where he was going to go.

I also found that, like a lot of comedies, there wasn't a lot of effort put into making this film look special. A sports comedy is rife with action, so there should be something visually impressive in its design. The Dink just never really manages to find its own visual language, instead delivering quite a dull-looking feature. Even the way this film is stitched together results in a slower pace. I didn't really understand why some comedians staked themselves against this. Chris Parnell is here doing absolutely nothing, while Ben Stiller plays a doctor whose one gag is to try and convince the main character to search and browse a porn site. If that last part sounds a bit hit and miss for you, then you're starting to understand why The Dink drops more balls than it hits. 

The revival of sports comedies is looking woeful. I would give The Dink a 4.5/10.

The Odyssey

 

This review may contain spoilers!

The Odyssey is an adaptation of Homer's classic epic. A retelling of the myth of Odysseus, the fall of Troy and the King's journey home to Ithaca to restore his kingdom.

When I was a kid, before I'd even read the Percy Jackson books that followed me around everywhere, I had a myriad collection of Greek myth non-fiction books. I used to lose myself in those mythological stories of magic, pantheons and heroism. That's the power of mythology; it's a cultural history - often of religious elements. But it's also storytelling. It's the preservation of incredible concepts that have interpreted war, sickness, the seasons, more. The Odyssey as an epic is the cost of war, how it changed the Grecian age forever and the rite of xenia (or Zeus' Law, as this film rather simply labels it). In Christopher Nolan's hands, there is no doubt that The Odyssey will be sculpted as an epic ought. Nolan is a mythmaker himself; he pursues monolithic stories. Whether you like or dislike what Nolan crafts, they are always productions of an incomparable scale. The Odyssey is exactly another globe-spanning feat of cinema for Christopher Nolan. It is shot with artistry in mind, and holds practical filmmaking as a duty of care. Whether that be something towering like the Trojan Horse or the towering Polyphemus puppet, or something more inventive like the spectres of Hades or the prosthetics for the pig transformation scene. This film is a deck of movie magic tricks, and it's exactly the style of movie craftsmanship we should be hoping to see more of in a production like this.

There is a real sense of atoning for the crimes of war across this feature, but further than that, atoning for the deception and betrayal of xenia by Odysseus. Matt Damon plays our protagonist in this, once again cementing his reign as a leading actor. Damon leads this cast superbly; few truly rival him. The moments where Odysseus is lost and questioning himself, right through to the moments of cunning, Damon shifts and evolves this role. I really believed in the agony of Odysseus, how he felt his own hubris and the burden he had to carry with him homeward. But Damon alone isn't turning out some powerhouse acting. Robert Pattinson has been doing a great run recently, and his take on the despicable Antinous really drove the Ithaca storyline. John Leguizamo brought the blind servant, Eumaeus, to life in what I believed to be a career-best performance. Some actors played in the classical scene and really blew me away, Jon Bernthal immediately coming to mind. While character actors drove home some of the most immersive acting I saw, with Samantha Morton delivering a truly occult performance as Circe and James Remar breathing life into the Underworld.

Some elements felt really good, but they paled in the eyes of the above. Ludwig Göransson is setting a very high standard for film scores right now. His take on The Odyssey draws us into history and has a deeply unsettling and morose sound to it. Yet, it's also discomforting and flat at times. Whole tracks where the sound decimates the scene and fails to raise it up. There were also many performers who would normally shine in a feature that got dwarfed in a Nolan feature. Tom Holland really paced his way quite cautiously through the feature, often failing to rise to the scale of the work before him. Himesh Patel also tried to find the emotional beats of his scenes, but we didn't get to engage with him on a personal level enough as a character. Zendaya is really flexing her talent at the moment, but Athena is such a convoluted representation of the goddess in this that it's hard to see what Zendaya had to work with.

The Odyssey is a film that staggers its way through its pacing. It tries to recount as much of the epic as it can, but it is simply impossible to capture the whole story in a film. Even if that film is three hours long. The confrontation with the suitors is so rushed and played off as an action scene; Polyphemus is made to just be a monster because it's easier than telling the tale. Watching The Odyssey is watching the myth get hacked and slashed reasonably well; it's butchery, but the cut of meat looks good. I also struggled with dialogue throughout. The contemporary style could be suited to a film set in the 80s just as well as it was used here. There is no reasonable grounds for the film to sound like this, and it feels like minimal effort was made for the film to sound like a historic text. Even when the characters started to talk about societal themes bigger than them, it felt ridiculous; the characters musing on the Bronze Age as if they were self-aware they were in the Bronze Age was unusual.

I also think there were plenty of instances in which actors were miscast, or cast out of celebrity. The film opens with Travis Scott, for crying out loud. Anne Hathaway's voice work and intense expulsion of dialogue were quite over the top and didn't lend themselves well to Penelope. Elliot Page as Sinon almost plays out like an afterthought rather than a pivotal role for Odysseus to honour. Charlize Theron feels incredibly wrong for the role of Calypso, with a very monotonous delivery. While actors like Corey Hawkins, Mia Goth and Lupita Nyong'o seem to be here for their celebrity and aren't really given a chance to present their roles. It's Agamemnon that feels quite offbeat. His epic presentation throughout is completely diminished the moment Safdie opens his mouth and delivers a line.

It sure takes an odyssey to get through, but it has Nolan's craftsmanship all over it. I would give The Odyssey a 7/10.

The Invite

This review may contain spoilers! 

This is an American adaptation of the Spanish film Sentimental (2020), directed by Olivia Wilde. In this feature, Angela and Joe are a long-married, unhappy couple who find themselves exploring the boundaries of modern erotic culture when their upstairs neighbours come over to visit.

I was entirely prepared to write this film off. I expected The Invite to be a failed foreign language film remake, or a lewd American comedy. The Invite is neither of these things, thankfully. This film feels like genuine lightning in a bottle, one of those hot pieces of cinema that just flows perfectly. Whether those dialogue exchanges are scripted, improvised or scattered with ad-libs, the way these characters speak to one another impressed me so much. The line work here is just unreal; there is verbal sparring that moves organically with a raw intensity I expect more from theatre than film. I believe in Angela and Joe; I believe they are a deeply unhappy married couple. But gosh, is it so much richer than that. This is a pair with their own secret desires, deep-seated grudges and conflicts that span a gaping divide between one another. Introducing Piña and Hawk lights a fuse that doesn't burn fast; it burns steadily. There is an intensity that awakens and incites tensions. Fresh characters who draw forth buried feelings, who jolt the core relationship right to its very core. There was something so precisely built in how real these characters are that the moments of absurdity as we dance around the erotic throughline play like clever moments of contrast. A new step to shake things up and carry our protagonists forward.

This is another go of Olivia Wilde in the director's chair, and she is sitting much more comfortably than her recent Don't Worry Darling outing. This film moves like a well-conducted piece of live performance. All of the elements tangle into one another and become a tapestry of human connection. The way this thing is shot is so intimate, an incredibly tight, closed frame that holds everything for the viewer. We are captured alongside the characters, who feel very much like they're being held under a microscope. The score for this film is hilarious in its drama; this is a fully explosive piece of music that really signposts the moments of tension and lends strong emotion to any given scene. There are a few lovely pieces within the soundtrack too; Sade's 'By Your Side' really brought out that playful, cosy side of The Invite. I loved how this feature is stitched together; every cut and transition feels so timely and deliberate.

There is a core group of four actors here who are working extremely hard and wind up giving a masterful set of performances almost entirely. Olivia Wilde might be giving her career best in this. Angela is such a repressed figure who desires so much more than she is receiving from life. Wilde portrays her as this tightly wound mother, who is so perpetually anxious and frustrated that she is racing towards an explosive release. While Rogen continues to surprise and impress. His turn as Joe, a comedic husband who often fails to meet the bare minimum, is a nice blend of Rogen's dramatic and comedic talents. When he's allowed to just riff and ad lib, he can really run away with a scene. I also loved Edward Norton as a smarmy, sexually liberated ex-firefighter called Hawk. His calming tone and measured approach to the situation border on condescension, but often land in introspective placation.

I was less impressed with Penélope Cruz as Piña. This is a role that felt a bit more far-fetched than Norton's. She would gravitate between partner, sexual matriarch and a sort of therapist figure that made her rather difficult to pin down. I didn't feel Cruz could seamlessly differentiate between these moments either. Sometimes The Invite itself faltered because it didn't know when it had gone on for too long, or a comedic moment kept carrying forward. I suppose that's the sacrifice for letting such a raw expression of passion and talent run rampant. When it's working (which is most of the time), it plays to perfection, but these moments aren't always constant.

This is a film that is razor sharp and constructed with incredible quality in mind. I would give The Invite a 9/10.

Moana

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Moana is the live-action adaptation of the film Moana (2016). In this feature, Moana sets out to restore the heart of Te Fiti and save her people with the help of a reluctant demigod, Maui.

I remember when the live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon came out, and it was a complete replication of what had come before. Moana is much like this; only where HtTYD showed an incredible amount of love for the original material at every step, Moana feels like a desire to make something the same for the pure purpose of commercial success. There are whole strokes of this film where the effects in the background slip, or you start noticing how empty the feature is, or the way this film has to compromise adapting from animation comes across as a downgrade. It's a movie that feels a bit rushed, like there was a hurry to get it out, and the visual effects team required more money or time. None of this should completely condemn the film; it just means the film doesn't capture the same creative spark the original feature had. But this wouldn't be the first live-action Disney adaptation to deliver a hollow reprise; Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Mulan, Pinocchio and Snow White immediately spring to mind.

Yet, it's not a film with a dearth of love for the original. The joy of Moana is that it brings a strong sense of storytelling to it. As Moana opens, we're given this powerful introduction by Rena Owen's Gramma Tala, a piece of spoken myth. The film holds this same sense of wonder throughout. Moana is this underdog, with a good heart, who wants to fight to save her people. At every turn, Moana is faced with barriers and hardship, yet she is never defeated by these. The emotion of the characters is lively; you connect with it on a different level because of the live-action quality. Maui feels like more of a cocky jerk, Gramma Tala's passion comes to life, and Moana's fight has a bolder edge as you watch this young protagonist throw herself against the odds. Watching Catherine Laga'aia dive beneath the waves to reclaim the heart and seek out her quest once again makes your heart swell in the same manner the original did.

In fact, Catherine Laga'aia really makes for quite a powerful live-action Moana. She really works to capture the character, bringing a true sense of courage to the role. I also really loved how she builds a character who believes in her quest and her purpose; she wants to save those she cares for. Laga'aia is still very fresh in her career, yet she's the heart of this film and perhaps my favourite performance. In saying that, Dwayne Johnson really gives his all to Maui here. He is effortlessly comedic, quite arrogant and entirely committed to delivering this story the best he can. I felt the real sleeper hit in the cast was Rena Owen as Gramma Tala, a performance that really rivals Rachel House's voice performance. She really makes those character eccentricities her own. John Tui and Frankie Adams try their best as Chief Tui and Sina, but it falls flat. Adams just doesn't have the screen time, while Tui really struggles to find his way in such a large blockbuster ensemble.

The thing with this film is that it's not capable of achieving what animation did. It really does work hard, but those moments where it fails are there. There is a visual style that often sets up the next visual effects shot or confines us to the limits of the sound stage. When those visual effects work? The film feels like magic. But when those shots fail to keep the art style consistent, you are jettisoned back to your seat. The music, however, is a saving grace. They really let the lyrics be heard; the sound is more acoustic. When those voices soar and hit every note, you really feel the power behind that.

This is a perfectly fine film, but like many Disney live-action adaptations, fails to justify its own existence. I would give Moana a 6.5/10.

Enola Holmes 3

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Enola Holmes 3 reunites us with the titular character as she finally looks to be marrying Lord Tewkesbury, upon the island of Malta no less. However, when Sherlock goes missing upon her wedding day, the game is once again afoot. Enola must hurry to unravel this mystery, save her brother's life and make her decision about exchanging vows.

I love Enola Holmes; this whole series has been remarkably well-crafted and good-humoured mysteries. These are films that thrive as character pieces, where you actually care about the characters and find yourself immersed in their relationships to one another. Yet it is the way we walk hand-in-hand with Enola that really makes these movies tick. The protagonist who talks to us, or plays directly to the camera. The fourth wall? It doesn't do anything but break constantly. This is an element that this series has continued to hone and use brilliantly. The audience becomes tethered to Enola; we know her better than the characters onscreen, and it makes you empathise with the story as it plays out. There is an understanding as she combats with her brother, Sherlock, and despairs over his disappearance. Those quiet moments of playful intimacy and genuine connection between her and Tewkesbury mean more. It's these glints of raw human emotion that make Enola Holmes as a series so remarkably wondrous. Millie Bobby Brown is at the centre of this and continues to carry Enola forward as one of, if not her best, roles to date. She understands the intelligence of the role, pairs it with such heart and then tumbles headfirst into the adventure.

The mysteries in an Enola Holmes film are often lighthearted, with reveals that rarely rock the boat too much. Enola Holmes 2 did a great job of heightening the stakes by weaving Cavill's Sherlock with Bobby Brown's Enola to make a parallel mystery at the heart of the story. This film takes quite an interesting turn with its story. There's quite a confused moral message about colonialism that a simple YA adventure flick like Enola Holmes doesn't seem up to the task of conveying. It's a period piece that seems to have a post-colonial viewpoint, one that isn't particularly earned by the characters at the centre of this piece. The history of Malta and its status as a colonised island nation runs roughshod over the mystery around the stolen Afghan gold. There are almost as many scenes of Moriarty espousing anti-colonial rhetoric as protagonists are doing so, which results in a pretty tangled position on where the audience is expected to feel about the theme. Alongside this, Enola wrestles between giving up her name and becoming a titled Lady, while also playing to a very traditional romance narrative. The story does have a tendency to trip over itself many times.

It's a really impressive film in appearance, with incredible vistas, set pieces and intimate moments captured artistically. The camera does struggle to hide the worst fight choreography this series has had; it gets positively amateurish in places. The editing across this sets a fun pace and cuts through memories and character-defining points in a way that feels emblematic of the Enola Holmes series. There is some really blunt use of ADR, though, which I found disruptive. It was quite clear that certain lines had been thought of post-production. However, the musical score accompanying Enola Holmes 3 absolutely soars; it is full of energy and mystery and joy just like the film's protagonist.

There are some constants across this film in the cast. It's wonderful to have Helena Bonham Carter back in her absentee mother role, always ready with a word of wisdom. Susan Wokoma even returns for a couple of laughs and for the big wedding. Himesh Patel was teased as Dr John Watson at the end of the second film, and he is one of the very best parts of this one. He has such a quiet sensibility that can be played for awkward comedy at times, but it can also be used as a mirror. Patel really gets to be that noble moral figure at the centre of this, which felt really appropriate. Partridge's Tewkesbury is at his best when he is fawning over Enola and embroiled in the case. They try to let him have a bit of a brooding thing, and it just tarnishes the character. By contrast, they let Cavill's Sherlock be a little meaner and have a darker heart in this at really lights him up. I absolutely love Henry Cavill as Sherlock and can only wish for more.

Not every performance wins out. There's a whole cast of British finery that really falls into the backdrop of this; performers like Hattie Morahan, Jason Watkins and Paul Cawley. There are also characters that just don't really fit the film and border on being annoying, such as Joe Azzopardi as the most obnoxious freedom fighter you'll ever see. Sharon Duncan-Brewster reprises Moriarty in this, and it's quite the departure from the infamous role. There are so many moments from the character that feel illogical or spiteful for the sake of it. Even her scheme fails to be that impressive, and the views her role holds aren't especially disagreeable. She just happens to work in a nefarious way. This is a Moriarty that just has a mean streak, and Duncan-Brewster only knows how to play it up, never ground it.

The Enola Holmes series has never risen to greatness, but it will always be a guilty pleasure watch for me. I would give Enola Holmes 3 a 6.5/10.

Supergirl

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Supergirl marks the second film in the new DC universe, and it follows the titular character, Kara Zor-El. Kara is flying through space, celebrating her 23rd birthday, when she is drawn into a conflict with a marauding band of bandits.

There have been a couple of good takes on Supergirl over the years; this film really fails to be one of them. Kara is a pretty complex character; unlike Superman, she was old enough to know what she lost with the destruction of Krypton. She remembers a planet that she mourns, and she holds a lot of anger internally. This is a character who constantly tries and struggles to adjust to Earth; her story runs differently from Clark's. Supergirl paints that story a little differently. She becomes this hazed-out, drunken take on the character, often more indifferent than one might expect. Kara approaches issues with a cantankerous attitude and probably feels a bit more 'punk rock' than punkrocker Supes himself. With her 'too cool for you' attitude, sleazy coat and predisposition to playing rock music on an old iPod, there are better comparisons to Star-Lord from Guardians of the Galaxy than there are to Supergirl. It doesn't help that Milly Alcock is leading this, an actress who has been in a lead within a cast but who probably wasn't ready to spearhead a feature like this.

The story constantly leaves a lot to be desired and leaps and bounds forward with the pacing. It's a race from planet to planet, with Supergirl having a little brawl in a filthy environment at every setting. There are moments where the plot slows down, and we get glimpses into the past via flashbacks. We get to learn how Kryton exploded, and Kara's city survived for a time. But even this story is dour and adds little emotion to the plot. Having David Krumholtz and Emily Beecham as the blandest Krytonian parents doesn't help all that much. Krypto dying on an operating table somewhere keeps a bit of urgency going to the plot, but then that only serves if you like the CGI pup who's being played for destructive comedy across two films now. The writer for this film hasn't really done many prior projects, and it really shows, given Ana Nogueira has Wonder Woman and Teen Titans also currently under her pen, there's reasonable cause for concern.

There are glimpses where this works, quiet moments of dialogue where Supergirl externalises her feelings of solitude and hurt in the face of the death of her planet. Mostly, the things that work are the dark, gritty elements that feel made for this dark and gritty film. Jason Momoa finally gets to try his hand at Lobo, and his energy in that role is infectious. Momoa is clearly having the time of his life, and for that reason alone, I found Lobo the most enjoyable character of the feature. But Michael Schoenaerts as the film's antagonist is a solid bit of casting too. Schoenaerts is quite depraved as this brigand leader, Krem. He has a perverse edge to him and a wicked sense of glee whilst committing slaughter. There were some clear Mad Max inspirations in the film that rarely worked, but the characterisation of Krem was a strength. Even little pieces of window dressing, like Seth Rogan voicing an alien bus driver, worked better than you might expect.

I found the frustrating aspect of Supergirl to be that the characters never really grew that much. Kara learns to get a little more sober and give Earth another go. While Kara's co-lead, Ruthye (played by Eve Ridley), was persistently one of the more annoying characters in the film. Ruthye's character journey was choosing not to kill a character that she did not seem capable of killing anyway. Throw David Corenswet in the mix, an actor who is still bumbling his way through a poorly realised portrayal of Superman, and this film winds up having a shaky cast.

Supergirl is a persistently ugly film. This might not be Craig Gillespie's first foray into a blockbuster; he has made a splash with features like Cruella before. However, this is certainly his first time in the world of sci-fi, and it shows. The moments where the shots are captured via sound stage or volume are quite apparent. The wire work fails to be concealed, making the flight scenes a major eyesore. The special effects stand when the shot is purely CGI. The moment something real also has to exist within the frame, the effects take on a real sense of artifice that treads the value of this thing down. For a film like Supergirl to stake a bold idea of being in space, but to struggle to make its own budget work is disastrous. At least the score and the soundtrack managed to keep Supergirl feeling like a rocker. It laid down a tone, and the sound of the film was right there to pick it up.

I don't think I ever really found something that felt like the character of Supergirl in this. I would give Supergirl a 4/10.

Toy Story 5

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Toy Story 5 is Pixar's latest return to Andy, now Bonnie's collection of toys and their wild adventures. In this feature, when Bonnie receives a new device called Lilypad, the toys have to work out how to fit into a world where technology is everywhere kids play.

The story here is absolutely wonderful; it's always this warm moment returning to these familiar characters and the type of adventures they find themselves getting into. This particular story tackles what play looks like these days. On the surface, it could be a story that just blindingly states technology is bad, and it's bad for your kids! But it manages to be a little more nuanced than that. After all, we already saw toys transition from Woody to Buzz Lightyear in the first feature. This is a film that points out that play can now look like a child sitting upon a tablet, playing repetitive games with friends and messaging in group chats. It can be watching videos and taking silly photos. Toy Story 5 is clever because it tells us the impact playing with devices can have on children versus the effect of a treasured toy.

Jessie takes charge in this movie. With Woody off rescuing forgotten toys out in the wider world, Jessie is now the Sheriff of Bonnie's toys. She and the usual crew do all they can to keep Bonnie entertained and spark her imagination. Yet, Bonnie is quite alone, and she struggles to make friends with others. When her parents buy her a new device, Lilypad, to support this problem, Bonnie can't put Lilypad down. Suddenly, she's in a group chat, she has a circle of friends, and she gets invited to her first sleepover. But Bonnie's attention is held by her device; she struggles to detach from it. She also winds up becoming dependent on Lilypad to keep her newfound friends. It's a really clever way of exploring the themes of technology and children, making it clear the ways these devices can be disruptive at a young age. At the same time, Jessie meets another child's old toys, early devices that bridged the gap between toy and tech. She learns that these toys do care about their kid, too, and that they're capable of sparking imagination and being involved in play. It becomes a film that gets to the conversation about play, imagination, and joy, and about knowing how devices can be part of that at a young age.

Having this film led by Jessie was a great move by the creatives behind 5. Jessie is voiced wonderfully by Joan Cusack, who really puts that resolute mettle into the animated sheriff. Jessie is like the audience at first; she sees technology in a black-and-white way. Devices aren't as good as toys, so they merely become a 'bad thing'. But after Jessie accidentally winds up at Blaze's house, she is greeted by Smarty Pants (Conan O'Brien), an old school device who meant a lot to his kid. Jessie's assumptions are challenged while she also teaches those devices to understand what play is for a kid. Jessie also has to face the feeling of being unwanted by her kid, a feeling that stings more as a third-generation kid toy. The moment in which Jessie is confronted by the impact she left upon her first kid is the best aspect of this film. It's a real heartwarming tear-jerker that gets to the heart of what Toy Story has always done best.

When this film opened up, a shipwrecked island full of advanced Buzz Lightyear toys, my jaw dropped. Not because the idea of so many Buzz Lightyears was a crazy thing to me, but because of the animation. If you want to look at the journey of an animation studio, watch the Toy Story films in release order. This film is Pixar at its very best right now. There is incredible attention to detail, the colours are dazzling, and the character designs are all unique. The small posse of Buzz Lightyears yielded a lot for this film in more ways than one. The score for the feature pulls out every stop when those guys are onscreen, resulting in some epic moments and some absolute hilarity. Toy Story 5 manages to do it all, even bring Taylor Swift back to her country roots a little with 'I Knew It, I Knew You'.

Even the moments of the familiar feel well-earned, like the audience gets to come home again. You have Tim Allen's Buzz continuing to play head over heels for Jessie while Tom Hanks' Woody strides in looking to save the day. This duo isn't leading this time, and yet it works fine without; having their friendly rivalry is all that's required. I enjoyed some of the new voices that have found their way into the Toy Story world; the obvious one is Greta Lee's Lilypad. Lilypad walks a fine line between antagonist and misguided new toy in a way that reminded me of Buzz. There are lots of neat new moments, like Ernie Hudson's hysterical take on the Combat Carl toy.

Toy Story 5 fails in a way that made me think of Toy Story 4 a lot. It forgets how to be an ensemble animated feature. The other toys are still here, but they're afterthoughts and don't get to stand for themselves. Those first three movies made me really love characters like Slinky, the Potato Heads, Rex, Hamm and Bo Peep; even more recent additions like Forky and Duke Caboom are pushed to the back. All of the toys make the room come to life; they just needed a little more voice to remind the audience of that.

I have never watched a Toy Story that doesn't have a great story to tell, nor fails to connect with my inner child. I would give Toy Story 5 a 9/10.