Up until 2011, Pixar had an almost inscrutable back catalogue of classic animated movies: even "lesser" Pixar films like A Bug's Life and Cars were well-received and immensely popular, but their impossible winning streak finally came to an end with Cars 2, which was savaged by critics and grossed only $100 million more than its predecessor (chump change by most Pixar sequel standards). Then the watchable if underwhelming Brave followed, along with the solid yet disappointing Monsters University, making it clear that Pixar's days of churning out consistent, consecutive classics as they did with WALL-E, Up and Toy Story 3 were long behind them. The announcement of a number of sequels, such as Cars 3, The Incredibles 2 and the immensely lazy Finding Dory only compounds the fact that Pixar appears to be transforming into a bonafide sequel factory rather than a fertile ground for imaginative ideas (even though their upcoming Inside Out looks pretty great). Toy Story 4 is the latest sequel added to the company's slate, and though most of the aforementioned franchises could survive a bad sequel well enough, Toy Story is easily Pixar's best-loved property, so to see them deliver a sub-par installment would irreparably damage their reputation as filmmakers. Furthermore, given their clear confidence that a fourth movie is a good idea, if TS4 does indeed fall flat on its face, there will be nothing but a "told you so" response from audiences, who will feel justified in swearing the film off as a tacky commercial calculation. In short, audiences will never forgive them for screwing up. And by screwing up, that means anything short of a 4-star movie.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
