I'm heading out early tomorrow morning to catch a train to the Edinburgh Film Festival where
Toy Story 3 is showing for press & paid public screenings. I'm excited beyond belief to spend time with Woody, Buzz and the gang but I'm also terrified that it won't live up to the incredible expectations that Pixar have brought upon themselves by going back to the well for a third time. Cinema's past tell us that those rare movies that have achieved greatness with their first crack at a sequel, usually stumble when it comes to the third hurdle. We've seen it happen all too often before, and only
The Bourne Ultimatum, Goldfinger and
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly are films I can remember that have bucked this trend. Can you think of any others?
Toy Story 3 opens in the U.S. today (not until mid-July in the U.K.) and it already has earned a
9.5 rating on IMDB from over 1,000 votes. Of course I'm desperate to read if Pixar have knocked it out of the ball park once again... They are on such a good run;
The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Wall*E, Up; not to mention those first two
Toy Story movies. Surely the good times have to end sometime, but please not with these characters, with this setting. Not now.
I've somehow managed to avoid reading the many reviews around the web published so far, but it's been hard. I managed to accidentally read this part of
Todd McCarthy's review at IndieWire, and it reminded me of the ethics of the studio that has made this movie.
The main reason Pixar has established itself as the best film company in the world is that its top priority is story, story, story.
I desperately want to read what
Roger Ebert has to say,
Emmanuel Levy,
A.O. Scott. I especially want to read
Drew McWeeny has to say, someone whose writings on Pixar and the
Toy Story franchise I've ate up in the years since
Toy Story 2 hit. I want to read them all, in truth - savoring the fact that
Toy Story is back. But I mustn't. I'm less than 24 hours away from seeing the movie. I need to go into it cold. I must...