Movie Reviews: Toy Story 3

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/movies/18toy.html
This movie review by A.O. Scott analyzes all aspects of the film Toy Story 3, including the plot originality, the messages it gives to the audience, the script, the visuals, and the fluency between the first, second, and third films in the series. It begins with a reflection on the author's reaction to the opening scene which could be seen in a negative light by some critics--he presents a counterargument regarding the possible claim that the opening scene may seem too cliche or appear too much like a "flashy commercial blockbuster." He then smoothly introduces the central message behind the film, which is supposed to focus on the inexhaustible imagination of children that we can all relate to having at some point in our lives. "Perhaps no series of movies has so brilliantly grasped the emotional logic that bind the innate creativity of children at play to the machinery of mass entertainment," he says. The importance that the film places on imagination allows children to relate directly to the moments they spend sprawled out on the floor of their room with their toys, creating our their own stories and scenarios to act out. It gives adults a wave of nostalgia, reminiscing about the days when innocence allowed them to express their creativity. The author then explores other messages in the movie, such as the value we place on technology and the materialistic mentality that has consumed us. He touches briefly on the movie script and what specific lines that characters say may hint at, and then he goes into the visual aspect of the film, complimenting the cinematography, color, lighting, and angles from a professional point of view. He sums it up cleanly at the end of the review, saying, "In providing sheer moviegoing satisfaction--plot, characters, verbal wit and visual delight, cheap laughs and honest sentiment--Toy Story 3 is wondrously generous and inventive."

Wow. What a review. It's thorough, informative, explanatory, and persuasive. By analyzing all aspects of the film and giving it clean remarks, the reviewer has me all set to spend two hours on watching this movie.

http://nypress.com/bored-game/
I was surprised to find some rather harsh views on some of the same aspects of this movie in Armond White's review of Toy Story 3, which he titled "Bored Game." While A.O. Scott appreciated the message the movie presented about taking a stand against this generation's materialistic ways to preserve childhood innocence and creativity, Mr. White found that "Toy Story 3 is so besotted with brand names and product-placement that it stops being about the innocent pleasures of imagination--the usefulness of toys--and strictly celebrates consumerism." It's interesting to see how the exact same aspect of the same movie can appear so differently to different people. Mr. White also had a problem with the movie's plot, but that was only because he personally didn't like the whole toys-coming-to-life story. He believed it to be cliche, overused, and uninteresting. He thought the romance between Barbie and Ken was a chick-flick digression that made humans appear weak. Overall, he closed the review by saying, "The Toy Story franchise isn't for children and adults, it's for non-thinking children and adults. When a movie is formulaic, it's no longer a toy because it does all the work for you. It's a sap's story."

Mr. White should consider that this movie is directed towards children. He analyzed it in the perspective of a technical, practical adult--no wonder he wasn't grasping the underlying messages about childhood innocence and imagination. He was looking at the surface, the superficial things about the movie and didn't go the extra step into connecting personally with the movie's plot. When reviewing a movie, it's important to keep in mind the audience and who it was created for. Even if you are a professional critic, you must adjust your mindset and perception of the movie to match the audience for whom the movie was created. Only then can you represent the viewpoints of the general public who will see the movie and provide them with an accurate, helpful review.