Toy Story 5 Reviews: Film Gets Mixed Reception From Critics

Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the gang are back in action in the fifth Toy Story movie.

This time around, the toys are battling an invasion of technology into their home, as they fret over the arrival of a tablet-like device called Lilypad that their eight-year-old owner, Bonnie, has been gifted.

Critics are so far divided about the new Pixar film, with some feeling like the franchise is starting to repeat itself, while others were happy to be reunited with the beloved cast of characters.

The one thing they can all agree on is the importance of the film’s technology-conscious message and how valid its concerns about kids growing up too quickly is.

In fact, the story is especially timely for UK audiences, as Toy Story 5’s release comes just days after prime minister Keir Starmer announced plans for a forthcoming social media ban for those under the age of 16.

So, has Toy Story actually lost its Buzz with its fifth instalment? Here is what the critics had to say…

“[Technology is something] we’re all – whether you’re an adult, child or, indeed, toy – struggling to keep up with, and this is conveyed brilliantly across the film. But even outside of these themes, Toy Story 5 also touches effectively on the difficulties so many of us feel when trying to make connections, and the unique joy that comes with finally achieving it.”

“It’s funny and charming on a level with the first three films, even if it pulls a couple of punches. Pixar’s not just toying with these characters – they take play very seriously indeed.”

“It doesn’t have the tearjerking power of the previous films, if only because it is not a drama about putting away childish things. Yet, in the end, Toy Story 5 cannot shake the lingering sense that it’s not only the age of toys but childhood itself that is over.”

“Toy Story 5 escalates in delight, but it also has moments that hit you like a gut punch. For this is a movie that touches on a profound question: How will kids connect to each other in an era that wants them to grow up too fast by virtualising themselves? The film’s message is: Slow down, be real and play. The fun you take is equal to the fun you make.”

“I couldn’t help but be moved by the animated picture’s digestible message, which resonates not only with parents and children alike but also with those worried about a social media culture that values creating an impossible standard by prioritising image over being yourself.

“We’re losing something uniquely human between tabs, under signal strength, and over social content. Toy Story 5 hopes to claw us back to reality.”

“It’’s great to see the gang back together on the big screen, and this outing has enough entertainment and imagination to make sure you won’t check your phone throughout.”

“Perhaps predictably Toy Story 5 is an unabashed crowd pleaser. But more than that, it is a mainstream film that thoughtfully champions the unconventional.”

“While Toy Story 5 may fall short of essential, in an age in which children’s entertainment routinely panders to its audience, there is something quietly radical about a film that is willing to worry for them.”

“The genius of Andrew Stanton’s Toy Story 5 which for all its flaws proves sharper than any of these movies have been since the late ’90s, is that it recognises how tech poses an unprecedented danger to the nature of play itself – how it threatens to make kids grow up even faster than they already did, while also gamifying the act of friendship into something that requires constant screen time in order to survive.”

“Stanton’s film is a fun, thoughtful, multi-generational family film based on a well-written script that genuinely tries to say something new while staying faithful to a well-worn premise.

“In that sense, given that it holds up much better than the last one, it feels like this would be a good place to bow out — but then, people said that about Toy Story 3 and look where we are now.”

“Though Disney and Pixar have always been good at tugging on audiences’ heartstrings, Toy Story 5 feels like a return to form for the series because of how it captures everything that’s great and terrible about life in the age of Big Tech.

“Going forward, the franchise might have to shift focus once again because its central human character really is getting to the age where traditional toys stop feeling like such a big deal.”

“In terms of the basics, the gag hit rate is solid if unexceptional, the animation has that patented Pixar sheen, and most of the ensemble get their little moment to shine. To be honest, the first half of the film is a little scattershot, and it’s hard to know what the filmmakers are actually driving at in terms of a thesis.

“Yet when Jessie’s big scene arrives, everything appears to naturally coalesce and it’s plain sailing from there on in.”

“As entertainment, the movie is passable if deeply familiar. Toys get stranded in strange homes; other toys mount rescues; slobbery dogs give chase.”

“Toy Story 5 is content to run through beats that have become very familiar. The franchise has started to feel like the toys it continues to showcase — something that should be battered beyond recognition and retired to a donation box by now, but that no one can bear to let go.”

“Really, the defining feature of 5 is a talking tablet, which Bonnie’s parents buy her, having grown concerned by her social struggles. Superficially, at least, the Lilypad tablet allows her to build a network of friends.

“Here, Stanton and Harris allow Jessie to vocalise many a parent’s fears. But considering Pixar was founded on the shift between hand-drawn and computer animation, the studio naturally holds back from portraying Lily as an all-out villain – more a misguided soul, merely concerned with what’s best for Bonnie.”

“As a piece of family-entertainment content it has the unblemished sheen of a brand new smartphone. But at heart, it has gone dead.

“For all the intensive, high-energy creative work that has clearly gone into this film’s every frame, the jeopardy, the novelty, the ideas and the passion are lacking; the crucial Toy Story theme of mortality feels underpowered, and the film even calamitously loses its nerve with its own big idea.”

Toy Story 5 is in cinemas now.