Rating: * * * * out of * * * *
Rated: G
Voices....Tim Allen, Tom Hanks, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, Kelsie Grammar, Estelle Harris, Wayne Knight, Laurie Metcalf, John Morris.
Running Time: 83 minutes
In 1995 a 30m dollar Disney CGI animated movie came out, and blew away movie-goers everywhere. That little movie became a huge movie which grossed little less than 200m, that movie was "Toy Story". Now four years later, Disney blesses us with another adventure of the toys in Andy's room. This time around the budget is three times as big and the adventure is twice as it was before. Of course we all fell in love with the toys in the first; Woody the cowboy, Buzz the spaceman, Rex the dinosaur, Slinky the slinkydog , Mr. Potato Head, and Ham the piggy bank. Well in "Toy Story 2" all the toys return and are delightful as ever that puts a smile on our face and makes our stomachs hurt from laughing so hard.
"Toy Story 2" starts out with Buzz fighting Zurg, the evil emperor of course we then see Rex playing the video game, and Buzz trying to give him tips to win. We are then in Andy's room a regular boy with high hopes and lots of toys. Woody (Voiced by Tim Allen) is Andy's favorite toy whom Andy plays with the most. Of course he plays with his other toys, Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Rex (Wallace Shawn), Slinkydog (Jim Varney) , Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles) and Ham (John Ratzenberger). Woody is prepared to go to cowboy camp with Andy but before they get ready to go, Andy accidentally rips Woody's arm and Andy's mom (Laurie Metcalf) puts him on the shelve to all the toys dismay. Woody realizes that he is now shelved and will never be seen again. Meanwhile Andy's mom is having a yard sale and selling old toys, Woody finds one of the toys they thought they would never find again and tries to rescue him from the box. He jumps in and gets him to the house thanks to the help from Buster the dog, but Woody falls and is picked up by Al (Wayne Knight). Andy's mom tells him that Woody is not for sale, but he steals him and takes him to his house.
There Woody meets three other toys, Jesse (Joan Cusack) a cowgirl, Bullseye a very shy and funny horse and The Prospector (Kelsey Grammar). They tell Woody that the reason he was kidnapped was because he was part of an old black and white TV show to which would make him worth a lot of moolah today. If Al has the whole set he could sell them and make a lot of money. The other toys come to Woody's rescue and try and get him back to Andy before Andy gets home, but realize Woody may not want to come home, leading to a finale that leaves you breathless both because of the amazing eye candy and because of the amazing DTS (Digital Surround Sound).
I would have to definitely say that "Toy Story 2" may have surpassed it's predessecor in many ways: Its three times as funny, had more adventure, a great plotline and new great characters. Don't get me wrong though, I thought the first was a terrific movie, but in that rare sequel thing "Toy Story 2" may be better. This time around you knew everything about the characters therefore they went right into the plot in the first fifteen minutes. There was never a dull moment, a dumb moment or a slow moment. The movie constantly went on and really never stopped. At times I laughed so hard that my side and stomach were killing me. The animations was terrific and actually almost looked better than the original. This time we have a lot more people and a lot more toys.
Some of the greatest moments include Woody trying to get his arm, Buzz and the toys trying to get across the street, and Buzz and the toys visiting the Barbie section. In fact every sequence in this movie was great. I think also that kids and adults alike will love this movie. There is nothing offensive and it's very good-natured with a few embedded messages to kids. There is of course like the first humor that will hit kids hard, and humor that will fly over the kids heads. Parents however will not dislike or find this humor anyway offensive.
It is safe to say "Toy Story 2" is Disney's newest masterpiece and offers to much stuff in 83 minutes, that this review cannot even begin to tell how good it is. The thing you have to do is see it yourself. One thing is if you haven't seen the original I wouldn't suggest seeing this because of the fact that there is a lot of stuff going back to the first, as well as some homages to classic films such as "Star Wars" and "Jurassic Park". From the opening titles to the end titles everyone in the theatre I was with was having a good time and we all walked out of there with a huge smile on our faces with our sides hurting.
The thing "Toy Story 2" proves is that like "The Lion King 2: Simba's Price" Disney can make sequels that are just as good if not better than the originals. Unlike "Return of Jafar" and "Aladdin and The King of Thieves" "Toy Story 2" is a smart, clever, hilarious and fun-filled animated movie that may be the best since "The Little Mermaid". In other words "Toy Story 2" is outstanding, fantastic, incredible, awesome and an instant classic. Cheers to Disney and lets hope "Toy Story 3" isn't that far away.
Reviewed by Brandon Herring November 22, 1999. Brandon Herring Http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/movie/3160/moviereviewheaven.html
"He Came Home"- Halloween "I don't know if anyone can stop him!"- H4 "Im so scared!"- Blair Witch " "- Silent Bob
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