‘Toy Story 5’ Review: The Fifth Time’s the Charm in a Nimble, Moving, Irresistible Sequel That Takes on the Threat of Tech Toys

The play's the thing in a "Toy Story" movie as enthralling as...all the others.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

Chief Film Critic

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Five films in, singling out your favorite “Toy Story” movie feels like the animated kiddie-fairy-tale equivalent of naming your favorite Beatles album. You might have one, but why choose? These movies now add up to a canon greater than the sum of their boisterously funny, deliriously inventive parts. The truth is that the “Toy Story” movies are all beautiful, all brilliant, all different, and they work all together now. They’re a vision — of childhood life and nostalgic tenderness, of jostling ego and maniacal slapstick fun, of pure moviemaking enchantment. On that score, if the original “Toy Story” (still my favorite) is “Meet the Beatles,” and “Toy Story 3” is “Sgt. Pepper,” the splendidly catchy and seductive “Toy Story 5” feels like “Abbey Road.” It’s a sublime summing up, a movie that reflects the whole series in its magic mirror, and (just maybe) a perfect ending.

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