Sure, you can see Toy Story 5 anywhere. But you can also see it in Cluj.
Anyway, the seats were comfortable. I think there might have been some temperature control in the Cinema City, we saw a couple of movies there the past couple of weeks, and we’re sweating. (However, on a hot day in the Mall’s food court, you can feel it. I like the natural light from the sun roof, so I personally feel it’s worth it.)
Okay, back to the film. You can see from the trailer, that it is about Toys competing with Devices. It was ironic, therefore, to be met with the glare of a phone, some mother checking the online shopping. Perhaps she was so excited she wanted to buy one of the toys in the movie? I don’t know, I try to give people their privacy so I only looked to make sure it wasn’t a guard pointing a flashlight at me (you know, there could have been an evacuation or something.)
In any case, yes, this film is very topical. I don’t know how many times I have watched films when someone in the audience flashes their phone so brightly in my direction, it grabs my attention. But, I only noticed it once in Toy Story 5. Maybe it was because the other members of the audience were so enthralled, they put their phones away to actually watch the movie. Or, maybe it didn’t happen more times, and I was just caught up in a film with an actual story.
At first, it seems a bit disjointed. A little like there is a side quest from all these…. well, it reminded me of Ice Age.
Of all the films that are out at the moment, Toy Story 5 is my favorite. Yes, I know its a sequel, but it’s a good sequel. There is the old suspense, the old enigma-resolution, set-up and resolution, you know, storytelling, that used to be commonplace in movies. It didn’t seem as funny as other Toy Stories, but maybe after a certain age you’ve heard all the jokes before. I liked it, there was some visual humor.
Okay, I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum, but spoiler warning.
So, basically now Woody is somewhere else, from Toy Story 5. The toys are aging, especially Woody. But the main character here is Jessie. She wants her kid, Bonnie to make friends with the neighbours, or anyone. Bonnie’s parents want the same thing, so they buy her a tablet called “Lily.”
Lily, of course, is the villain. Not only is Lily a distraction that hypnotises Bonnie, Lilly does what she can to get rid of the toys.
And Bonnie’s parents? They are sort of zombies too. In fact, much of the world is. Except for one little girl who lives on the same farm that Jessie used to live on.
It is wonderful to see Jessie go down memory lane. I was hoping for some kind of family tree here to link Jessie to the new girl, but we don’t quite get that.
Anyway, Jessie goes to a dance recital or something, to try to remind Bonnie about toys. Only, the dance club is just four girls playing on their devices on couches.
Buzz is left in command when Jessie takes her horse to try and convince Bonnie, and all that. The evil device, Lilly, does all kinds of mischief, getting some toys in the garage, impersonating people, even making Bonnie cry.
But anyway, Jessie and the horse fall out of the car, and you know what happens, when people see them, they freeze. An old lady finds Jessie, and finds her address from her first owner. So, she takes her back to the farm of the girl who might be growing up, but who isn’t totally device obsessed. This farm girls doesn’t see them immediately, it looks like all might be lost for Jessie when…
Okay, that’s a lot of spoilers. I might end up telling you about the army of Buzz Lightyears. It starts out seeming to be antitechnology, but while tech gets them into the problems, it also helps a few characters along the way.
We can understand Jessie when she meets some old toys that are also devices (or that need batteries) like a camera, a toilet game, and I don’t even know what the purple thing is supposed to be, and rejects them. Yes, Jessie rejects other toys because she blames them, devices, for everything that goes wrong. And who can blame her? Everyone seems to have become a zombie.
But, Jessie kind of gives up.
I suggest reading the book “Save The Cat” if you want to understand how the plot is scheduled. This is classic Syd Field territory, but it goes a bit further than Field’s three act structure. We have the ordinary world, the point of no return, and everything else.
I would give it five stars, if it were in the recent film festival. Compared to the other Toy Stories, I’m not sure if episode five deserves five stars. I still like the first one best. But, yeah, if you are a fan of the franchise, it is definitely worth seeing. If you’re a fan of movies, and climate controlled movie theatres, I would recommend Cinema City. If you have sensitive ears, it is loud enough to hear perfectly with earplugs. (I guess some older people in Cluj don’t wear hearing aids? Why is everything so loud here?)
If you get there early, there are even toys you can buy at the cinema!
Tuesday is cheap day. If you miss Tuesday, you can buy a multifilm pass, 10 tickets, for about 20 lei per ticket.
Oh, and bring your 3d glasses if you book a 3D session. You can, of course, buy another pair for about 8 lei each, but if you’re like me, you probably already have enough pairs of glasses at home.
Yeah, I recommend it. What are you waiting for? Book some tickets for yourself, the kids, and that family member who is glued to the device all day.