Toy Story 5 review – Pixar franchise needs new batteries

Toy Story 5 is slick and smooth, with the unblemished sheen of a brand-new smartphone, but at heart it has gone dead. Despite intensive, high-energy work on every frame, the jeopardy, novelty, ideas and passion are lacking; the franchise’s central theme of mortality feels underpowered.

The film also loses its nerve with its own big idea about the sinister way addictive tech devices undermine imaginative play. A creepy tablet called Lilypad (voiced by Greta Lee) enters the children’s world yet ultimately proves capable of sentimental self-sacrifice for their mental health, a turn that strains credibility.

Jessie the cowgirl (Joan Cusack) still belongs to Bonnie (Scarlett Spears) from the fourth movie, alongside Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), who is sheepishly in love with Jessie. Woody (Tom Hanks) lives apart in a feral outdoor existence with Bo Peep (Annie Potts), now showing human fallibilities such as a bald patch and a paunch that oddly do not affect Buzz or Jessie.

toy story, pixar, lilypad, greta lee, addictive tech, imaginative play, mortality theme, buzz lightyear, woody, bo peep