u/nickcolonthree

Complete spoilers ahead for the film of course.

I personally thought Toy Story 5 was quite good, and while not on the level of 2 and 3, absolutely will hold up. The jokes felt on point, they weaved around the damage they created in Toy Story 4 quite well, plot points and screen time always felt like they had a point in being there.

But a lot of people are quite frustrated that the movie doesn't fully commit to "technology bad". Most of the marketing for the film absolutely phrased it in this manner. This is due to nearly all of the trailers and ads taking place within the first 20 minutes of the movie. The marketing very clearly puts more emphasis on Lilypad being outright a villain than she actually is, and even the role she plays in the actual film is surprisingly low on screen time.

What Toy Story 5 explores instead is the idea that the technology isn't inherently bad, but the social aspects. The idea of not being able to connect with people because you aren't constantly glued to all of your social media's, and if you don't have those social apps, you are disconnected entirely from society. The idea that you need to constantly keep up with it, or else you will fall behind those around you and lose the little social connection you get from it.

The film also heavily commentates on how online social spaces can rapidly age a child and the film displays that beautifully. The film outright states this on multiple occasions, with Blaze in particular being a highlight of the film. Her room has extra attention given to it design wise, for it to seem like a teenagers despite her age of 10. Her character as a whole feels like it is trying to put on a mask of the kid self within her, being surrounded by peers who engrossed themselves completely within technology.

Toy Story 5 additionally doesn't shine away from putting the blame on the parents for these behaviors. But I absolutely love how Bonnie does show her parents the chat messages. She still relies on her parents, and her parents are there to help because they are ultimately good parents trying to help their troubled children.

I think it is really special that the film didn't just spend an hour and a half making fun of Cocomelon, or outright saying that technology corrupts and ruins children. There is good technology for children and there is bad. There are good parents and there are bad. Online social spaces and making friends through it are quite toxic, even for children. The theme of children having to be constantly connected to the internet to keep up with their friends and their lives in their inside jokes is absolutely true more now than it is ever.

If you are disappointed because the film doesn't go full "technology is bad", you absolutely shouldn't be. Toy Story 5 understands that the issue is much more deep than that, understanding that technology can be used positively in youth, and that the idea applies to all ages, babies, children, and adults. It weaves these themes beautifully together while managing its characters new and old simultaneously.

As you can probably tell I really enjoyed the film. I would absolutely recommend seeing it. I personally did not like 4, but I didn't come into this film with skepticism. I kept an open mind and was extremely surprised at the maturity of this film. It feels absolutely like a callback to Pixar's "Golden Years", where the films themes were targeted towards all ages, but rewarded adults greatly for understanding its messaging.