Opening Thoughts:

Toy Story 2 is a film that holds a dear place in my heart. It’s in my top five favorite films of all time. It’s the film that made me get introduced and be in love with the franchise. Just like the first film, I grew up watching this film countless of times as a kid. My dad used to rent the first two films from the library for me during second grade if I did well on my Friday tests in school. He also bought me a snack so I can enjoy eating something while watching both films. I’ve stated this in my first Toy Story film review, so if you haven’t read that review; feel free to read that review that was published previously. Toy Story 2 also one of the films that made me love the art of cinema so much.

The Positives:

The main great thing about this film is once again the story of the film. Toy Story 2 once again brings back all the characters we all know and love and it also introduces new characters. Andy is going to cowboy camp but leaves Woody behind since his arm got wrecked. Meanwhile a yard sale takes place and Woody eventually gets stolen by a toy collector named Al and he is introduced to his round up gang that he never knew about ever in his life. They are Jesse, Bullseye, and Stinky Pete The Prospector. As the film progresses Woody begins to feel at home with his round up gang and decides to move with them at a museum in Japan forever and meanwhile the toys back at Andy’s home decides to rescue Woody (led by Buzz).

That is the plot in a nutshell. What I liked about this movie is I feel this movie is more of Woody’s film. The first film felt like more of Buzz’s film. The movie is only 1 hour and 23 minutes long and just like the first film it goes straight to the point and there are no dull moments.

I liked how the film opened up with Rex playing the Buzz Lightyear video game. It was really unique and it’s always really cool to watch whenever I sit down and see this film. There are a couple of twists in this movie that might make the viewer surprised. The plot twist where Woody gets kidnapped by Al definitely made the movie even more interesting but it was also more interesting when Buzz found out Ale was the chicken man that advertises his toy store on TV (Al’s Toy Barn). The scene where Buzz gives a heroic speech about rescuing Woody and they won’t rest until he is safe and sound back at home was a memorable one. It was memorable because right after he said that, the American flag was behind Buzz and the film transitioned to Al watching something involving the American Flag as he was sleeping in the hotel room. I thought that was a cool edit.

The scene where all the toys are crossing the road under traffic cones was one of the memorable scenes of the film. It was also hilarious because they kept moving and stopping which made all the drivers being confused and getting into car accidents. The scene where all the toys go inside Al’s toy store and splits up to find Woody and Al was also a memorable one. All the toys except Buzz was with tour guide Barbie at first while Buzz was with his duplicate that had a cool belt (who also thought he’s a space ranger so no surprise there) and locked up Buzz inside the packaging box with the other Buzz Lightyear toys. I liked how Mr. Potato Head kept saying, “I’m a married spud, I’m a married spud, I’m a married spud.” while Hamm told him to make room for the single fellas when they all met tour guide Barbie. It’s probably my favorite funny scene in the entire film.

The scene where the expert toy repairman was repairing Woody’s arm with his tools is probably one of the most satisfactory scenes I’ve ever seen in cinema history. The scene is just so therapeutic to watch. I’m not the only one that says this statement because a lot of people on the internet said the same exact thing. As a kid, I was just mind blown with that scene because I’ve never seen a toy being repaired like that.

The scene where Jesse confesses to Woody of how she used to have a kid named Emily  and tells him her story as the song “When She Loved Me” playing in the background was a touching one. Still to this day, the scene makes me a bit emotional. When Jesse tells Woody how toys never forget kids like Andy and Emily but they forget you was a line to remember. It’s actually really true in real life because all kids grow up and they don’t really be interested to play with their toys anymore when they are older since they are into other things.

The imposter deluded Buzz leading the gang to Al’s hotel room to save Woody was just simply hilarious. It’s hilarious because it was great to see a Buzz character saying deluded stuff and doing deluded actions again since that was one of the reasons that made the first Toy Story film special.

When all the toys (including the imposter Buzz) reach to Woody and try to save him was hilarious. It’s also one of the most powerful scenes in movie history in my opinion. Woody trying to explain to his toy gang that his new friends are his friends but Rex misinterpreted as them being his friends still makes me crack up. Also when the real Buzz was trying to make sense into Woody and trying to convince him to come back home is my favorite scene from the entire film. The scene went like this:

Buzz: Woody, stop this nonsense, and let’s go.

Woody: Ah, Buzz. (sighs) I can’t go. I can’t abandon these guys. They need me to get into this museum. Without me, they’ll go back into storage, maybe forever.

Buzz: Woody, you’re not a collector’s item. You’re a child’s plaything. You are A TOY!

Woody: For how much longer? One more rip, and Andy’s done with me. And what do I do then, Buzz? Huh? You tell me!

Buzz: Somewhere in that pad of stuffing is a toy who taught me that life’s only worth living if you’re being loved by a kid. And I traveled all this way to rescue that toy because I believed him.

Still to this day this scene makes me really emotional and it shows how much Buzz learned from Woody and developed as a character. Also this scene made the friendship between Woody and Buzz full circle because now it’s Buzz that is trying to make some sense into Woody’s head. It’s no doubt the best scene in the entire movie.

When Woody does realize Buzz was actually right, it showed Woody developed more as a character than from the first film. Woody learns a lot about himself in each of the Toy Story films and that’s what makes one of the reasons why I love this franchise so much. He definitely changed for the better when he said this to Stinky Pete:

Woody: You’re right, Prospector. I can’t stop Andy from growing up…but I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

This line by Woody teaches all of us a lesson of how we should all embrace all the great times in life because those times will eventually go away so we should enjoy each and every second of it. If we don’t, then one day we will definitely regret it.

The scene where Rex asks everyone if he should use his head when the vent was locked tight was hilarious since he didn’t want to use his head in the beginning.

The scene where deluded Zurg and Buzz were fighting one another and Zurg confesses to Buzz that he’s his father was a memorable hilarious scene. The reason for that is they took that father confession from Star Wars – Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back so it was a cool reference.

The scene where the toys are driving a Pizza Planet automobile to the airport to rescue Woody, Jesse, and Bullseye was hilarious as well. Rex telling everyone they can’t park the automobile here since it’s a white zone made me crack up as well. Rex no doubt was the highlight of the comedy of the film.

The scene where Woody and Jesse get off the plane and land behind Buzz while riding on Bullseye by Woody’s pullstring was an iconic scene since it made you wander if they were going to make the landing. The almost final scene of the film where Buzz asks Woody if he was worried about Andy is defintely my second favorite scene. The scene went down like this:

Buzz: Are you still worried?

Woody: About Andy? Nah. I’ll be fun while it lasts.

Buzz: I’m proud of you, cowboy.

Woody: Besides, when it’s all over, I have Buzz Lightyear to keep me company, for infinity and beyond.

This scene once again shows how great the chemistry between Buzz and Woody is since they look out for one another and it showed how far they have come since the first film. This film is the main reason why Tom Hanks is one of my favorite actors of all time. He gave one of the best voice acting performances I’ve ever seen. Some of the music in this film was also memorable and each and every one of them fitted perfectly for that certain scene.

Even though I love the first film, I love the second movie more than the first because as I said before, the character chemistry between Buzz and Woody comes full circle. That’s the main reason why i love this film so much. The character development expanded even more with majority of the characters and I’m a sucker for character development when I watch films and TV Shows. That’s one of the top three elements I look for when I watch a film/TV Show. I consider this film one of the rare sequels that actually is suprerior to the first film. But as I sad before, I love the first film a lot too.  Al was no doubt the antagonist in the film but the sub villain no doubt is Stinky Pete. Him being revealed as the sub villain was another major plot twist for me when I was watching the movie as a kid. Seeimg him also come out of the box and showing his true colors by locking the vent was also a shocker since he was never opened from the box. Each and every one of the characters in the film had their moments and that’s always a good thing.

The Negatives:

I have no flaws or nitpicks with this film!

Final Thoughts:

Overall, Toy Story 2 is a classic film that I can watch countless of times along with the other three films. All four films are films that can be watched by everyone and it really doesn’t matter if it’s for kids since it’s suprisingly mature enough for everyone. This film will always be my favorite of the franchise. All four movies are definitely films that are for past, present, and future generations. Toy Story 2 is no doubt a masterpiece and I’m going to rate it five out of five stars.

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