I have been beating the drum on the fact that
Toy Story 4 shouldn't exist ever since the project got
announced all the way back in November 2014. Toy Story 3 just wrapped up the saga of Woody, Buzz and company so well, was there any need for a fourth one? Having now seen
Toy Story 4, I can't say this new entry in the saga is an essential beat, but it does work well as an epilogue to
Toy Story 3's conclusion as well as a satisfying movie on its own standalone terms. Plus, instead of just serving up a bunch of nostalgic callbacks to prior films, it primary focuses turns out to be on exploring larger ideas about how to define one's self-worth as a person, a theme covered by most summertime animated kids movies.
