Badly Written Toy Story 3 Review (bold) and Top 5 List for 1upYourSummer Jul 01, 2010 10:18PM PST

Toy Story 3: I thought the first part of the movie dragged a little bit because I already knew from the previews Andy was going to college, and they focused on this a bit too much, but once the toys got to Sunnyside daycare the jokes ratcheted up quick and the movie became very entertaining. It also tugs relentlessy at your heartstrings, putting the toys in surprisingly dark situations without feeling manipulative. I think unlike Up! which I thought focused too much on trying to get me teary eyed, I didn't mind these sad moments because I was laughing pretty consistently during the middle of the film and I was invested enough in the characters that I felt the movie had earned it. I will say that Andy's relationship with these toys felt somewhat unrealistic, which may be due to his character seeming younger than 17 in my view, in that while I definitely understand the feeling of nostalgia and loss for a relic of your childhood I can't honestly say I shared the same for my plastic figurines when going off to college. That may be due to most of my "toys" growing up being videogames but I never brought a system other than DS to college, and that thing has no nostalgia factor for me. I guess the premise of him being 17 and sad about these toys makes sense, but it does lead to a scene in which he acts more like a little kid than I think realistically a 17 year old would.... in public. That said, I doubt this will bother many people, especially adults who better understand what it's like growing up with real toys. As for the graphics, the villain Lots O' Hugs Bear may be the most detailed thing I've seen in an animated digital movie. I was starting to wish we'd paid the extra dough for 3D glasses because all I could think was "my God, those fuzzies are incredible". Overall, I'd say the movie is a solid 9.5 with its few flaws being very minor and still being one hell of a good time for the whole family. That being said, I would have liked to see at least one character in this series get freaked out when the toys inexplicably reappear in a spot they clearly were not in before rather than just accepting it, but it is a children's film and not a Chucky movie so I digress. Top 5 Games I want to see become movies and/or vice versa: 5. Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (NES) I only recently discovered this on nintendo8.com, but it's quite the charmer. It's a bit hard for my tastes but the idea of a small boy who still thinks princesses have cooties being invited to play with one by going on dream adventures in which he feeds animals candy so they fall asleep allowing him to literally enter their skin and harness their powers... is some creepy shit when you think about it. That said, it also looks like the perfect thing for Disney/Pixar to mold into pure lumps of awesome movie. The plot vomits cuteness and it's plenty loose enough for them to do something magical with. 4. Silent Hill with a competent director. This is a bit of a stretch considering I've neither played any of these games nor seen the bad movie that was already made, but growing up I was always impressed with films that garnered their scares from just atmosphere and creepy moods. Batman Returns scared the shit out of me when I was little and I loved watching it for that reason. There weren't many "bumps in the night" so much as just eerie Tim Burton sets and baddies. Similarly, The Ring is one of the only recent horror movies to rely mostly on its premise and mood to tell a scary story and since everyone seems to applaud the Silent Hill games for their atmosphere it just seems like something I would like. 3. Mega Man I've been playing a ton of NES Mega Man lately and honestly I'd like to see this just to hear whatever MM-inspired score they come up with. There's huge potential for this to be way too cheesy, but they could also pull a legitimate script of post apocalyptic doom out of it like Robocop or Terminator 2. The Protomen did it and their just a rock band. 2. The Legend of Zelda I knew that trailer IGN did for April Fool's did was fake because Ganon just looked so stupid, but honestly I got pretty excited when I saw some of those special effects, especially the windmill enemies and realized they probably could do a badass live action Zelda movie. As with Mega Man, they'd more likely fuck it up, but it could go well. 1. Metal Gear Solid I know, this list is pretty bland and predictable and choosing a game that could already be considered partly a digital movie is especially boring but I think if they did the characters and storyline justice (while trimming considerable fat) this could be one hell of a summer blockbuster. EDIT: So not only is my #5 already a movie, it's a movie from my childhood I've been trying to remember the name of for quite some time (it scared the f outta me as a kid) and didn't recognize in game form. My replacement would be a new Street Fighter or hell maybe that new Mortal Kombat teased on youtube could be decent.