Toy Story 3(D)****

"Move over, Mr Pricklepants!"

Toy Story 3 has an unexpected dark twist, with a whole bundle of new toys that come to life and a very familiar soundtrack throughout. I'll be honest, the 3D experience did not make much difference to the effect of the film, nothing really jumped out to the point that you thought you could touch it, it just sort of emphasised how animated everything was. Would you believe it's been over ten years since Toy Story 2?

Considering the last film of most trilogies is believed to be the worst, this proved to be a worthy exception. Colourful as ever, and with a heart-tugging narrative as Andy prepares to leave home without the toys, I think even Vinnie Jones would well up. However, do not be fooled by Lotso's strawberry scent and Ken's sweet charms, like I said, this film had a dark twist and I probably should have seen it coming. It lulls you, and the toys into a sense of security.

The director has been very creative with this film, the toys are so varied and make the film fresh and new, it's almost convinced me that my toys come to life too. The toys are accidentally taken to a daycare known as Sunnyside, as opposed to the attic where Andy truly wanted to put them and they find themselves pretty much being bullied into a corner by the rest of their toy 'friends'. Not only are they being rejected by the new toys, but the strain on Woody to keep his old friends definitely increases as he has to persuade them Andy really did want them in the attic.

The audience become much more acquainted with Andy, as well as a couple of new human characters such as the very likeable little girl Bonnie and all of her toys who turn out to be a hell of a lot nicer than the daycare lot. There are moments of comedy, some that only us adults will understand and that is what I enjoy about children's films such as Toy Story and Shrek, in that it caters for all ages. A couple of my favourite moments were Buzz turning Spanish and Barbie finally meeting Ken, it's simple humour but will make you giggle a lot. The use of new locations and obstacles for such small objects to conquer makes this film different from the last two, it's a new narrative altogether and finishes with a beautiful ending with the possibility of another film to follow.

My conclusion to this is relatively similar to Shrek 4, it is worth the watch but only if you've bothered to see the previous two and have kept up with the story. It's nice and short compared to most films out at the moment, so definitely try and see it this summer.