Jessie (voice of Joan Cusack), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) and Woody (Tom Hanks) in Toy Story 5.
Disney-Pixar
Toy Story 5, starring the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Joan Cusack, is new in theaters this weekend, and Rotten Tomatoes critics are thrilled with the latest chapter in the Disney-Pixar franchise.
Directed by Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo), Toy Story 5 plays in preview screenings on Thursday before the film opens in theaters nationwide on Friday. In Toy Story 5, Woody (Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Allen), Jessie (Cusack) and their fellow traditional toys’ lives are upended when a new tech tablet, Lilypad (Greta Lee), insists that she knows what’s best for Bonnie (Scarlett Spears) during the young girl’s playtime.
Toy Story 5’s large ensemble voice cast also includes Craig Robinson, Lori Alan, Jay Hernandez, Bonnie Hunt, Kristen Schaal, Tony Hale, John Hopkins, Wallace Shawn, Ernie Hudson, Krys Marshall, Jeff Bergman, Blake Clark, Anna Vocino, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (aka Bad Bunny), Jerome Ranft, Annie Potts, Matty Matheson, John Ratzenberger, Keanu Reeves, Melissa Villaseñor, Shelby Rabara, Mykal-Michelle Harris and Alan Cumming.
The review embargo for Toy Story 5 was lifted at 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT on Tuesday, and so far, the film has received a 91% “fresh” critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer based on 68 reviews.
RT’s Critics Consensus, Audience Summary and Popcornmeter score based on verified user ratings are still pending.
Note: This article will be updated as more reviews are posted, and as such, adjustments will be made to the RT critics’ score if necessary.
What Are Individual Critics Saying About ‘Toy Story 5’?
David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter is among the top critics on RT who gives the new Toy Story a “fresh” score, writing, “Toy Story 5 comes an astonishing 31 years after the original and does the enduring franchise proud. The movie’s captivating sweetness is hard to resist.”
David Ehrlich of IndieWire also awards Toy Story 5 a “fresh” score, writing on RT, “For all of its teachable wisdom, this movie knows that life is never sweeter than it is during the moments, and years, when we simply can’t accept that love is also made out of plastic.”
Also high on Toy Story 5 is Moira MacDonald of the Seattle Times, who writes in his “fresh” RT review summary, “What makes the movie sing, as with its predecessors, is its sweetness. Five movies in, it’s still poignant to think about toys having a relationship with their children, loving them and trying to keep them safe in an ever-changing world.”
Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence also deems the film “fresh.” Miller writes on RT, “What Toy Story 5 reveals is that we may have found the limit to what a toy’s perspective on the world has to teach us.”
Also giving Toy Story 5 a fresh “score’ is Brian Truitt of USA Today, who writes on RT, “Somehow, more than 30 years later, Buzz and Woody haven’t worn out their welcome. It also doesn’t hurt that Jessie lassos our feelings like never before.”
David Fear of Rolling Stone is among the top critics on RT who gives Toy Story 5 a “rotten” score. In his RT review summary, Fear writes, “Why are you doing this, Pixar? I mean, we know why. But regardless of well-deserved worries about screen-time or not, there doesn’t feel like there’s a reason for this to exist other than keeping your stockholders happy.”
Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian also gives the film a “rotten” score. Bradshaw writes on RT, “It’s almost incredible to think that the Toy Story series is more than 30 years old, a central plank of the Pixar animation golden age. But now it is played out and IP exhaustion has set in.”
In his “rotten” review summary on RT, Jake Cole of Slant Magazine notes, “Toy Story 5 leans into the sentimental beats that are familiar to the series, except those moments too often give the film the feel of a PSA aimed at convincing parents to monitor their kids’ screen time.”
Rated PG, Toy Story 5 plays in Thursday previews before opening on Friday in theaters nationwide.