Toys (1992)

What a beautiful movie!

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

For a film that invokes child-like imagination, they sure didn't let Robin Williams be Robin Williams. This called for a whacky character and it felt like it lacked that. However this was another fun family film. The chemistry between Robin Wright and Robin Williams is outstanding! In the end it was a decent film that didn't execute as well as it could have.

Any movie that picks humans over guns is good in my book. The movie is a clear message on how to live in harmony as the diverse community of humans that we are, without resourcing to disrespect or allowing any form of religion or political system replace the regard that each and everyone of us should have for one another, because we are equal and everything else is just a lie the rich, in the case of this movie the rich would be the general's army, promote to keep us from seeing the reality that we are equal. The way it promotes the use of toys, inventiveness, and comradeship, over trivialities like guns, and war, is something to admire, respect, and in turn, as well, promote to everyone else. Hardly anyone in America heard from this movie, precisely on account of its message that guns aren't needed to live in peace and find happiness, and that war only creates terror and horror to others but the select few who choose to promote, because of self centered egoistic reasons. This movie is a must watch for any child. Choose this over Disney any day.

This movie will be many different things to many different people.As a kid I found Toys traumatic. It starts with creepy clowns, a minor-keyed "happy workers" song, and goes downhill from there. I had always considered it a welcome death knell for 80's-style dark fantasy films.But twenty-two years later, it has aged very well. The visuals and music are excellent. The atmosphere is pervasive. The messages are as relevant as ever. The difficulty for the movie, and the cause for such mixed reviews, is that the film tries to combine at least eight themes into one:1. A surreal fantasy about innocence and childhood2. A reality about death and family expectations3. A social commentary about war and industry4. An upbeat comedy, and Robin Williams does have some great moments5. A sarcastic dark comedy, which also has some great moments6. An exposition of toys, Willy Wonka-style7. Romance8. ViolenceSince all of these are adult themes, naming the movie "Toys" could be reason enough to pan it. But if you can get past the shifting themes and the 42-minute plot introduction, there are amazingly bright spots to be found. For me it was watching Robin Williams enjoy a world he helped create, sort of akin to Michael Jackson at Neverland, with all its dire fascination.

The BAD news: the story really 'goes off the boil' after about forty five minutes and the second half of the films drags like an anvil being hauled over rocky terrain. Michael Gambon, as the 'baddie', also gives what must be a career-worst movie performance and his character is more sleep-inducing than threatening. Williams also puts in what is one of his irritating/nerve-grating performances and his one-liners fly off at such speed that they can hardly be understood (and when you have really strained yourself enough to hear one, you rapidly conclude that it was not worth the effort in any case).The GOOD news: this film is an absolute visual treat. I remember being totally blown away when I saw this upon release in 1992 on the big screen and (despite having seen it quite a few times on the small screen subsequently) would go virtually any distance to see it in that format again. The factory production lines, the 'house' Williams and his sister live in and, in particular, the countryside around the toy factory (and Williams' father's 'grave site') are just stunning visual statements and ones you can never tire of. Secondly, the musical accompaniment is very good (even if not always perhaps in line with the development of the plot) and, in the case of 'The Mirror Song', is accompanied by a really neat video backdrop. Thirdly, Joan Cusack gives a gloriously wacky performance as Williams' sister which easily outshines him and really embodies the mad-cap, zany atmosphere I am sure the script writers and director had in mind (and which Gambon and Williams are light years away from achieving to any degree at all).Overall, then, a real mixed bag but, in my view, certainly a film worth seeing at least once and one which, with two different male leads and better script work, could have become a real 'cult' film (a la 'Tron') (and which, incidentally, has become even more interesting in plot terms when you consider the use of drones (pilotless aircraft) as a regular feature now of warfare in the 'war on terror'!)