Critics Consensus

Critics Consensus: Toy Story 3 Is Certified Fresh

Plus, Jonah Hex is an incomprehensible mess.

by Tim Ryan | June 18, 2010 | Comments

This week at the movies brings the return of Pixar’s most iconic heroes (Toy Story 3, with voice work by Tom Hanks and Tim Allen) as well as a supernatural bounty hunter (Jonah Hex, starring Josh Brolin and Megan Fox). What do the critics have to say?

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Toy Story 3

Few (if any) studios can boast a critical and commercial streak that’s been as astonishing as Pixar’s. Now, with Toy Story 3, the company’s creative minds have reprised the characters that have long been their trademark, and the critical response has run from positive to borderline ecstatic. In this third (and most likely final) installment, Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the gang have been mistakenly donated to a day-care center; pretty soon, the toys are planning a daring escape, all the while dealing with complex, bittersweet emotional issues. Critics say it should hardly come as a surprise that Pixar’s latest film is a remarkably assured blend of action, comedy, and pathos, one that should appeal to kids of all ages. As of this writing, the Certified Fresh Toy Story 3 is, like its predecessors, at 100 percent on the Tomatometer, and is one of the best-reviewed films of the year. (Check out this week’s Total Recall, in which we run down every Pixar feature in chronological order.)

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Jonah Hex

From the top of the Tomatometer to the bottom we go. Critics say the stylistically bold but haphazardly structured Jonah Hex is a modest showcase for the talents of Josh Brolin, but fails on nearly every other level. Based on the cult-classic comic book, Hex stars Brolin as the title character, a disfigured gunslinger who wanders about a neo-western landscape and, eventually, attempts to thwart a terrorist plot on our nation’s capital. The pundits say Jonah Hex is loud, incoherently edited, and, at 81 minutes, mercifully short.

Also opening this week in limited release:

Let It Rain, a dramedy about a successful author whose life is turned upside down when she enters the political realm, is at 87 percent.
Cyrus, starring John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill in a comedy about a divorcee in a new relationship who finds himself competing with his girlfreind’s grown son, is at 81 percent.
I Am Love, starring Tilda Swinton in the tale of a family in upheaval after the sudden death of its patriarch, is at 79 percent.
Stonewall Uprising, a documentary about the riot that sparked the modern gay rights movement, is at 77 percent
Wah Do Dem, a comedy about a lovelorn hipster stranded in Jamaica, is at 67 percent.
The Nature of Existence, in which a filmmaker travels the world asking questions about the meaning of life, is at 60 percent.
The Killer Inside Me, starring Casey Affleck and Kate Hudson in an adaptation of Jim Thompson’s pulp classic about a small town sociopath, is at 51 percent.
8: The Mormon Proposition, a documentary about the church’s involvement in California’s anti-gay marriage legislation, is at 36 percent.