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Toys
Fox // PG-13 // October 16, 2001
List Price: $19.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
It's a terrible thing when a movie doesn't know quite what it wants to be. Situations such as this can ruin a good story, visuals, or cast and make the whole combination not worth watching. It's a sad fact and this is what I feel happened to the Barry Levinson directed film Toys.
Robin Williams plays Leslie Zevo, the man-child heir to a toy company empire founded by his father. His father understandable knows that his is unfit to take over the family business when he dies and instead leaves the company to his brother General Leland Zevo (Michael Gambon) who has spent his entire life dedicated to an Army that no longer truly needs him. As the General continues taking the toy company down a path that Leslie would rather not go he never stands up for himself until the General's son Captain Patrick Zevo (LL Cool J) decides to switch sides and lead the assault on the now militarized toy compound. Revelations and twists abound as this mixed bag of a movie comes to an end.
The problem with this movie is that it tries to hard to be something for everyone. It wants to be like Pee Wee's big Adventure with its amazing set designs and bright colors. This is the one area of the movie where I can really find no fault. The design really is visually entertaining. From the opening field of grass to the eclectic designs of the Zevo's house, there was an amazing amount of work done building this world.
Likewise, it also attempts to be like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory by having brightly clad factory workers dance and sing along with some new-age pop songs that continually mar the soundtrack. These songs have neither the fun or wit that made the Oompah-Loompah's so engaging in the first place.
To top it off, the film also wants to be an adult look at several issues. There are heavy handed views upon the military, video-games, relationships and several other issues crammed within the framing of this story. Focus on any one of these would have been nice, but changing the focus halfway through the movie breaks the fun tone that was established in the beginning. There are several moments of adult humor and language that were interjected and likely ad-libbed by Robin Williams that don't seem to fit the films fun tone as well. They seem forced in as an effort to give the adults something to laugh at as well. If it were a well-crafted film, it would appeal to all ages just as Pee Wee, Willy Wonka and even the Iron Giant do today.
The Video: The anamorphic transfer looks incredibly good and really shows off the one true enjoyable feature of the film, the visuals. The bright colors of the settings and the toys really shine through. There is also a considerable amount of night scenes in the film as well and the black definition looks good. There is not noticeable pixelation of degradation of the picture in the least on the majority of the movie.
The Audio: The Dolby Digital mix is incredibly bright with apparent action in the rear channels from time to time. The vocals are well handled and overall it is an acceptable mix that doesn't detract from the film in the least.
Robin Williams plays Leslie Zevo, the man-child heir to a toy company empire founded by his father. His father understandable knows that his is unfit to take over the family business when he dies and instead leaves the company to his brother General Leland Zevo (Michael Gambon) who has spent his entire life dedicated to an Army that no longer truly needs him. As the General continues taking the toy company down a path that Leslie would rather not go he never stands up for himself until the General's son Captain Patrick Zevo (LL Cool J) decides to switch sides and lead the assault on the now militarized toy compound. Revelations and twists abound as this mixed bag of a movie comes to an end.
The problem with this movie is that it tries to hard to be something for everyone. It wants to be like Pee Wee's big Adventure with its amazing set designs and bright colors. This is the one area of the movie where I can really find no fault. The design really is visually entertaining. From the opening field of grass to the eclectic designs of the Zevo's house, there was an amazing amount of work done building this world.
Likewise, it also attempts to be like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory by having brightly clad factory workers dance and sing along with some new-age pop songs that continually mar the soundtrack. These songs have neither the fun or wit that made the Oompah-Loompah's so engaging in the first place.
To top it off, the film also wants to be an adult look at several issues. There are heavy handed views upon the military, video-games, relationships and several other issues crammed within the framing of this story. Focus on any one of these would have been nice, but changing the focus halfway through the movie breaks the fun tone that was established in the beginning. There are several moments of adult humor and language that were interjected and likely ad-libbed by Robin Williams that don't seem to fit the films fun tone as well. They seem forced in as an effort to give the adults something to laugh at as well. If it were a well-crafted film, it would appeal to all ages just as Pee Wee, Willy Wonka and even the Iron Giant do today.
The Video: The anamorphic transfer looks incredibly good and really shows off the one true enjoyable feature of the film, the visuals. The bright colors of the settings and the toys really shine through. There is also a considerable amount of night scenes in the film as well and the black definition looks good. There is not noticeable pixelation of degradation of the picture in the least on the majority of the movie.
The Audio: The Dolby Digital mix is incredibly bright with apparent action in the rear channels from time to time. The vocals are well handled and overall it is an acceptable mix that doesn't detract from the film in the least.
The Extras: There are slim to no extras included on the disc. The lone feature is a short making of that offers little input on the interesting aspect of the set designs and such. Aside from the nicely animated menus, there is nothing else to note in this area.
Overall:I would have to recommend only renting this film. It is a rare day when I recommend skipping something entirely and this doesn't qualify for that. There are a few humorous moments and as I've stated numerous times, the visuals do work quite well. I recommend watching the first half and then put on a Danny Elfman soundtrack and enjoy the rest.
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