Toy Story 5 Review: Critics Divided on Pixar’s Tech Sequel

Toy Story 5 arrives in theaters on June 19, bringing Pixar’s beloved franchise into direct confrontation with the digital age. Directed by Pixar veteran Andrew Stanton — making his directorial debut on a Toy Story film after helming WALL-E and Finding Nemo — the fifth installment tackles screen addiction, childhood development, and the enduring power of imaginative play. Early reviews are in, and the critical consensus is anything but unanimous.

A Timely Premise

The film centers on eight-year-old Bonnie (voiced by Scarlett Spears), who inherited Andy’s toys in Toy Story 3. Now struggling to make friends in a neighborhood where every child is glued to a screen, Bonnie receives a Lilypad — a frog-themed child-friendly tablet voiced by Greta Lee — and quickly becomes addicted. The toys, led by Jessie the cowgirl (Joan Cusack), are relegated to the garage, prompting a mission to save Bonnie from tech dependency.

As The New York Times notes, the film explores “themes of technology and childhood in the AI era,” balancing creative ambition with the weight of a decades-old franchise. The premise is undeniably timely: in an age of heightened anxiety about children’s screen time, Toy Story 5 wades directly into the debate.

Critical Divide: Triumph or Exhaustion?

Critics are sharply divided on whether the film is a worthy addition to the canon or a sign of franchise fatigue.

Owen Gleiberman of Variety calls the film “a sublime summing up,” comparing it to The Beatles’ Abbey Road. “The ‘Toy Story’ movies are all beautiful, all brilliant, all different, and they work all together now,” he writes, praising the film’s message to “slow down, be real and play.”

David Ehrlich of IndieWire is equally enthusiastic, awarding the film a B+ and declaring it “the best Pixar sequel since 1999.” Ehrlich praises how the film “recognizes how tech poses an unprecedented danger to the nature of play itself,” and calls Joan Cusack’s voice performance as Jessie “series-clinching.”

But not everyone is convinced. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian delivers a sharp critique, writing that while the film is “as slick and smooth as you like,” at heart “it has gone dead.” He argues that “the jeopardy, the novelty, the ideas and the passion are lacking,” suggesting the franchise may have run its course.

Jessie Takes Center Stage

One point of near-universal agreement is that Jessie’s arc as the lead character is the film’s emotional anchor. David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter emphasizes that “the movie works because it has heart and conviction,” highlighting Jessie’s poignant line: “I can’t do this again. I can’t love another kid just to find out I never mattered.”

Justin Chang of NPR calls Toy Story 5 “a significant improvement over Toy Story 4 and, at its best, a delight.” He notes that the film “takes one of the foundational ideas of the Toy Story universe — that inanimate objects can secretly think and move by themselves — and uses it to tap into our paranoia about what our devices might be doing when we’re not looking.”

A Nuanced Take on Technology

Interestingly, several critics note that the film avoids a simplistic anti-tech message. Rooney points out that Toy Story 5 “has heart and conviction in the belief that tech toys are not innately bad. They can also serve to bring joy.” The Lilypad tablet is given a redemption arc, complicating what could have been a straightforward “screens are bad” moral.

The Hollywood Reporter critic adds that “the filmmakers bring home the point that children need physical interaction and communication with other kids to help them develop and grow, a useful message that’s easy to endorse.”

What’s Next for the Franchise?

With a 94% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes, Toy Story 5 is clearly a critical success by most measures. But the mixed reviews — particularly Bradshaw’s warning about “IP exhaustion” — raise questions about how much further this 31-year-old franchise can go.

As the film opens in theaters worldwide, audiences will decide whether Toy Story 5 is a triumphant return to form or a sign that even Pixar’s most beloved toys are showing their age. One thing is certain: the conversation about technology, childhood, and the stories we tell our children is far from over.