Weekend Movie Review: 'Toy Story 4,' 'Child's Play' And 'Anna'

Fans of the "Toy Story" animated film series are in for a big treat as "Toy Story 4" hits theaters this weekend with Tom Hanks lending his voice once again as Sheriff Woody in the uplifting saga.

Also making its debut is the modern re-imagining of the 1988 horror, "Child's Play," starring Aubrey Plaza as a single mom who gifts her young son (Gabriel Bateman) a sinister robotic doll (voiced by Mark Hamill).

Finally, "Anna" also opens this weekend, introducing Sasha Luss in the title role of a deadly assassin navigating a web of deception and espionage.

Here's what to see and what to skip this weekend:

Movies Out This Weekend

“Toy Story 4” — Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts; directed by Josh Cooley

Tom Hanks leads the returning cast of “Toy Story 4,” the final installment of the animated comedy-adventure franchise known for its technical innovation, emotional depth, originality and vocal performances.

Picking up two years after the events of “Toy Story 3,” the saga continues with cowboy Sheriff Woody (voiced by Hanks) ridden with an existential crisis. As it turns out, for the first time in his life, our hero feels obsolete and worthless. It doesn’t help that his owner, 5-year-old Bonnie (Madeleine McGraw), pays more attention to cowgirl Jessie (Joan Cusack), space ranger Buzz (Tim Allen) and googly-eyed spork Forky (Tony Hale).

What can our favorite Sheriff do to get his mojo back? Well, after discovering that Forky doesn’t want to be a toy, Woody makes it his mission to teach Forky the beauty and joys of being a toy. Their adventure together takes them on a road trip where they will encounter Woody’s old and new friends alike, including Bo Peep (voiced by Annie Potts), Bunny (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key), Ducky (voiced by Jordan Peele), Giggle McDimples (voiced by Ally Maki), and Duke Caboom (voiced by Keanu Reeves).

In the end, they will all come together as best pals— but will they be able to escape the wrath of the sinister doll Gabby Gabby (voiced by Christina Hendricks)?

See it. Magnetic as ever, the “Toy Story” franchise ends on a high note with awe-inspiring visuals, magnificent vocal performances and a powerful message about the significance of love, friendship and family.

Watch the trailer:

“Child’s Play” — Aubrey Plaza, Mark Hamill; directed by Lars Klevberg

The reboot of the 1988 thriller comes from Lars Klevberg’s latest horror drama, featuring Mark Hamill as the voice of a creepy red-haired doll named Chucky. However, this time around, the sinister doll is not supernaturally possessed by the soul of a dead serial murderer. Instead, Chucky is now a computerized Buddi doll, a robot that is programmed to be a smart household manager, as well as a child’s new best pal.

In the movie, Aubrey Plaza plays store clerk Karen Barclay, a single mom who is struggling to make ends meet for herself and her hearing-impaired son Andy (Gabriel Bateman). Despite their poverty, the mother and son enjoy a normal and peaceful life— that is, until one night when Karen brings home a defective Buddi doll meant as a birthday gift for Andy.

It will just be a matter of time before Andy’s new toy self-activates and calls himself Chucky — and then the menacing “Child’s Play” begins. Soon, their family cat dies, and Chucky’s murder spree rains terror in their neighborhood.

Skip it. This Chucky is too robotic to satiate one’s appetite for scares.

Watch the trailer:

“Anna” — Sasha Luss, Helen Mirren, Luke Evans; directed by Luc Besson

Seduction and treachery abound in Luc Besson’s “Anna,” a spy thriller introducing Sasha Luss in the titular role of a deadly femme fatale trapped in a post-Cold War milieu.

The movie follows the story of Anna Poliatova (Luss), a former Moscow junkie who has become one of the most famous and sought-after supermodels around the world. She may be glitzy and glamorous, but underneath that veneer lies her real identity as a well-trained lethal assassin.

Set on a global scale, the film places our young operative at the center of the icy-hot tension between the two superpowers, US and Russia, where she maintains two lovers on opposite sides, KGB Agent Alex Tchenkov (Luke Evans) and CIA Agent Lenny Miller (Cillian Murphy). Living a dual life is no easy task so she takes notes from her mentor Olga (Helen Mirren), a KGB expert in the art of entrapment.

In the end, we will learn where Anna’s true allegiance lies as she navigates the treacherous web of espionage and deception.

Skip it. The screenplay feels somewhat convoluted as it tries too hard to be edgy, bold and beautiful.

Watch the trailer:

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