Retro-review: Toys
Many of us are familiar with some of Robin Williams greatest movie accomplishments. Jumanji, Mrs. Doubtfire, Hook, Flubber, Patch Adams, Night at the Museum, and Dead Poets Society to list a few. A recent search of hulu the other day brought up a gem of a film from the early 1990’s that I never knew about: Toys.
Toys is based around a family of toy makers and a few war hungry relatives. At the beginning of the film, Kenneth Zevo, the toy store owner, is dying. Rather than allowing his son, Leslie, (played by Robin Williams) to take over the business, he asks his brother, a Lt. General in the army to take over. His hope is that his brother can manage the business until Leslie matures enough to take control. The Lt. General is a little over the top in running the business. He attempts to turn production into something mechanical and precise, rather than loose and fun as it had been under his brother.
When word sneaks into a company meeting about espionage and toy plans leaking to other companies, the Lt. General decides it is time to crack down. He calls in his son who is a captain in the army and has an innate skill for camouflaging himself in any situation. He is placed in charge of security and imposes regulations where workers must wear badges, pass through metal detectors, and put up with guards walking through the factory.
While this crackdown is taking place, Leslie and his sister Alsatia, (played by Joan Cusack), chug on enjoying life, while hoping to live up to their dad’s dream. However, they do know that their uncle is doing something weird and want to get to the bottom of it.
Things continue to get worse at the factory as their uncle begins to take over more and more space for a secret project. The secret is only a secret to them, as it becomes evident that their uncle is designing war toys. War toys were not previously a part of the company, but the uncle gets the bright idea that building miniature armies could create more effective and cheaper warfare. So he begins to work on them, and he brings in kids to operate them because of their skill with video games (a.k.a. kids like we used to be). The kids think that they are just playing video games like in the arcade down the street, but in actuality they are controlling real machines.
Eventually Leslie and Alsatia figure out what is going on, but not without the help of a cute woman who catches Leslie’s attention, who also happened to be the last person their dad hired before he died.
When the truth about their aunt’s death gets out, their cousin the camouflage master decides to help them out. They plot and scheme to bring down their uncle because he is ruining the family name and the company. From there it is man vs machine, and wind up machine vs remote controlled machine.
While this is not one of Robin Williams most well known movies, or best movies in general, it is a pretty good one. And the cast is surprisingly strong. It’s funny to watch and see how much computer-generated images have changed in the past 17 years.
If you have a couple of hours with nothing to do, or want some interesting background noise while working on some more important project, check this flick out. Plus its free on hulu, and free is always good.
Run Time: 118 min
Rating: PG-13
My Rating: 3/5
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