WISE Score
Avg. Tomatometer
Robin Williams fights a general to keep a toy factory from making weaponized teddy bears in a movie that looks like a surrealist fever dream.
5.226%
40
Toys is a gorgeous, expensive failure that is more of an art installation than a movie. It's worth a look if your kid is into production design or surrealism, but as a family movie night pick, it’s a tough sit.
While the message of 'play over war' is solid, the film can't decide if it's for toddlers or cynical adults. It ends up in a strange middle ground that usually leaves everyone a bit confused and ready for the credits to roll.
Best for kids 10 and up. Younger ones will likely be bored by the long dialogue scenes or creeped out by the General's intensity, but older kids might appreciate the 'weird art' vibe.
The core conflict is about preserving the innocence of play against the cynicism of war, but the movie is peppered with weirdly adult undercurrents and a cold, militaristic antagonist.
The production design is legendary. Every frame looks like a surrealist painting, specifically leaning into Magritte. The toys themselves and the 'factory' are high-water marks for practical set design.
Mostly clean, but contains stylized 'toy' warfare that can be intense, along with some strange sexual innuendo and a generally creepy vibe from the General.
It offers a strong, if heavy-handed, anti-war message and celebrates the creative spirit, but the narrative is too messy to land a coherent ethical punch.
Watching Toys in 2026 feels like looking at a time capsule of a Hollywood that was willing to spend $40 million on a director's fever dream. Barry Levinson and designer Ferdinando Scarfiotti created something truly singular here. The 'Sea of Red' and the rolling green hills that look like a Windows XP background on acid are stunning. If you have a kid who is into art, photography, or world-building, this is a mandatory watch just for the aesthetics.
However, the story is a mess. It pits Leslie Zevo (Williams) against his uncle, a General who wants to use the factory to build miniature war machines that kids can pilot via video games—a plot point that felt like sci-fi in '92 but feels like a Tuesday morning now. The problem is that the movie stops dead for long stretches of 'whimsy' that don't actually move the plot forward.
"It’s a two-hour music video for a song that doesn’t have a hook."
If you're going to watch it, treat it like a background movie. Let the kids build with LEGOs or draw while it's on. The visuals will catch their eyes, but the narrative won't hold their brains for the full two hours. It’s a cult classic for a reason: it’s beautiful, it’s bizarre, and it’s almost impossible to categorize.
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