Every Tom Hanks Movie, Ranked

What happens when a big-name director (Brian De Palma) adapts a massively successful Tom Wolfe best-seller with a cast loaded with stars (including a seemingly miscast Hanks as Wall Street bond trader Sherman McCoy plus Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, and Morgan Freeman)? Rather surprisingly, the answer is one of the worst and least successful films of 1990—and arguably the worst film in Hanks' filmography. Plagued by behind-the-scenes controversies (which have since been chronicled in a

"Director Brian De Palma's $45 million film version of the book is superficial, shopworn and cartoonish. On film, Bonfire achieves a consistency of ineptitude rare even in this era of over-inflated cinematic air bags." —Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

After his big-screen breakthrough in Splash, Hanks continued to get leading roles but struggled for several years to find another successful project. One of the biggest flops from this era is this 1985 mistaken-identity spy caper co-starring Dabney Coleman and adapted from the 1970s French film The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe.

"Hanks has proved in TV's 'Bosom Buddies' and in 'Splash' that he is one of the best of today's light comedians, but he has little chance to display his talents here." —Bob Thomas, AP

Like Dragnet a few years before it, Turner & Hooch is a buddy cop comedy, but instead of acting opposite Dan Aykroyd, Hanks is paired here with Beasley the Dog. (That's not just a name: He is, in fact, a dog.) As a Disney-produced film targeting slightly younger audiences than a normal Hanks outing, Hooch was a success. But reviewers dismissed the movie as a tired, formulaic mishmash. The film was recently adapted into a Hanksless Disney+ original series, which also failed to charm critics.

"It isn't [Hanks's] fault that the five writers don't come up with five funny lines or one exciting scene." —Caryn James, The New York Times

We're not gonna lie: This might be the worst film adaptation of the beloved 1883 children's novel to date. Part of Disney's never-ending plan to film "live-action" remakes of its classic animated features, this reunion of Forrest Gump director Robert Zemeckis and star Hanks (here playing Geppetto) was somehow one of three Pinocchio films in 2022 alone. But it was quickly outshone by Guillermo Del Toro's animated adaptation—and, well, by virtually every other movie that came out in the fall of 2022. Critics found the Disney remake a lifeless outing despite Hanks' best efforts.

"Even taking it as a given that Disney's animated classics will all receive live-action makeovers eventually, Pinocchio feels like an unnecessary exercise – a movie so flat that it never sparks to life, and barely feels as if it's making the leap into a different medium." —Brian Lowry, CNN

The fifth and most recent collaboration between Hanks and director Robert Zemeckis is a gimmicky adaptation of a graphic novel by Richard McGuire. Here reveals multiple family drama storylines over numerous time periods, with every one taking place in the same location (mostly inside the same house) and filmed from the same fixed-camera perspective. Despite also returning the screenwriter (Eric Roth), Hanks co-star (Robin Wright), and cinematographer (Don Burgess) from the long-ago Zemeckis hit Forrest Gump, Here has greatly underwhelmed critics and audiences with its confusing, nonlinear storytelling, overly theatrical acting, and uncanny valley de-aging technology, and the film seems likely to go down as one of 2024's biggest flops (though not as big as some).

"Couple the broad acting and cliché-ridden screenplay with the fixed-frame format, and 'Here' comes off like a bad sitcom, or even worse, a school play made by a bunch of fifth-graders who decided to tackle Eugene O'Neill or 'Death of a Salesman.'" —Odie Henderson, Boston Globe

Released just a few months prior to the debut of Bosom Buddies, the short-lived (but beloved) sitcom that first made Tom Hanks a household name, this slasher film from first-time director Armand Mastroianni served as the film debut for the then-24-year-old Hanks (who had a small role as a college student). Critics dismissed the film as a cheap Halloween knockoff, though it was a modest box office success anyway.

"Director Armand Mastroianni, Marcello's American-born cousin, puts this oh-so-familiar material through its paces without injecting anything remotely resembling wit or personal style." —TV Guide Magazine

Hanks jumped back into the role of Robert Langdon for the third and final time in Ron Howard's 2016 sequel to his Dan Brown adaptations The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons. None of those earlier films were liked by critics, but this one was the worst of the trio while also underwhelming at the box office.

"By the end, even Hanks looks a bit bored." —Tom Huddleston, Time Out London

Adapted from the book by Dave Eggers, this 2017 thriller from director James Ponsoldt features Hanks in a rare villain role as the head of a Google-like tech giant with questionable privacy practices. Critics found it ineffective and incoherent.

"Despite appealing features, including stars Emma Watson and Tom Hanks (who morphs his patented affability into casually sinister, Jobs-ian salesmanship), The Circle never builds up a head of steam as either dark drama, modern satire or dystopian thriller." —Robert Abele

The lowest-grossing film starring Hanks, this little-known Israeli star-crossed romance features the actor in a rare (at the time) dramatic role as an American pilot who is shot down over Africa during WWII and heads to Jerusalem to recover. There, he falls in love with a Jewish woman played by Spanish actress Cristina Marsillach. Critics deemed it a poor fit between actor and material, but Hanks would find a much better WWII vehicle in the next decade.

"Tom Hanks is utterly out of place in the Israeli romance Every Time We Say Goodbye...for at least two reasons: because there's something so innately comic about him, even in solemn surroundings, and because he has so much more energy than the film does." —Janet Maslin, The New York Times

One of the most iconic on-screen couples of the 1990s, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan would topline three romantic comedies together during the decade. The first—and worst, according to critics—of the trio was this 1990 feature directorial debut from Moonstruck screenwriter (and playwright) John Patrick Shanley. Hanks plays a man who believes he has a rare and fatal disease and agrees to throw himself into a South Pacific volcano on behalf of some superstitious natives but falls for one of the three (!) characters played by Ryan shortly before the big day. Critics didn't quite know what to make of the "preposterous" and "eccentric" story (just wait till they see Shanley's later film Wild Mountain Thyme!) and Joe bombed at the box office. Nowadays? It's considered a cult classic.

"After it's over, one thing is perfectly clear. Joe Versus the Volcano, for all its wacky gags, delightfully bizarre look and ill-fated attempts at insight, is only one thing: Mediocre." —Juan Carlos Coto, Miami Herald

Beloved by audiences but not by critics, Joe Dante's 1989 comedic thriller finds Hanks playing a suburbanite who becomes convinced that his neighbors are running a murderous cult. Carrie Fisher, Bruce Dern, and Corey Feldman also star in a film dismissed by reviewers as empty, unfunny, and one-note.

"For sheer waste of talent, if not money, The Burbs deserves to be ranked with Ishtar. A routine slapstick comedy with no cutting edge, and not nearly enough laughs." —Harper Barnes, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Hanks starred opposite Cheers star Shelley Long in a remake of the 1948 comedy Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House that finds a young couple struggling to remodel their newly purchased home. Directed by Richard Benjamin (and produced by Steven Spielberg), the 1986 film was Hanks' highest-grossing film since Splash despite lackluster reviews.

"The nimble Hanks again proves his delicious way with a double take; Long is nothing if not likable, and [Alexander] Godunov is a supremely silly narcissist. If the filmmakers had trusted these performers more, and stuck closer to reality, things might have turned out better. Instead of a real-estate fiasco anybody could roar at in recognition. The Money Pit has been inflated into a noisy destruction derby." —David Ansen, Newsweek

A remake of the well-received 2016 Swedish dramedy A Man Called Ove, this 2022 feature from Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace, Monster's Ball) finds Hanks playing a cranky Pittsburgh widower who is forced out of his job and plans to kill himself—until those plans are interrupted by a friendly family that moves in next door. Critics liked the American take on this tricky-to-get-right material much less than the Swedish version, deeming the remake formulaic and toothless.

"The movie is trying so hard to be a crowd-pleaser, in its reach-for-the-synthetic, sitcom-meets-Hallmark heart, that it will likely end up pleasing very few. It's the definition of a movie that Tom Hanks deserved better than." —Owen Gleiberman, Variety

Filmed prior to Big but released after that huge hit, this unremarkable 1988 dramedy from writer-turned-director David Seltzer (The Omen, Lucas) finds Hanks playing a struggling but talented stand-up comedian who mentors a housewife (Sally Field) hoping to break in to the comedy world. Hanks spent the weeks leading up to filming by performing original (though brief) sets at stand-up clubs on both coasts, and that preparation may have contributed to recognition from critics for another strong performance even if reviewers didn't really care for the film around him.

"Hanks is a standout again, in a film that otherwise doesn't work." —Mike Clark, USA Today

Hanks plays a spoiled Yale grad who evades a huge gambling debt by stealing his roommate's Peace Corps gig in Thailand in this 1985 comedic adventure also starring Rita Wilson and John Candy. Directed by Nicholas Meyer (his first project following Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan), Volunteers didn't make much of an impression with critics or at the box office, but it did have a big impact on Hanks: He would wind up marrying Wilson a few years later.

"A blasé Hanks redeems this string of sexist, racist, comic clichés with winning charm. It's funny." —Time Out

Perhaps the least family-friendly title in Hanks' filmography, this 1984 sex comedy from Police Academy co-writers Neal Israel (who also directs here) and Pat Proft finds a group of friends throwing an out-of-control bachelor party for their newly engaged party-animal buddy Rick (Hanks). The vulgar and low-brow humor didn't exactly wow critics, but the film made a bit of a profit in theaters.

"To his credit Hanks behaves throughout as though he's actually in a worthwhile movie." —Time Out London

This straight-to-streaming sci-fi adventure directed by TV veteran Miguel Sapochnik (Game of Thrones) casts Hanks as one of the few human survivors of a catastrophic solar event that has rendered Earth mostly uninhabitable. An engineer, he constructs a robot (Caleb Landry Jones) that will care for his pet dog (it's not Hooch—we promise!) after he no longer can, and the three set off on a road trip through the American West. Reviewers were divided: Some found the material overly familiar, while others were charmed.

"Hanks does his considerable best with Finch's revelations and confrontations, but the writing lets him down." —Nell Minow, RogerEbert.com

In this fish-out-of-water comedy, Hanks plays a burned-out businessman who heads to Saudi Arabia to close a huge deal. Though it was praised by some critics, it was the lowest-grossing film to feature Hanks as the top-billed lead since 1986.

"Hanks is perfect in the central role, drawing on both his dramatic and comedic acting skills." —Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle

Reunited for their third romantic-comedy pairing, Hanks and Meg Ryan take on love in the age of email. The film, which cost $65 million to make, grossed over $250 million worldwide at the box office.

"A feel-good movie that offers enough comedy and romance to warm the heart without risking a sentimental overdose." —James Berardinelli, ReelViews

Adapted from the Stephen King novel, The Green Mile stars Hanks as a death-row correctional officer who witnesses supernatural events tied to one inmate.

"A reminder of just how good Hollywood storytelling can be." —Jonathan Foreman, New York Post

Hanks voices six different roles in this animated Christmas film. The Polar Express is listed as the first all-digital-capture movie in the 2006 Guinness World Book of Records.

"An enchanting, beautiful and brilliantly imagined film." —Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Dragnet, which aired on NBC in separate runs in the 1950s and '60s (and, before that, on radio), was not a comedy. But this 1987 big-screen adaptation of the iconic Los Angeles-set cop show most certainly was. The feature directorial debut for longtime screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz (yes, he's related to all of the famous Hollywood Mankiewiczes) finds Dan Aykroyd playing by-the-book Sgt. Joe Friday—the role made famous on TV by Jack Webb, though technically here the character is his nephew—while Hanks plays his streetwise partner, Pep Streebek. Also returning Harry Morgan from the TV series, Dragnet performed well in theaters, and critics generally enjoyed the comedy—though there were fewer nice things said about "City of Crime," the soundtrack's original rap song performed by Hanks and Aykroyd.

"Mr. Aykroyd and Mr. Hanks play well together, but the funniest performance in the film is that of Dabney Coleman, as the smut king (who lisps). Somewhat less diverting are the car chases and the time out necessary to explain the throwaway story." —Vincent Canby, The New York Times

Hanks's seventh feature is only his second to receive positive reviews from critics. Directed by Garry Marshall, the dramedy pairs Hanks with TV legend Jackie Gleason in what would turn out to be the latter's final film role. Hanks plays a yuppie ad exec who is suddenly forced to care for his cranky father (Gleason) following his parents' sudden separation. Eva Marie Saint and (because this is a Garry Marshall film) Hector Elizondo also star. Though Common didn't do much at the box office, NBC greenlit a TV adaptation the following year. Despite having Cheers as its lead-in, that series (with Todd Waring taking over the Hanks role, much as he would do the next year in the TV movie Splash, Too) lasted just seven episodes.

"Nothing in Common starts out like yet another yuppie Tom Hanks comedy--until it takes off in a surprising and unexpectedly rewarding direction. Never has Hanks or Jackie Gleason been better." —Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

Hanks appears briefly to play father to his real-life son, and fellow actor, Colin Hanks. The film premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and follows a young man who goes to work for a famed mentalist trying to reinvigorate his career.

"A fine little comedy and a hilarious character study of an ego gone wild." —Don R. Lewis, Film Threat

Hanks might seem ageless, but no, he didn't actually serve in WWII. But his filmography is littered with movies set during the 20th century's greatest conflict (and that's not even counting the multiple WWII miniseries he has produced for television). What sets 2020's Greyhound apart from the others is that Hanks also wrote the screenplay, adapting a C.S. Forester novel called The Good Shepherd. Released straight to Apple TV+ after a planned theatrical release fell victim to the COVID pandemic, Greyhound finds Hanks playing a US Navy commander on his first assignment in the Battle of the Atlantic. The second film directed by cinematographer Aaron Schneider (Get Low) was deemed a solid, taut thriller—but a bit on the basic side—by reviewers.

"It's a sweet, swift 91 minutes long, and only about 80 if you skip the credits — but it's a surprisingly immersive affair, and the authenticity writer-star Hanks and director Aaron Schneider bring to it is a huge part of its appeal." —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture

A possibly miscast Hanks adopts one of cinema's oddest accents to play manager Colonel Tom Parker opposite Austin Butler's Elvis Presley in this 2022 Baz Luhrmann-directed musical biopic. The nearly three-hour film was a box office hit while collecting decent reviews (though few out-and-out raves) and eight Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture. But it won't go down as one of Hanks' best performances.

"With Butler's stellar portrayal, it's never dull, and more enjoyable than not. The musical numbers are often dazzling, boosted by Luhrmann's inimitable style. And the plot (for better and for worse) covers a ton of Presley's life. But even when it's over, you're still not sure what Hanks is doing." —Brian Truitt, USA Today

The Disney film tells the story of the development of Mary Poppins and stars Emma Thompson as P.L. Travers and Hanks as Walt Disney.

"This is a lovingly rendered, sweet film." —Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times

Hanks won an Academy Award for his portrayal of a homosexual lawyer dying of AIDS. Philadelphia served as the first big-budget Hollywood film to address the issue of HIV/AIDS.

"This Hollywood movie about a gay man afflicted with AIDS is evocative, understated and ultimately deeply affecting. Hard-earned tears of truth." —Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail

Hanks plays a partying congressman who participates in a covert operation during the Cold War. The film received five Golden Globe nominations. Interestingly It was revealed in 2008 that the film would not play in Russian theaters.

"Clever and enjoyable." —Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

As Jimmy Dugan, Hanks is a washed-up former baseball star with a drinking problem who becomes the coach of a women's baseball team during WWII. The sports film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being considered "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

"A League of Their Own is a grand-slam comic drama. Superbly written, acted and directed." —Hal Lipper, Tampa Bay Times

Hanks' first leading role (in just his second career film) is also his first hit. The 1984 fantasy rom-com from director Ron Howard stars Hanks as a New York grocer who falls for a mermaid (Daryl Hannah). Their winning performances, coupled with an excellent supporting cast (including John Candy and Eugene Levy) and an Oscar-nominated screenplay (by Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel, and Bruce Jay Friedman), made the first release for Disney's new adult-oriented brand Touchstone Pictures a major box office success.

"Ron Howard, directing from a witty script by Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel and Bruce Jay Friedman, has fashioned an enchanting piece of fluff -- a romantic comedy that is truly romantic and truly comic, a deft blend of hip satire and fairy-tale charm. Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah have a lot to do with that charm." —David Ansen, Newsweek

Hanks stars as a shrewd band manager who helps a musical group hit the big time in the early 1960s. The group, The Wonders, end up being one-hit wonders.

"Mr. Hanks's debut feature, written and directed with delightful good cheer, is rock-and-roll nostalgia presented as pure fizz." —Elvis Mitchell, The New York Times

One of Ryan's and Hanks' romantic-comedy collaborations, the rom-com follows a widower and father who shares his heartbreak on the radio. He later falls in love with a woman he's never met. The film garnered two Academy Awards nominations.

"Superbly acted, beautifully photographed, and resolutely warm and fuzzy, Sleepless in Seattle is a romantic treat." —TV Guide Magazine

Hanks takes a rare turn as a bad guy in his role as an enforcer for an Irish mob boss, played by Paul Newman. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards.

"A truly majestic visual tone poem." —Stephen Holden, The New York Times

After working with director Garry Marshall on 1986's Nothing in Common, Hanks teamed with Garry's sister Penny Marshall for this 1988 fantasy-comedy that remains one of Hanks' best-known and most-beloved roles. Starring opposite Elizabeth Perkins and Robert Loggia, Hanks plays a 12-year-old boy in the body of an adult after he is granted a wish by a Zoltar fortune-telling machine to become big. Written by Gary Ross (Pleasantville) and Anne Spielberg (yes, she's Steven's kid sister), the film easily became Hanks' biggest box office hit upon its release—opening new doors for Hanks in the process—and also brought the star his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

"Big is a winning, charming film, primarily because Hanks makes it work. He is extraordinarily convincing as an adolescent who suddenly finds himself dealing with a new, adult body, responsibilities, and a romantic relationship, while simultaneously trying to survive vicious corporate infighting." —TV Guide Magazine

Director Paul Greengrass reenlisted his Captain Phillips star Hanks for this 2020 western road movie based on the novel by Paulette Jiles about a widowed Civil War veteran who agrees to accompany a semi-feral, 10-year-old orphan girl on a long and dangerous (but ultimately life-altering) journey to her aunt and uncle after she is released from a four-year captivity. Deprived of most of its theatrical audience due to the lingering pandemic, News still collected four Oscar nominations (all in technical categories) and positive reviews from critics.

"News of the World is a perfectly solid, decent entry into the burgeoning sub-genre of Tom Hanks Doing Dad Stuff movies. It's well-made, direct, and unfussy in its storytelling." —Josh Spiegel, Consequence

The "Miracle on the Hudson" comes to the big screen in this biographical film about pilot Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, played by Hanks. Sully broke the September record for biggest global IMAX opening for a 2D film.

"Sully is an absolute triumph." —Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times

The film, which garnered Hanks another Oscar nomination, tells the tale of a FedEx employee who survives a plane crash, then lives for years on a deserted island. Hanks reportedly lost more than 50 pounds for the role.

"Hanks gives possibly the most compelling performance of his career." —Sean Means, Film.com

Tom Hanks is an FBI agent chasing an elusive criminal who specializes in check fraud, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. The film earned two Academy Award nominations and marks Hanks and Steven Spielberg's fourth collaboration together.

"Supremely entertaining." —Stephen Holden, The New York Times

Working with iconoclastic director Wes Anderson for the first time, Hanks joins an enormous ensemble (that also includes Jason Schwartzman, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Bryan Cranston, Steve Carell, Willem Dafoe, and Adrien Brody, among others) for a plot-light, 1950s-set comedy that follows the numerous attendees of a Junior Stargazer convention in a remote desert town. Some critics ranked it among 2023's best films, but others deemed it a lesser Anderson work.

"I still don't know whether all (or even most) of Asteroid City's ideas coalesce, so scattershot is the film's pacing and plotting. But from moment to moment, it charms and moves in ways only Anderson can deliver." —Clint Worthington, Consequence

The award-winning drama is based on the events of the aborted Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970. Hanks, along with his co-stars, filmed portions of the movie aboard a reduced-gravity aircraft.

"From lift-off to splashdown, Apollo 13 gives one hell of a ride." —Richard Corliss, Time

Hanks plays beloved children's television host Fred Rogers in Marielle Heller's life-affirming 2019 drama that focuses on a cynical Esquire journalist (Matthew Rhys) who is assigned to write a profile of him.

"Hanks' lovingly wrought performance is much more than just an impeccable piece of mimicry." —Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

As a lawyer sent to negotiate the release of a U.S. pilot during the Cold War, Hanks stars in this historical legal drama, which was based on real-life events. The film received six Academy Award nominations, including one for best picture.

"Bridge of Spies, Steven Spielberg's best film since Saving Private Ryan, stars a flawless Tom Hanks in the smart, old-school thriller as James Donovan." —Lou Lumenick, New York Post

Inspired by the true story of a high-seas hijacking, Hanks takes on the role of Richard Phillips, a captain whose ship is captured by Somali pirates. In an interview, Hanks said he didn't meet the actors playing the pirates until they filmed the takeover scene.

"Captain Phillips is harrowing, inspiring, a must-see piece of moviemaking." —Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

Winning his second best actor Academy Award thanks to this film, Tom Hanks plays the slow-witted, lovable, titular character in this quirky drama film. Despite the film's huge success, Hanks reportedly refused to participate in a sequel.

"What a magical movie." —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Hanks plays Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee in Steven Spielberg's Oscar-nominated 2017 drama about that newspaper's publication of the so-called "Pentagon Papers" during the height of the Vietnam War in 1971. It marked the first time Hanks starred opposite Meryl Streep (who plays Post publisher Katharine Graham).

"Spielberg's latest brings intelligence and electricity to its study of nimble strategic manoeuvring which is guided by urgent performances from Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks." —Tim Grierson, Screen Daily

The fourth and likely final installment in Pixar's longest-running franchise may be the lowest-scoring release in the series, but that doesn't mean it isn't still great. The directorial debut for Josh Cooley adds Tony Hale's Forky to a returning cast once again led by Hanks and Tim Allen.

"Like the toys of a child now-grown, or an antique lamp gathering dust on a shelf, 'Toy Story 4' isn't needed. But it is, for many of us, very much wanted: one last adventure, one last chance to say goodbye." —Moira Macdonald, The Seattle Times

The animated sequel from Disney and Pixar, in which Hanks voices Woody, a toy cowboy, is the actor's first sequel. Woody is stolen from his home by a toy dealer, so it's up to Buzz Lightyear and his other plaything friends to save him.

"One of those rare sequels that's even better than the original." —Christopher Brandon, TNT RoughCut

The war drama, which received 11 Academy Award nominations, stars Hanks as a World War II Army captain who leads his men on a mission in Normandy to retrieve a paratrooper played by Matt Damon. Saving Private Ryan was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

"A magnificent piece of movie-making." —Robert Horton, Film.com

The third installment in the Toy Story franchise cost $200 million to make and made a whopping $1 billion worldwide. It was the highest-grossing film of 2010. It also accomplished a rare feat: being nominated for both Best Animated Feature and Best Picture Academy Awards.

Hanks and co-star Tim Allen reportedly requested that they record their lines together because they loved their characters' chemistry.

"This installment, the best of the three, is everything a movie should be: hilarious, touching, exciting and clever." —Claudia Puig, USA Today

The original entry in the Toy Story franchise remains the best-reviewed film of the bunch. It introduced audiences to Woody, Buzz and more of Andy's playthings.

"The first animated feature produced entirely on computer is a magically witty and humane entertainment, a hellzapoppin fairy tale about a roomful of suburban toys who come to life when humans aren't around." —Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly