Disney/Pixar
After walking out of my screening of Lightyear, it hit me that this is the first Pixar film I’ve seen in theaters since Onward back in March 2020. The severity of COVID-19 was increasing, and movie theaters were shutting down. Onward was the last film I saw before everyone had to quarantine, so this was a big event for both Pixar and me.
The movie that Andy from Toy Story saw in 1995 that led to him getting a Buzz Lightyear toy for his birthday is this movie. Toy Story happened to be the first film I saw in theaters when I was 4 years old. I remember walking out of a theater, now torn down, and it was snowing. Little did I know, I would be seeing one of the most beloved animated films of all time.
This film centers around legendary space ranger Buzz Lightyear, who embarks on an intergalactic mission to save himself and a space crew who are marooned on a distant planet. Buzz and the crew are assessing a new hyperspace crystal to achieve hyper speed. The problem with Buzz’s testing is that it propels him 4 years into the future. Buzz’s determination leads him to missing so much of the construction on the planet and his friend/co-worker Alisha’s (Uzo Aduba) life. 60 years have gone by, but it just seems like days for Buzz. Eventually Buzz no longer becomes useful to the mission and must go rogue to complete his mission.
Tim Allen, who voiced the toy Buzz Lightyear, doesn’t return for the new Pixar film, but instead is replaced by Chris Evans. Allen brought a sense of confidence and gruffness to the role, and its easy to hear Evans recreating that style. People have been expressing their frustration about Evans voicing the character instead of Allen. I don’t understand it. Allen was voicing a toy and Evans is voicing the human version. While Allen did great as Buzz, I think bringing in someone new is appropriate. Evans brings the charisma and determination to the role that felt so iconic in the Toy Story films. The human role of Buzz matched all the qualities of the toy version, which is exactly what needed to be done to believe that the toy came from this movie.
The film embraces its sci-fi feel with several intriguing moments that make Buzz’s mission seem impossible at times. The film presents time travel and hyper speed in a way that makes the first act of the film the most rewarding. It’s in the first act that we see how important the mission is to Buzz and how he feels that it is his fault that everyone is marooned on the planet. There are some emotional moments toward the beginning of the film that pushes the story for Buzz in the right direction to make it personal.
Once we understand Buzz’s mission and what needs to be done, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Buzz teams up with recruits Izzy (Keke Palmer), Mo (Taika Waititi), and Darby (Dale Soules), who barely have any training and constantly need help. The mission to help everyone is simple, but it’s often delayed due to poor character choices and mishaps that stretch the film out. Mo often was the problem for delaying the mission. At first, I did find it funny, but it quickly got old how Buzz had to step in and save everyone while trying to complete his mission. Palmer and Waititi are perfectly cast as the comedic relief in the film, while Buzz tries to stay serious. It’s Peter Sohn as Sox, Buzz’s robot cat companion, that shines above everything else. The adorable moments with Sox and the relationship that develops makes it one of the best Pixar sidekicks.
Toward the end of Toy Story 2, the character of Zurg was revealed to be Buzz’s father. I was expecting it to follow that, but the film took it in a different route. I did find it to be surprising, but it ended up feeling predictable once we got deeper into Zurg’s storyline. A lot of the sequences surrounding Zurg were menacing, and it reminded me of how intimidating the character can be.
Lightyear may not be the most emotional Pixar film I have seen, but it’s certainly one of the more entertaining ones I have seen in a while. It’s a great return to the theaters for Pixar, even if the film starts to lose itself toward the middle of the film. I consider this to be better than half of the films Pixar has released. With so many films recently succeeding in theaters, it’s safe to say the summer movie season is upon us and it’s only going to go up from here!
Lightyear has a run time of 1 hour 40 minutes, and is rated PG for action/peril.
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