Lightyear – Movie Review
100 Minutes, Rated PG
Written by Jason Headley and Angus MacLane
Directed by Angus MacLane
**NOTE: I’ve updated this post with our discussion of Lightyear (and Cha Cha Real Smooth) now that we’ve actually had the chance to talk about it. But enjoy this brief look at my thoughts, and you can read Ryan’s review HERE.**
Synopsis:
A sci-fi action adventure and the definitive origin story of Buzz Lightyear, the hero who inspired the toy, Lightyear follows the legendary Space Ranger after he’s marooned on a hostile planet 4.2 million light-years from Earth alongside his commander and their crew.
As Buzz tries to find a way back home through space and time, he’s joined by a group of ambitious recruits and his charming robot companion cat, Sox. Complicating matters and threatening the mission is the arrival of Zurg, an imposing presence with an army of ruthless robots and a mysterious agenda.
Gotta admit: I was a little concerned going into this one. The Toy Story franchise is perhaps Pixar’s best known and well-loved universe, and the idea of a movie based on a (fictional) toy sounds, on its face, questionable at best.
I mean, sure, we’ve had movies based on real toys (Transformers, Battleship, etc.), but this felt different.
Imagine, then, much to my delight, when the filmmakers immediately put Lightyear in complete perspective from a Toy Story standpoint, which took away most of my trepidation about the project. Now I could just sit back, relax, and see if the movie itself was going to be any good.
And I was not disappointed.
This is a solid sci-fi adventure film from Pixar, regardless of the “source material,” which in this case is a meta-argument to be had, and it’s fun to watch how events and things in this film translate to/from the Buzz we know from Toy Story.
Tracing the adventures of Buzz Lightyear, here voiced by Captain America himself, Chris Evans, as he attempts to find a way to de-maroon the colony ship he and his fellow Space Rangers were escorting, he ends up in a distant future, shocked at what has become of the unwilling settlers in the face of his perceived failures.
But it wouldn’t be Pixar if they didn’t have a couple of other things going on besides a solid story, would it?
There’s the great sidekick, for example. In this case, it’s not one of the settlers, but rather his robotic companion, a “cat” named Sox. Highly intelligent, Sox provides a great straight man to the various comedic situations happening around him.
Keke Palmer is great as Izzy, the super-enthusiastic granddaughter of Buzz’s old Space Ranger commander, Alicia Hawthorne, though I must say that I am finding myself more and more put off by Taika Waititi of late.
It’s beginning to feel much as it does when watching Ryan Reynolds play Ryan Reynolds in every movie. We get it; you’re wacky.
As a former military guy, I loved watching the inevitable rise of the bureaucracy, even if for Buzz it only took one flight.
And who doesn’t love arguing with the navigation system?
But the heart of the story is Buzz and his evolution from lone hero to something more… very similar to his evolution in the Toy Story franchise.
As always, Pixar tries to get you to cry, because they can. Bastards.
The animation, by the way, is top notch. Pixar continues to push and just make things better and better looking. It’s just fantastic to watch the world around Buzz come alive.
And see it in IMAX if you can.
In the end, I think everyone should be able to enjoy Lightyear, either as a standalone animated science fiction movie or as a cool retrospective of the Toy Story franchise.
Lightyear hits theaters Friday, June 15 and stars Chris Evans, Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, Taika Waititi, Dale Soules, James Brolin, Uzo Aduba, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Efren Ramirez, and Keira Hairston.
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