Review: Lightyear
Lightyear, directed by Angus MacLane, tells the tale of Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans), an intergalactic space ranger of Star Command who gets marooned on a hostile planet with his commanding officer Hawthorne (Uzo Abdula) and the rest of their crew while exploring the cosmos. Buzz tries to find a way out of the planet by test piloting the ship’s hyperspace fuel needed to escape. But every time he tests the fuel Buzz starts skipping forward through time due to how fast he’s flying. This cause Buzz to fly into the future where the colony is now under attack by an EVIL robot and its robot army. With the help of a robo-cat named Sox (Peter Sohn) and a spunky group of ragtag trainees, one of them being Hawthorne’s grand-daughter (Keke Palmer), Buzz must defeat this robot army and bring everyone home.
This is the latest film from Pixar Animation Studios and the first Pixar film to get a proper theatrical release since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pixar’s last three films all had their theatrical releases cancelled and were subsequently dumped into Disney+, which understandably made those filmmakers pissed especially considering THIS is the film Pixar was adamant about showcasing in theaters: a generic, by-the-numbers reboot of a recognizable IP made explicitly to sell “the MERCH.” Lightyear is about as soullessly manufactured as the Buzz Lightyear toys featured in the Toy Story films.
Right from the get-go we are told that this is suppose to be the movie that inspired Andy from Toy Story to buy a Buzz Lightyear toy back in 1995. This movie does NOT feel like something that would be made in 1995, let alone be realistically a child’s favorite space movie. The story beats are way too modern to be a 90’s sci-fi film, the planet this film takes place on is dull and muted in colors, there’s even a “controversial” same sex kiss scene which, regardless on how you feel about the hot topic, would DEFINITELY NOT fly in a 90’s space action movie that came out in 1995.
This is suppose to be Andy’s favorite movie; you know, the space ranger that they made video games and a full TV show out of in the Toy Story universe, stuff that we actually get to see realized in those films. This movie does not feel like the in-universe Buzz Lightyear IP that Andy grows up with. The plot speeds through every story beat, denying us time to absorb what we’re watching, the characters are basic caricatures of other basic characters, there was no sense of urgency or stakes felt in the story, none of the bravado and charm in Tim Allen’s Buzz is present in this film’s Buzz, and the villain, once again in modern Disney fashion, was super boring.
Zurg was such a basic villain with a “complex” motivation and absolutely no personality. I’m sick and tired of Disney going with this “misunderstood” angle they’ve recently been doing for their villains. THIS IS SUPPOSE TO BE A 90’S SPACE ACTION MOVIE FOR KIDS!!! Give me a colorful, deliciously EVIL villain that’s worth selling a bunch of toys about. Nothing about this movie screams “kids merchandising” which was the very point of Buzz Lightyear as a concept in the Toy Story movies. “But hey, at least the animation’s good, so that makes it a good movie right?” Cars 2 had great animation, do you still think it’s a good movie?
Overall this movie was nothing more than a consumer-friendly product. This is a film that really grinds my gears the more I think about it; it’s the kind of film that shows you just how much greed plays into what movie studios decide to give the proper theatrical treatment to. I’m not a big fan of the past few films that Pixar released as of late, but at least films like Luca and Turning Red fit in line with what Pixar has always been known for: character-driven stories that every age can enjoy accompanied by gorgeous animation. Lightyear is a forgettable product that lacks what makes Pixar so renowned; they shoot for infinity, but don’t even bother to make the effort to go beyond.
Final Verdict: 4/10