REVIEW: Lightyear Doesn’t Quite Take You to Infinity and Beyond
In 1995, audiences across the world were introduced to a Space Ranger by the name of Buzz Lightyear in Pixar Animations’ very first picture, Toy Story. In the movie, Buzz Lightyear is gifted to his owner, Andy on his birthday. Buzz would go on to change the life of not only Andy, but another toy hanging around Andy’s room, Woody the Cowboy. The success of Toy Story, and the characters of Buzz and Woody, would lead to three sequels, Buzz’s own animated TV series, and so much more. Now, Disney and Pixar is gearing up to tell the story behind the legendary Space Ranger and why he was the toy Andy just had to have way back in 1995 in their newest feature, Lightyear.
Lightyear follows Buzz Lightyear as he travels through space as a Star Command Space Ranger. At the beginning of the film, we find Buzz (voiced by Chris Evans) and his partner, Commander Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) investigating a new planet when they come under attack by its very inhabitants. As they try to escape, the fuel cell to their ship is damaged and they, along with their crew, are left grounded on this strange planet. With the safety of their crew in their hands, Lightyear and Hawthorne now must find a way to fix the fuel cell and complete their mission, to get everyone safety home. However, that is easier said than done for when they begin flight testing the new cells, and realize that Buzz is being sent to the future each time he takes a trip. This information doesn’t stop the Space Ranger from completing his mission, but Buzz ultimately finds himself embarking on a new mission, with a new team, and a new villain he has to face when all is said and done.
To start off, Lightyear is not a Toy Story movie. If you go in with that mindset, the movie will be completely ruined for you. The movie is supposed to be the movie Andy originally saw; that made him want the Buzz Lightyear toy. With that being said, I am not 100% sure that this movie would have gotten Andy all hyped for the toy. Director/writer Angus MacLane’s story is very much focused on the space ranger but it doesn’t create enough hype to warrant a child’s obsession over the space ranger. The story, instead, is very much about teamwork and the ability to accept help when needed, but it doesn’t truly answer the overall question, what made Andy love this character enough to complete shelf Woody for the Buzz.
Chris Evans steps in to voice Buzz Lightyear, and though I would have loved to seen Tim Allen reprise the character, Evans does a nice job bringing to life the Space Ranger. If you have followed any of Evans’ previous work, there are moments throughout that will remind you that this is indeed Chris Evans and not Buzz Lightyear. It’s in those moments where I wished he had added a little more inflection or emotion into his lines, but overall he manages to make the character his own. However, it does take some time to forget that it is Evans voicing the character but about halfway through the movie you become less focused on that and more focused with what is happening on screen.
Evans is joined in the movie by Aduba, Keke Palmer (Izzy Hawthorne), Peter Sohn (Sox), James Brolin (Emperor Zurg), Taika Waititi as (Mo Morrison), and Dale Soules (Darby Steel). All are good as their respective characters but it is Sohn’s Sox that steals the movie. The animatronic cat has some of the best lines in the movie and will be the character that everyone will be talking about when all is said and done.
Is Lightyear the best Pixar movie, no, but it’s definitely not the worst. This one lands in about the middle of the pact for me. The movie has a couple of callbacks to the Toy Story movies and three end credits scenes, so be prepared to sit until the very last credit rolls. If you are looking for a movie that will live up to the hype of Toy Story, this move is not for you. If you are looking for a movie that will keep you entertained from start to finish, I recommend checking this one out in theaters or when it hits Disney+ later this year.
Grade: B