Sequels, spin-offs, reboots, legacy sequels, requels (credit to this year’s Scream). They’re all the rage. So it makes sense that Disney and Pixar would eventually dip back into the Toy Story well (well, dip back into the well again, to be fair). So where does Lightyear fit into this? When the project was first announced, lots of the discussions centered around this very question. And it was all pretty confusing. Is the Buzz Lightyear toy based off a real-life astronaut in the Toy Story universe? That’s what it sounded like. But in reality, the toy was based off a movie within the Toy Story movie. In other words, Lightyear was a movie that Andy would have watched, sparking the Buzz Lightyear merchandise craze.
It’s kind of an odd set-up that makes expectations a little hard to gauge. Focus was on who this Buzz is instead of the actual movie itself. And this part of it all is entirely inconsequential. So it’s best to leave that at the door and just enjoy Lightyear as an independent movie on its own. Don’t focus on the fact that it’s tangentially a Toy Story movie.
Lightyear finds the titular Space Ranger (voiced by Chris Evans) marooned on a hostile planet millions of lightyears from home after a mission goes wrong. He works with his best friend and superior officer Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) to fix their spaceship and get everyone back home. Things take another turn, though, when they discover a new wrinkle after Buzz returns from his first test mission.
Every time he leaves the planet to try to reach hyperspeed, he experiences it as mere minutes while it’s years for everyone back on the their new (hopefully temporary) home. Buzz is effectively travelling into the future. The “how” of this is quickly glossed over, without much of an explanation. You can get the gist of it, but it feels like the writers couldn’t come up with a fully fleshed out idea that they liked, so they just threw this on the page and said, “Eh, good enough.”
It’s nothing that breaks the movie, but it’s unfortunate that something so critical to the main plot received such little time and thought. It’s also likely to be confusing for the kids in the audience.
With failed attempt after failed attempt, everyone Buzz knew passes on, after having lived full lives in their unexpected new environment. But for Buzz, it’s only been a fraction of a fraction of that. He’s a man out of space and time.
After Buzz returns from one fateful trip, he finds the planet under the attack of robots, commanded by the menacing Zurg, who fans no doubt remember from the Toy Story series. This presents new challenges, but also new opportunities for Buzz to finally finish his mission. Upon this return, he teams up with Alisha’s granddaughter Izzy (Keke Palmer), Mo Morrison (Taika Waititi), and Darby Steele (Dale Soules), junior recruits, Space Ranger wannabes. A crack team they are not.
After the two Incredibles, Lightyear is probably the most action-packed Pixar film. And that’s part of where it shines. It’s gorgeously animated, as you would expect, and that really comes to life in the action sequences. But it might focus a little too much on this aspect, at the expense of the story. In that regard, Lightyear isn’t anything special. It’s pretty generic and formulaic. I’m not saying every movie has to give us some brand new narrative we’ve never seen before. But an attempt to show audiences something new would have been appreciated. Every beat felt like another check mark in the “hero origin story” ledger.
Never is that felt more than with a third act twist/reveal. I’ll have to talk around it so as not to spoil the big moment. But it doesn’t really make any sense. Not at least how the movie tries to explain it. Just like with the first mention of time travel, this could be especially confusing for the droves of kids who are sure to see this movie. The twist (you’ll know what this is referring to as soon as you see it) also felt completely unnecessary to the story. The ultimate resolution and lessons learned would have landed just the same without it.
And when Lightyear does take a beat to slow down a little bit, it’s almost always to focus on the same thing over and over again: teamwork is good. This is hammered home almost right away, and we come back to it countless times. Where the late twist is left unexplained, this part is over-explained.
But thankfully we have a great cast of characters to help make up for these shortcomings. Buzz is Buzz, who a large of section of the audience will have an already-established connection to. And Chris Evans is fantastic in taking over for Tim Allen. Uzo Aduba is a terrific match and is a big part of some of the more emotional moments. Keke Palmer and the rest of the supporting voice cast all prove their worth, but there are two that stick out above the rest.
Taika Waititi plays pretty much exactly the type of character you would expect Taika Waititi to play in a Pixar movie. He’s constant comic relief. I can see him wearing out his welcome for some. But it worked for me. And then there’s the true star of the movie: Sox, Buzz’s emotional support robot cat (voiced by Peter Sohn). If you’ve been following any of the social media chatter about this movie, then you’ve no doubt seen universal praise for Sox. And it’s warranted and then some.
From his introduction, everything Sox does rules. He’s hilarious, creative, dangerous, thoughtful, helpful in every conceivable way. Pixar – and Disney as a whole – is known for creating beloved animal sidekick characters, and Sox should instantly shoot to the top – the very top or near it – of any “Best” lists. And Sohn’s pitch-perfect delivery is just the cherry on top.
But with so many great side characters, it’s our lead, Buzz, who gets the short shrift, at least from a character development standpoint. It’s an odd choice that doesn’t allow the ending to hit as hard as it should. Buzz is in nearly every second of the movie, so seeing him progress the least feels a bit disappointing.
All in all, Lightyear is mid-pack Pixar, which is still a pretty good movie. It speaks to their track record that this could even possibly qualify as disappointing. But that’s what happens when your studio is responsible for some of the best animated movies ever made. But Lightyear still hits several of the Pixar hallmarks. Characters, visual appeal, humor, that’s all there, and it’s enough to overcome a rather bland story.
Score: 83/100
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