Lightyear Review

Toy Story was the film that showed Pixar was a studio to be reckoned with. One of the most popular characters was Buzz Lightyear and the Space Ranger which has earned a spin-off film.

Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans) and a crew of space colonisers get stranded on another planet after Buzz accidentally crashed the ship. Buzz tries to make amends by being a test pilot for experimental lightspeed fuel, leading Buzz to experience time dilation, where time slows down the closer someone moves to the speed of light. After one test flights too many Buzz discovers the colony has been attacked by alien robots. Buzz, along with a ragtag team of rangers are the only hope to save the colony.

The Toy Story series is one of Pixar’s most well-regarded. The original trilogy was a critically acclaimed series of films. Toy Story 3 breaking the billion-dollar barrier. Toy Story 3 acted as a perfect end to the franchise because it showed Andy saying goodbye to toys and giving them to another child to play with. However, Toy Story 4 was a sequel too many because it undercut this ending and showed Woody being ignored by his new owner.

There was a risk that Lightyear could be seen as Pixar and Disney trying to milk the franchise dry. The opening weekend box-office has been disappointing, and it has a 75% rating on Rotten Tomatoes which is low by Pixar’s standard. The score on IMDB is even lower, but there is a caveat because certain audiences have been vocally hostile to Lightyear because it was trying to be ‘woke.’

Buzz Lightyear has been the subject of spin-offs before. In the early noughties there was a Saturday Morning Cartoon and a straight-to-video film. A film about the character could be a fun space adventure since he was a space cop who was taking on villains, criminals, and monsters from across the universe. However, Lightyear was a smaller scale film than expected. The setup involves the Space Rangers following protocol and seeing if a planet has signs of intelligent life. It was like a Star Trek episode or the first Alien movie.

Most of the film takes place on and around one planet and it was more about characters trying to escape using science and mathematics. The credits for the film highlighted that Pixar consulted NASA, physicists, and mathematicians, and the astronaut Tim Peake had a voice cameo. The first half of the film was focused on the colonists trying to make master faster-than-light space and exploring concepts of theoretical physics. It was like a family-friendly version of Interstellar.

It’s commendable that Pixar was trying to make these ideas accessible to a younger audience and encourage an interest in science. Yet, the story that was created for Lightyear was a repeat of Lost in Space. There was a revelation in the film that brought back memories of the 1998 film. When the alien robots appeared in the second act the story became a lot more basic. The characters went on quests to get important items for a daring mission. It lost a lot of the awe and wonder of the first act.

Pixar has a reputation for making emotionally powerful films. Toy Story 2 and 3, Wall-E, Up, Inside Out, and Coco can make grown men well up with tears. Lightyear tried to replicate the montage in Up by showing Buzz constantly going on test flights and everyone around him growing older as he stays the same age. It was one of the best sequences in the film because it showed people living their lives and Buzz was missing out.

The film was also sending two major morals. The first was about people owning up to their mistakes but they shouldn’t let them define them. Buzz spends so much time trying to rectify his mistake that he missed out on time with his friends. The other moral was about being willing to ask for help and let people in. Buzz tries to do everything by himself. He refused to ask for help from others even when they were offering and he was in situations he couldn’t handle by himself.

The main concern for most audiences would be is Lightyear entertaining? And for the most part the answer is yes. Like most Pixar films, Lightyear has a high standard of animation, and considering the sci-fi story there were excellent designs and fun action-adventure sequences. The nine-year-old inside me did enjoy the action-adventure sequences like the use of the electric machetes and the battles with the robots.

Tonally, Lightyear was more serious than expected. It was a throwback to the post-Dark Knight era of cinema where everyone was trying to be ‘dark and gritty.’ But there was still humour in the film with Sox (Peter Sohn) the robot feline being the highlight. He was a sweet, intelligent, and deadpan creation and as a cat lover it was funny to see Sox act like a moggy.

Lightyear has caused some controversy. The first involved the casting of Chris Evans as Buzz. Many fans have associated Tim Allen with the role and some have perceived the recasting being done because of Allen’s conservative briefs and he had been cancelled. However, Allen is a comedian and nearly 70, so a younger voice wasn’t unwelcome. Plus, Allen is a Santa Claus miniseries for Disney+, so Disney hasn’t cancelled the actor.

The other controversy involved the film having a same-sex couple. Some conservative commentators have complained that a same-sex kiss is inappropriate for a family and socially conservative nations have banned the film. However, in the film the same-sex kiss was brief and it was shown between a married couple who had a child. For more liberal-minded this was a positive move because it showed families can come in different forms and Disney actually showed a same-sex relationship in a major film. It was shown briefly and didn’t affect the story.

Amidst the pantheon of Pixar back catalogue Lightyear was a lesser film. There were action thrills and entertainment value for people to enjoy but as a story, Lightyear was underwhelming.