Lightyear Review

 For a year and a half, ever since the project was announced on Disney's Investor Day amidst the chaos of 2020, there was no other movie I was more anticipated about seeing in theatres more than Lightyear. This movie announcement seemed like the very thing that would go to Infinity and Beyond with all the special qualities I crave in certain media. With it's promises of gritty, action-oriented animation, science fiction genre and setting, honorable main hero against his/her threatening and sometimes even tragic villain, and last but not least, spaceships, Spaceships, SPACESHIPS!!!!! Other than what, Lego Movie 2, I honestly can't recollect on when a recent animated movie has attempted to pull all of this off. While I was anticipated for this movie to come out in theatres where it belongs, crowds of people where divided on the features very existence. Now, I can certainly understand where this outrage is coming at. It's a movie that seems very unnecessary after Pixar finally put their play things away with Toy Story 4. Not to mention the iconic role of Buzz not being played by Tim Allen, instead being played by Chris Evans. And of course, there was a rather bizarre crowd that feels like the movie was Marxist or too left-leaning politically or just a crazy sin against God. However, even with the heaps of negative backlash it has received these past weeks, I had hope that this movie would give me the satisfaction I was after, the quench of more action-oriented mainstream animated films to be spread to the likeness of child and adult alike. So, after my viewing, how exactly did this movie go?

​

So first, I would like to go into a major factor of the movie for a brief moment. Your free to think whatever you want about it, call it a cash grab, nostalgia bait or whatever. However, one thing I strongly refrain from is saying that this is just another Toy Story movie. Cause, that was never the case when making this. Saying Lightyear's another Toy Story movie is like saying Joker's another Batman movie. Only particularly with Lightyear, that could NOT be further from the truth. It's more of a story of the man behind the toy. Something focusing solely on a real Buzz Lightyear, not on the idea of toys coming to life. Lightyear was specifically stated in the beginning as the piece of fiction within the Toy Story universe that gave Andy the desire to own a Buzz Lightyear action figure. Honestly, I kind of wish that the team at Pixar kept that statement out of the movie. As this really diminishes Lightyear's chances of being open to the audiences interpretation of the film and sort of relies on it being tied to the ever successful Toy Story franchise in an obvious way. Could have been better if it was just another interpretation of the Buzz Lightyear we know and love, just as an actual space ranger of Star Command. However, that still didn't make this movie that bad.

​

Okay, so let's start off with some weaker elements of this movie. One of the first poor choices would have to be the  pacing of events, bits of the story and a reliance on Toy Story references. While I can admire the attempt to jump right into the action, with a couple of Toy Story reference lines just so the fanbase can be like, "Ah, he said it!", there has to be a better starting point. This movie just goes right into the major mission of exploring a new planet. There is no actual back story on Buzz wanting to be a space ranger or going through personal experiences that defined him in the past, and I feel like this is a missed opportunity, if your marketing this as a story of the real Buzz Lightyear, don't you think the audience would get invested in how this hero came to be before this expedition. This is later told to us as the film progresses, but it could have been better if it was actually shown to us through flashbacks and/or a montage. Even when Buzz tries to pilot these advanced spaceship models to successfully try to get his people off the alien planet, the way each of them fail to do so is just repetitive and way too quick to catch attention. You could have had each ship fail in a different way, then perfecting those flaws with a newer model only for a new weakness to pop up in flight, allowing for further improvement. While I did like the disgruntled interactions Buzz has with the autopilot in his piloting time, it will also seem too quick. Certain action sequences can give mixed results of satisfaction, with half of them seeming too slow and clunky, whereas the scenes with buzz actually piloting a ship can be too quick and sudden for viewers to catch a breath. I can admire a willing to get the plot going without slowing down, but this movie just needs to know when it's appropriate. The time dilation acts are great, very reminiscent of certain Sci-fi movies and books, but they can also go too quick and when they are explained, the explanation feels so artificial. And no, the fact that the dilation and future events are explained through actual robots is no excuse.

​

While pacing and story is half-baked, Lightyear makes up for this in areas such as animation (as usual for Pixar), crafting likeable characters and even more enticing character dynamics, stellar themes that can be relatable to anyone, great humor and a surprising second half of the story that caught me off by so much shock, I actually stopped eating my popcorn halfway through to give full attention to what I was watching when the twist occurred on screen.

​

Starting with the animation, once again, Pixar tries there hardest to go for a more realistic style. Similar to both Toy Story 4 and Soul, only with Lightyear, there seems to be a bit more of a focus on a fusion of gritty, natural color palettes and somewhat advanced, yet familiar, Sci-fi elements. One thing is for certain, if your wanting to see a flick with bright colors and happy visuals, you've come to the wrong viewing. The most color you're going to get is when Buzz goes into Hyperspace, and even then it isn't too bright or saturated. While I do admire this type of style being put into Pixar projects, I will admit that the visuals could be better with a bit more detail and somewhat more stylization. Particularly in character design, aside from Zurg and Sox, the rest of the characters do look distinguishable, but could just use a bit more of an overall change in art direction to have them really pop off the big screen. Maybe a homely, yet dark style that could match what 2D cartoons where doing at the time this came out. Which, if you watch the opening, was fictitiously set back in 1995, starting Andy's desire to have a Buzz of his own. I would have loved to see Buzz Lightyear with a similar look of say,  Batman: The Animated Series, or upgrade it's darker, heavier intensity in it's atmosphere like with Gargoyles. While there is certainly better work in visuals from other movies Pixar has made, it's still pretty good.

​

There is a lot to unpackage with this movie in it's characters. One thing I really wanted out of this movie, was to give me an actual Buzz Lightyear movie. Let me explain, we had other characters in this movie which where not part of the Toy Story universe. Characters we were not familiar with. I was afraid this movie would go down the trend Star Wars had gone down in it's sequels. That fear of focusing on uninteresting people who we rarely know or care about. Rest assured, that is not the case with Lightyear. It is an actual Buzz focused movie, while at the same time, focusing heavily on character interactions that can make the movie interesting, and still focused on it's plot. However,  Buzz himself can be a mixed bag in terms of his character. While there is a bit of fan controversy in replacing the iconic Tim Allen as the titular space ranger, you do have to remember that is a different Buzz from what we are used to. Also, while not as memorable as Allen's performance in Toy Story, I will give Chris Evans this. He knows how to really get into character. He does feel like at the very least a familiar Buzz Lightyear. Dare I say, he even sounds like one. So much, that it can work against the character he is playing. Major nit-picks come more from how Buzz can be animated a little less energetic or emotional, and he can be a bit corny with his constant mission logs. There can also be some sense of the typical "I work alone" character arc he needs to get through. However, I will give credit that Buzz is still a determined hero. He is willing to get the job done even at the risks of missing everything that goes on with the people he knows through being left in the dust by the time dilation every time he attempts to complete his mission of finding a way to get his people back home. Against every constant failure, the events he misses in his dear friends life and constant hauntings of his past mistakes. I love how it's not necessarily his recklessness, but his solidarity and pride that get in his way at times. While his people are marooned because of him, he takes responsibility for his actions and tries to make it right. I also commend the writing staff at Pixar for making a hero who doesn't act immature, too comical or tries to be hip with the kids like certain super hero based material does nowadays. This is not the traditional Buzz that we all know and love, but he is still a sight to behold, and a character people can aspire to be like, regardless of his flaws. I wanted a Buzz Lightyear movie, that was clearly given to me, but another great trait is the extra characters and how they interact with Buzz.

​

First off, we have Alicia Hawthorne. The friend of Buzz who sadly dies after his multiple flight attempts into hyperspace due to the time dilation. While she is rarely in the movie, her life moving along without Buzz does pack somewhat of an emotional beat. I say somewhat, because the pacing does get in the way so much it feels like I went through time dilation, for better or for worst. It is nice to see after the years and decades go by, as Alicia ages and moves on with her life, gets married, has a kid, kisses her wife in a way that was "oh, so propagative" as others say. Seriously, I'm no social justice warrior, but I do think people went too far with their outrage on this. Their is nothing wrong with simply acknowledging the existence of homosexuality. But enough of that, what I do like is how they use both Alicia and Buzz to utter the phrase, "To Infinity and Beyond" as a sign of their friendship. It gets us invested in both characters, regardless of their screen time. Showing that those words have evolved from an iconic line, to a sign of earnest friendship between two unlikely people. Another character we can all agree carries a ton of the film's heart, humor and likeability is the robot cat himself, Sox. Voiced by Peter Sohn as just one of the outstanding vocal performers, while emotion in him is also limited by animation, he makes up for this in a ton of great moments. Not only is he cute and funny, he is always their for Buzz, helping him out, providing a ton of useful gadgets and above all, being their for him even when Alicia passes and he gropes with Alicia's death and everything else that has changed around him. I do want to have the least amount of spoilers as possible, so please, if you don't want to see this as an IP grab, see it if you want to experience some crazy fun moments and dialogue with Sox.

​

As we continue with major characters, as Buzz eventually does launch into hyperspace successfully, he is greeted to a band of freedom fighters willing to fight the latest Alien invasion of the hostile planet and it's colony. First, we get introduced to Izzy, Alicia's granddaughter. She was briefly seen as a kid with Alicia, just before her passing, but now she has grown into the woman we have seen in the flick's promotional material. The interactions between Buzz and his new friend, who just so happens to be related to his old one, is an interesting site to behold. I do like how Buzz takes the fact that Izzy is a Hawthorne, yet runs into some complications with her since she is a little different from the way her Grandmother was in personality. One example would be how Buzz states that him and Alicia where so in sync they could practically finish each other's sentences. Yet, with Izzy, there is an attempt to do that, but it usually misfires throughout the film. Showing us that this isn't the exact person Buzz knew in his missions as a space ranger. One great example of this is when he utters the phrase, "To Infinity...", reaching out his finger certain that Izzy will complete the famous statement. Only for her to think of it as an old pull my finger gag. This may be a bit juvenile in taste, but it is an honest misunderstanding that assures Buzz that Izzy is a completely different person in a completely different time that he was once familiar with. Creating great subtle fish out of water moments by genuinely establishing the past Buzz was a part of before. There is also a somewhat compelling bit with Izzy wanting to be a space ranger like Buzz, ever since she was little nonetheless, only to have a paralyzing fear of the cosmos. This isn't like with Disney's Planes where a character was initially built as what they are and have an unreasonable fear because it's needed to complicate the plot. Izzy is no starship, she is a human being. And we all have desires and aspirations in life, only for fears to get in the way. Even then, this fear isn't brought up too much, so it isn't obnoxious. One complaint though is that her fear seems to be resolved very easily just through one jump into space. It can be a compelling scene, somewhat reminiscent of Gravity only it's intended for children as well as adults, but fear shouldn't usually work like that. Fear takes much more time and experience to get over.

​

Mo and Darby also work nicely with their character dynamic, particularly with the actual people voicing them. However, if we analyze the two of them separately, they can seem very generic. Darby is just the typical senior with a history of breaking the rules and a knack for causing destruction. While Mo is a cowardly quitter who just happens to be there because he misunderstood what he was getting into. I just like to think of them together better because, aside from Sox, they can be the funniest characters with their interactions at times. They give me some C-3PO and R2-D2 vibes, only both being human. One instant I do like with Mo is that he has this Pen installed in his Star Command armor when the team gets equipped in an old hangar. It might seem useless, but how it eventually saves everyone in a minute, yet essential way, did give me a chuckle with the character's delivery. 

​

Finally for major characters, we have the Evil Emperor Zurg serving as our antagonist for the film. Now, I have seen Zurg before as a menacing threat, yet also as a bit of a goofier villain when you compare him to say, Lotso from Toy Story 3. Well, exactly like Buzz, in more ways than you think, this Zurg is the real menacing villain, just without any comical moments. Which is debatable based on what you want out of an antagonist. For me, I liked this interpretation of Zurg. I adore when a villain can come across as an intense threat, when the villain can be a fighter, yet also have enough wit to plan out his/her attack. I especially love the design of this Zurg. Sure, the design team could have made him more like the actual toy, but they sacrificed that for a truly dark and foreboding design. Zurg is almost completely dark purple, with bits of blood red and metallic coloring for contrast, and what I really like about this design is HIS LEGS!!! They actually gave Zurg legs, it feels like such a better design choice than just giving him that cylinder below his mid-section, making him look like an anthropomorphic bowling pin. While I will always view the original Zurg as a classic character, there is no doubt that I enjoyed this interpretation. And, as usual for Disney, there is a twist to the robotic foe. Now, Disney has been heavily criticized recently with twist villains, whether for failed attempts at establishing motivations for them, obvious nudges to their betrayal of the protagonist or just plain over-saturation of them in their films. While all that is true, this twist to Zurg really caught me off guard. You know how in Toy Story 2 there was that Star Wars reference with the utility belt Buzz and Zurg. Well, let's just call that a humorously successful pop-culture reference because it's not shown in Lightyear. While not his father, Zurg is someone much closer to Buzz. Though, honestly, it would have been better if there was a clearer explanation for this twist. With all that, the twist does propel forward the intensity, Buzz's character arc and especially the major themes of this movie. 

​

Now let's talk about the themes in Lightyear, because there are a few of them. One major theme that goes into the writing is the choice of whether to adapt and make due with the cards life has played you, or go back to the way things were before. This is especially prevalent with both the marooned people on their planet and the movie's heavy usage of time-travel based themes. While Buzz is off piloting various models of spaceships to make sure his people can get back to Earth, the people themselves haven't really minded being stranded all that much. There isn't too much danger on the new planet, especially none that is too Earth-shattering. Especially since, as time progresses, a huge force field is planned to surround the colony. Now, there isn't much done with the idea of the force field, per say but it can feel like it does mean something. I feel as if the colony and it's force field could resemble staying sheltered in a now familiar environment vs. the idea of being able to vastly explore new lands, or the sense of safety vs. the sense of adventure. Unfortunately, the idea of that isn't explored as much in other themes or character arcs, so we don't get as much out of the force field vs. vast exploration idea. Which I feel is both a blessing and a curse. Curse being that it's wasted potential, blessing being not using the ideas and themes to separate itself from another post-apocalyptic space opera from Pixar from the late 2000's, WALL-E. A film which also had a major theme of exploration vs. safety in mind.

​

One theme that really goes into this movie, separating from most of Pixar's library, is the ability to move on. Because that's what Buzz struggles with throughout the film. Not just in regretting his insane mistake of stranding a bunch of people on this foreign ellipsoid, but the fact that he missed his best friend's entire life go by, the fact that she is now gone forever, the fact that there are some people who might never see what they love about Earth again. Lightyear combats the idea that you make mistakes and that bad things happen through the idea of willing to change. Whether we like to admit it or not, nobody is invincible. However, anybody can be adaptable. With every mistake, every setback, every breaking point, there is the ability to mend that point and move forward, making the best out of bad situations, while also looking at what those situations have gained you from time to time. Through it's twist, Lightyear also shows you that how obsessing about the past and even wanting to go back to those older, simpler times can really hurt you in the long run. This moral isn't held to the highest regards due to the movie's pacing and some elements of it's execution. However, the message is clear and understandable to anyone, don't put too much attention on your past or you'll forget about what's important in the now.

​

There is also the theme of legacy and cooperation between different individuals. After his successful jump into hyperspace, fast forwarding over 20 more years into the future, Buzz has to pass down the torch to a new team of space rangers that he leads in this movie. However, they are not as experienced as him and are nothing like him whatsoever. Now this is definitely a plot point that has been done before in multiple other movies. But again, what really propels this forward, other than the out of this world voice cast, is Buzz trying his hardest to make due with the people he has around him. The interactions and dynamics between the characters really makes everything count. But also, particularly with Izzy, there is the theme of legacy. Buzz does put her high up on the level her Grandmother was on. This puts some tremendous pressure on Izzy as her internal conflict. Passing the torch to new, even familiar people, can be a daunting task. That is shown through the dialogue and actions of Buzz and his team. And there is certainly a sense of feeling his struggle to cooperate with the rookies. Sure, they are the typical unexperienced people who just get better acquainted after succeeding some perils, but, once again, the voice acting and dynamics between characters really carry their likeability on screen. Also, back to Izzy's struggle with her legacy, while it can feel slightly wasted and half-baked like the story, when it is there, you definitely feel it in a character who both honors and innovates the Hawthorne legacy. I only wish there where a bit more of a difference between Izzy and her Grandmother in personality, to really seal that innovation.

​

I remember something Woody tells Buzz in the first Toy Story, "Being a toy is much better than being a space ranger", and, yeah, the story of toys is much better than that of the real heroes in this movie. However, that would be pretty hard to top from one of, if not, the best franchise in animation. And that still does not make this movie bad. Feel free to listen to the fact that Lightyear is not Pixar's best work, but please experience it for yourself before you say that you hate it. Because, while I was expecting more, what I got was good enough. And that's perfectly fine for me. What really gets me going for Lightyear, is another step in the right direction for more emphasis on a side of animation people might think went dead a long time ago. That being the idea of action-based animation. The animation side that, sure, can be used to make a profit with toy sales and can be a little dreary at times with being all gloom and doom. But honestly, those clichés are the least of my worries in entertainment. I at least get invested of what a blend between art and business appeal can tell with stuff like Transformers or Star Wars cartoons. And, while not as great, Lightyear gave me a bit of a similar experience. While some more official movie critic sites may be quick to give Lightyear a 6 or even 7 out of 10 if they are being nice. I'm giving this a solid 8 out of 10. Giving this the same kind of hope Lightyear can give to action cartoons what Detective Pikachu or the Sonic Movies give to Video Game based movies. We don't have to think the same about movies, but if you're into Sci-fi action and concepts, slightly more grim atmosphere and just happen to be a Toy Story fan, please give Lightyear a shot. It really needs our support to truly go to both Infinity and Beyond.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​