Lightyear Review

Directed By: Angus MacLane
Written By: Jason Headley and Angus MacLane
Runtime: 100 minutes
MPA Rating: Rated PG for action/peril

Chris Evans – Buzz Lightyear
Peter Sohn – Sox
Keke Palmer – Izzy Hawthorne
Uzo Aduba – Alisha Hawthorne
Dale Soules – Darby Steel
Taika Waititi – Mo Morrison
Isiah Whitlock Jr. – Commander Burnside
Bill Hader – Featheringhamstan
James Brolin – Zurg
Mary McDonald-Lewis – I.V.A.N.
Angus MacLane – DERIC/Zyclops

Pixar finally returns to the big screen for the first time since 2020’s Onward with Lightyear. Lightyear is a spinoff of sorts for the Toy Story series. The film is presented with the concept that it is the in-universe movie that inspired Buzz Lightyear toy given to Andy in 1995’s Toy Story. The premise that Lightyear is a movie within the world of Toy Story differs from the idea that the marketing materials previously portrayed for the picture. Mixed marketing messaging aside, Lightyear is still a worthy addition to the Pixar library, and it is a poignant, sci-fi action-adventure.

This is somewhat familiar ground for Pixar, considering the Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins animated, direct-to-video movie released in 2000. That film featured an introduction by the familiar characters of Andy’s toybox from Toy Story. The message was simple. Buzz Lightyear is a popular superhero who has lots of ancillary media. The Star Command cartoon was one such movie. Lightyear essentially acts as a big-screen reboot of the past Star Command animated feature and series, which were both highly underrated for their time.

For this adventure, Buzz Lightyear (Evans) is already a seasoned Space Ranger captain aboard an exploration mission. Buzz and his commander, Alisha Hawthorne (Aduba) stop on a habitable planet that shows signs of life. After the local flora and fauna of the world prove inhospitable to humans, Lightyear and Hawthorne have to make a hasty escape aboard their mothership, nicknamed the Turnip. Lightyear’s rash actions cause him and his crew to be marooned on the hostile alien planet millions of lightyears from Earth. Their hyperdrive engine is fried, so their only recourse is to adapt what technology they have available to the alien planet and find the right crystal fuel mixture to create and reach the necessary hyperspace speed to safely return to planet Earth.

Buzz is chosen as the pilot for the hyperdrive fuel test flights. Unfortunately, the fuel tests are highly volatile. Whenever Lightyear returns from a test flight, it creates a time dilation. Buzz’s ship travels so quickly, mere minutes of time pass for him, but years pass on the alien planet. Despite the setbacks, Buzz is determined to see his mission through at any cost. However, after Buzz’s latest test flight with a proper crystal fuel mixture, thanks to decades of analysis by Buzz’s robot cat companion Sox (Sohn), a new threat arrives on the planet from the robotic threat, Zurg (Brolin). Now, it’s up to Buzz and a ragtag crew of aspiring rangers to stop Zurg and save the other human colonists.

Lightyear‘s framing device is an underwhelming mess. The concept is rather familiar, rehashed material. Yet, director Angus MacLane and writer Jason Headley have managed to craft a compelling, heartwarming space adventure that has so much going for it.

The first half of the movie centers around Buzz’s determination to right his mistake and find a proper crystal fuel that will achieve hyperspace flight. The genuine melancholy over Buzz’s lost time is shown in a beautiful, bittersweet montage sequence. The poignant montage depicts Buzz performing multiple test flight missions. Sadly, Buzz remains young while his friends and their families grow older. Suddenly, a whole lifetime has passed. Buzz sees pieces of Alisha’s happy life and marriage. The montage sequence packs an emotional gut punch that only Pixar and a few other studios can achieve in either animation or live-action.

Much like the Star Command animated series, Buzz also reluctantly gains a crew of cadets to lead into battle. However, this group is all human descendants of the Turnip passengers: Izzy Hawthorne (Palmer), the granddaughter of Buzz’s longtime friend and commander, who has a crippling fear of space; Darby Steel, a convicted parolee; and Mo Morrison (Waititi), who is enthusiastic, but incompetent when it comes to battle and tactics. Buzz’s ragtag crew are all perfectly voiced and cast and they play off of Buzz well as he must adjust to leading a team and realizing he doesn’t have to do everything on his own.

Of course, the outcome and moral messaging are predictable, but they are at least executed with aplomb. The sci-fi time travel aspects are where Lightyear finds its true emotional resonance. The action-adventure angle is derivative and predictable, but it is still entertaining to watch.

Zurg is the least interesting aspect of the story, and his reveal is also rather disappointing. In Toy Story 2 and even the Star Command animated series, Zurg was a much more fun, entertaining presence. That was missing in action here. The story hints at wider interstellar aspects that warrant further exploration. Considering this was a way to explore a proper origin story for the fictional Buzz Lightyear and Zurg, it would have been nice to see an homage to the Little Green Men as well, along with some of the other alien races, planets, and characters introduced in Star Command. Granted, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command was a short-lived series, so Pixar and Angus MacLane probably were not thinking too hard about rewarding fans who enjoyed that show.

Sox is the film’s unabashed scene-stealer, and he elevates every scene he’s in. Peter Sohn’s performance as Sox is impeccable and continues Pixar’s long tradition of exceptional in-house casting for some of the studio’s most memorable characters. Sohn has been an animator, artist, and voice actor for many past Pixar features, also directing The Good Dinosaur. However, Sox is his funniest, most entertaining performance to date.

Angus MacLane and his animation team clearly had a good time envisioning the world of Lightyear, building upon the meager concepts of the Buzz Lightyear world presented in the past Toy Story features. There are some amusing homages and connections to Lightyear’s character in the original film. It was especially fascinating to see a recreation of Buzz’s domed helmet POV shot from the first Toy Story film given new life here.

The Pixar animators created an incredible, immersive world here. The interstellar world of Lightyear has stunning depth and scope. The animation is the art form for the story. The characters are so vibrant and lifelike, and the environments are created with such stunning detail, that it’s easy to forget that this film is a CG-animated feature. But that’s really a standard in quality that Pixar has set on multiple occasions.

Thankfully, the film is not an endless procession of Toy Story references. Lightyear does find its heart and identity through Buzz’s dynamic with his new cadets and Sox. The strength of Lightyear lies in its interesting sci-fi concepts that present genuine heartfelt emotions.

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

Despite a rather underwhelming framing device and some predictably rehashed story tropes, Lightyear is truly a better film than many give it credit for. Evans does a fantastic job offering an alternative take on this version of Buzz Lightyear. The film features an excellent voice cast of charming characters. Buzz's dynamic with his new cadets is the heart of the film, and once they are together, Lightyear finds its stride. Elsewhere, there are some surprisingly exceptional moments of emotional melancholy and loss through an interesting sci-fi concept. Despite some of the more predictable elements, Pixar's presentation of a sci-fi action-adventure story like this is quite exciting because it looks fantastic. Although the story is predictable at times, the characters are always charming and entertaining. Also, Sox is the true star of this picture. He is worth the full price of admission alone. One last thing: it is highly advised to stay through all the credits.