While spending years attempting to return home, marooned Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear encounters an army of ruthless robots commanded by Zurg, who are attempting to steal his fuel source.
Remember what Woody said in the first “Toy Story” film, “Hey, guys, look, it’s the real Buzz Lightyear!” The real Buzz Lightyear would have been heavily annoyed by that insult. You’re probably wondering if this is another “Toy Story” movie; it’s not. This movie is about the origins of the famous astronaut Buzz Lightyear before becoming the greatest action figure ever in the “Toy Story” films. Executive produced by Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter, “Lightyear” features Chris Evans in the titular role. And also, to be clear, actor Tim Allen will still voice Buzz Lightyear as a toy in future films and media as the filmmakers wanted to focus on bringing a fresh new take on the Buzz Lightyear persona.
“Lightyear” focuses on the space ranger Buzz Lightyear on his newest intergalactic adventure. As he does so, he, alongside ambitious recruits Izzy (Keke Palmer), Mo (Taika Waititi), Darby (Dale Soules), and his robot companion, Sox (Peter Sohn). As the crew embarks on their most challenging mission, they must learn how to work together as a team to get home safely while escaping from the evil emperor Zurg (James Brolin) and his robot army.
MCU actor Chris Evans (“Avengers: Infinity War,” “Avengers: Endgame”) receives a golden opportunity to voice the titular character, Buzz Lightyear, a space ranger whose fame is later to be inspired as an action figure in the first “Toy Story” film, created by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, and Joe Ranft. Despite the recasting from Tim Allen, Chris Evans does a great job of voicing the character, proving that he loves animation so much, predominantly Pixar, and showing that he was born for the role of the human Buzz Lightyear. But even so, Evans seems like he loves following Tim Allen’s footsteps, showing deep admiration for him and his vocal performance in the “Toy Story” series, to understand how to get in character deeply for the role of Buzz himself before his character went on to become a toy.
This film marks the first Pixar film released theatrically after “Onward” and the first Pixar film to be shot in IMAX. The previous films have been released on Disney+ due to the current outbreak of COVID-19. Back then, Pixar announced during the production of “Finding Dory” that they are not making any more sequels for now after “Toy Story 4.” That all changed when Pixar director Angus MacLane, the director of this film, came up with the idea to see how Buzz became famous to Andy and his toys from the first “Toy Story” movie. As MacLane wanted to make this film altogether (and ambitiously) cinematic, the film drew inspiration from several sci-fi films and action-adventure films, such as “WALL-E,” the Star Wars films, “The Martian,” “Avengers: Infinity War,” and “Avengers: Endgame.”
The franchise films have enjoyable action sequences, nostalgic character moments, and dialogue. The animation is spectacular, defining the laws of physics and science, much like Pixar’s “WALL-E.” MacLane and the animation crews show how animation can be challenging to make and how this computerized animation can evolve in any format and matter, especially in the outer space scenes. Not to mention the visual effects are perfectly well-done and entirely out of this world which tells me that this film could stand a chance for an Oscar grab for Best Visual Effects for next year’s ceremony. And the music from composer Michael Giacchino takes the tone and aims for the Buzz Lightyear movie theme, providing a mixture of MCU and science-fiction films. However, the downsides are the lack of Pixar charms, traditions, and the screenplay, which needs work to receive an extra push to reach the critical heights of the “Toy Story” movies.
Also, part of the “Lightyear” team is Keke Palmer (Nickelodeon’s “True Jackson VP”) as Izzy Hawthorne, Taika Waititi (“Thor: Ragnarok,” “Jojo Rabbit”) as Izzy’s defense forces recruit Mo Morrison, Dale Soules (“Orange Is The New Black”) as the elderly convicted criminal Darby Steel, Uzo Aduba (“Orange Is The New Black”) as Buzz’s best friend and Izzy’s grandmother Alisha Hawthorne, Isiah Whitlock Jr. (HBO’s “The Wire”) as Commander Burnside, and James Brolin (in his first voice acting role) as the Evil Emperor Zurg. And lastly, Pixar animator Peter Sohn (“Ratatouille”) receives his supportive role as Sox, the robot cat who supportingly serves as Buzz’s companion on his mission and an absolute show-stealer throughout the film.
As a true Pixar fan, I think Pixar’s “Lightyear” is a great film, clocking in at 105 minutes, and it’s sincerely a must, regardless of the critics’ reviews. The direction is excellent, the voice acting (notably Chris Evans) is terrific, and the animation is beyond spectacular, as are the stunning visuals. While “Lightyear” doesn’t lie on the levels of the “Toy Story” films, I enjoyed it as much as I’ve enjoyed the “Toy Story.” I’m hoping this film will become the highest-grossing animated film of all time, but we’ll wait and see. With that, I would wonder if there are more “Toy Story” films to come. I imagine they’re planning on making a Woody spin-off with Robert Downey Jr. as the voice of Sheriff Woody before he became a pull-string cowboy doll, but I know that’s not going to happen. The answer is maybe, but we’ll know what the future of Pixar will come.
In Theaters Friday, June 17th