Lightyear Review!

Alright! Today I’m taking a look at Pixar’s 26th movie Lightyear, their latest attempt to milk the Toy Story franchise, first franchise flick in three years, and consequently, their first theatrical release since Onward. It’s the in-universe story of the Buzz Lightyear toy that inspired the merch that inspired the first Toy Story… consequently, Lightyear boldly asks at what point a tie-in’s tie-in become so loosely tied that it almost becomes original.

The first and foremost thing you’ll notice about the movie is how gorgeous it looks. Pixar’s animation has come light years (cough) since 1995, and this is their best looking feature yet. Photo realistic backgrounds, space scenes, starships, neo-dystopian designs, and metal textures have never looked this good. Several scenes in the movie will have you going “Wait, this was made on a computer?” It’s insane how far they come and how fantastic it looks in general.

I also loved the clunky design of everything, purposefully done by director Angus MacLane to emulate the old sci-fi feel. I also loved Chris Evans’ casting as the title character, who was appropriately bold and stern enough. In a world where it feels like every known character is written differently depending on the team-up, it was refreshing to see a depiction that was in-line with his previous appearances (So, yes, Toy Story 4 is still the lame duck in the “Well written Buzz” contest). I also really liked Sox, which was surprising. Based off of the trailers I thought he’d detract from the film, but he ended up being the MVP. I also enjoyed laser shield guy. He was the best. 

After that, my list of compliments grows thin, and the review begins to drift more towards negative aspects of the film, namely the sheer amount of fetch quest. The movie has a fairly simple hook, but eventually so many plot digressions and side quests take hold, each one with obstacles and each obstacle with mini-obstacles that it bogs the film down. For a movie that’s an hour and a half long, the pacing really begins to drag once Buzz meets Izzy Hawthorne and only picks up once Zurg is unmasked.

Speaking of Zurg, this movie breaks Toy Story lore in a major way. Well, that’s untrue. This entire movie’s connection to Toy Story - especially the ridiculously stupid opening text that should have been reserved for the trailer or a parody video about IP exploitation - is unnecessary. I personally thought the Zurg twist was fine, albeit reminiscent of The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, but the fact the movie forces a connection to Toy Story ruins it. I doubt anyone would have cared if this film’s ham fisted connections to Toy Story were nonexistent. 

I also thought some elements of the movie were rather cliche. “Ragtag group of screw-ups” is overdone in childrens’ movies, and Lightyear doesn’t put a fresh enough spin on it to justify or endear Buzz’s non-Hawthorne support team. And for the most part, that was my feeling about most of the movie - it wasn’t enough. There’s a heartfelt emotional code to the movie, some message about not wasting time, living in the moment, and bettering yourself, but Lightyear never hits those themes hard enough to be truly fantastic. Aside from one touching scene (It almost had me in tears) towards the end of the first act, not much of that Pixar wit, charm, or emotion is on display. 

The movie’s also not particularly funny. The greatest hits of the 90s (Jurassic Park, Independence Day) always had some element of brazen humor to them that Lightyear sorely lacked. Instead of having an ensemble brimming with chemistry, much of the movie’s humor is placed on Sox. The most fun the movie has is with Lightyear and Felicia Hawthorne in the film’s first ten minutes (And digression, while the gay representation was wonderfully well done, the fact the character requires a granddaughter led to a very interesting in-theater chat about how artificial insemination works, which I doubt was the intent).

Overall, Lightyear was just… fine. For a movie that could have been Pixar’s Interstellar, or at least their chance to make a seemingly shameless sell-out of superb quality like The LEGO Movie, the film settles for a perfectly fine by-the-numbers sci-fi adventure that’s more chunky than slick.

Overall I give Lightyear a 5/10. “Gorgeously animated but lacking punch, Lightyear is an enjoyable but unremarkable adventure.”

Wish it had more of this image’s vibe.