Lightyear (2022) Movie Review
Pixar has gone back to their roots with their latest release, Lightyear. In 1995, Pixar made a splash with Toy Story – the first film from the new animation studio. Since then, there have been 26 Pixar films covering a wide range of topics and characters. Toy Story was such a smash hit it spawned three sequels and this spinoff. Lightyear opens with white text on a black background that says in 1995 Andy saw a movie that fueled his desire to get the Buzz Lightyear toy that features heavily in the Toy Story movies. This is that movie.
Buzz (Chris Evans) is a space ranger, executing a mission to explore an uninhabited planet with fellow space ranger Alisha (Uzo Aduba). While trying to escape from the plant and animal life that is trying to kill them, Buzz crashes their space shuttle stranding them on the planet with only a slim hope of escape. Buzz begins flying missions to test the fuel needed to make the jump to hyper speed. Time is a tricky subject in this movie. With each mission Buzz embarks upon, four years pass on the uninhabited planet. All of Buzz’s friends and colleagues age four years while he remains the same. This makes for some difficult goodbyes and complex feelings for Buzz as he grapples with feeling responsible for stranding everyone on the planet. To help him navigate these intense emotions, Alisha commissions a therapy cat named Sox (Peter Sohn) to be his companion.
After another fuel test attempt, Buzz lands back on the planet and even more time has passed. While he’s been away, a new space shuttle has appeared in the sky and a slew of robots has descended on the planet. Buzz meets up with Izzy (Keke Palmer) who is Alisha’s granddaughter, Mo (Taika Waititi) who is nervous about doing much of anything, and Darby (Dale Soules) a convict who is knowledgeable about explosives. Together they devise a plan to take down Zurg (Josh Brolin), the leader of the robot army. Of course, many more obstacles appear including a time travel twist that seems a bit convoluted and unnecessary.
The best part of the movie is undoubtedly Sox who is adorable but also incredibly resourceful and helpful. Buzz’s relationship with Alisha is quick but effective enough and his budding friendship with Izzy, Mo, and Darby is full of laughs and frustration as they learn how to work together. There are several nods to the Toy Story movies including direct lines such as, “You’re mocking me aren’t you?” These tidbits add some fun for uber fans who will catch the references. The animation is the usual stellar Pixar quality but the storyline is only adequate. Lightyear won’t hit you with the feelings the way that Up (2009) or Inside Out (2015) did. But it is a fun, action heavy space adventure with solid Pixar quality animation that kids and adults alike will enjoy.
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You like space adventures
2. You’re a die hard Toy Story fan
3. You like origin stories
