"Lightyear" is not a terrible movie, but a highly unnecessary one.
On a technical level it looks great. It is not Pixar's visually most interesting or creative film, but the animation is still beautifully done. Buffling choice to recast Tim Allen, whose voice is a huge part of who Buzz is, aside the acting is decent as well. Chris Evans gives a believable performance that gives new life to the character and his co-star all get to shine as well. The music is fien, though not Michael Giacchino's best work. I assume he just got bored half-way through but we are getting to that.
The film is not associated with the 2D animated film or TV Show abour Star Command and therefore functions as a weird hybrid between a prequel, reboot and spin off. It's essentially a movie within a movie, serving as the film Andy saw during the original Toy Story, which turned him into a fan of Buzz Lightyear and let to him getting Toy Buzz for his birthday.
The story finds Buzz and his Space Ranger Partner Hawthorne on a mission on a planet habitated by dangerous bugs and vines and them, along with their entire crew being stranded after a failed attempt to escape. Buzz, blaming himself for the situation trying the best to fix his mistake which leads to a series of tests to regain the hyper space function which accidentally transports Buzz forward in time over and over again until he gets stuck in a future where the space station is taking over by robots under the command on someone called "Zurg." Together with an inexperienced rag tag team he has to destroy Zurg's ship to free his people.
Time travel man, why does it have to be time travel? Look, I enjoy time travel stories, but they are so hard to do, because they always end up with internal issues regarding logic, plot holes or tend to over complicate things (as proven here by the existence of Zurg). I'll give the film that, the time travel plot and Buzz being ao focused on his mission that he essentially misses out on an entire life time, adds a certain maturity and even tragic element to the film that makes it arguably more interesting. It also opens a whole can of issues regarding the movies purpose, but we'll get to that.
The rest of it is a pretty generic run-in-the-mill adventure, with quibs, dialogue and conflcits even a six year old is able to see coming a mile away.
Then there's the twist. I hated that twist. Spoilers from now on, just to be clear.
Zurg is a Darth Vader parody. That's his entire schtick and Toy Story 2 beautifully ran with it and committed beautifully to the pure insanity of it, so why can't this movie? It does commit to Buzz's narration to keep in line with his Toy Story character after all. Granted, Zurg being Buzz's father wouldn't make any sense in context of the film, but that is because he is such a non-character up until the point where his origin is revealed its pretty ridiculous and just not well-written. Him turning out to be an older, alternate version of Buzz could have worked it weren't for previous established aspects and if it weren't for the fact that it's just a cheap trick to deconstruct expectations. Though I ask, whose expectations? Who is supposed to be shocked by this? People who watched Toy Story 2 will raise an eyebrow at best and someone who is completely new to the franchise will probably end up being confused because Zurg, as mentioned before, is such a non-character before that the twist doesn't feel earned.
Which brings me back to the film's initial purpose as being Andy's introduction to Buzz. I'm sorry but I can't picture this movie being a 12 year old boy's favorite film. I just can't. It is way too boring, lenghty and surprisingly self-serious for this. And we have met 12 year old Andy. I also think given the time this movie supposedly came out in universe, which is 1995, there are a lot of missed opportunities to give it a more cheesy 90s film. It feels like a syfy film through a '22 lense, not one from the 90s (and no,nI'm not talking about the very welcome diversity and inclusion of a same sex couple, those existed in the 90s, big shocker, I know) I'm talking about an overall feeling attached to thw time period.
I wish Pixar would just stop milking the Toy Story franchise. Leave it be. If this continues people will eventually turn (some already have) and in the end the bad will outweigh the good and it will become hard to remember what made this franchise great in the first place (look at Pirates of the Caribbean for reference).
"Lightyear" not terrible, but it definitely does not got to infinity and beyond.
Lightyear is a brand extension of the Toy Story franchise, but that doesn't mean it isn't enjoyable. The film follows the story of young space ranger Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans) as he faces challenges and derring-do. The plot is straightforward, with Buzz and his crew getting stranded on a planet after a crash caused by his own overconfidence. They try to fix their ship and return home, with Buzz's attempts to fix his mistake leading to a stunning montage of him growing older while his friend and partner, Captain Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) grows old, gets married and starts a family. The climax of the film is a showdown with a race of robots called the Zurgs, which is predicated on yet another crash. The film's first half is more emotionally engaging and the plot development is not entirely original, but the film feels fresh in comparison to the tired cliches in the second half.
Lightyear es una extensión de marca de la franquicia Toy Story, pero eso no significa que no sea agradable. La película sigue la historia del joven guardabosques espacial Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans) mientras enfrenta desafíos y hazañas. La trama es sencilla, con Buzz y su tripulación varados en un planeta después de un accidente causado por su propio exceso de confianza. Intentan arreglar su barco y regresar a casa, y los intentos de Buzz de arreglar su error conducen a un impresionante montaje de él envejeciendo mientras su amiga y compañera, la capitana Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) envejece, se casa y forma una familia. El clímax de la película es un enfrentamiento con una raza de robots llamada Zurgs, que se basa en otro accidente. La primera mitad de la película es más emocionalmente atractiva y el desarrollo de la trama no es del todo original, pero la película se siente fresca en comparación con los clichés cansados de la segunda mitad.
NOTE FOR MYSELF SO I REMEMBER SOMEDAY, ONLY REPRESENTS MY OPINION/THOUGHTS FOR MYSELF NOT A “REAL REVIEW“, SO YOU MIGHT NOT AGREE WITH IT
(also its not my 1st language)
6.5
Im not a lightyear fan (I have no opinion on him) so I had no high expectations, or after seeing the reviews any at all.
But I enjoyed it, animation is great and the characters were likeable. But yes, Mo with Taika was wrong casted, Idk but I think it would've been better casted by a black person, I think you can hear the difference and apart from that his voice was way too high and "sparkly" for that character. (nothing against his voice its just the wrong fit for that char)
in some scenes I thought Buzz was hot, which was surprising for me xD I think it has to do with the good animation, some shots and movements are so high quality and realistic I was stunned.
Story isn't the best but entertaining, so this movie isn't mind-blowing or the next classic Pixar film but absolutely watchable.
Idk if hardcore Buzz fans would agree but I liked it.
oh and to quote Jordy: "If you think that two people of the same gender kissing in the background for 2 seconds is political or woke, it says more about you than it does about Disney."
Didn't feel forced at all.
Review by AeronBlockedParent2022-07-18T14:33:58Z
This movie is good, but not as good as it should have been. Not because of the casting, not because of all the political checkboxes, and certainly not because a bunch adult babies got scarred over a plot-relevant and completely believable relationship.
This movie is not as good because it's the first time Pixar has spent the time and resources making a complete cash grab instead of bringing an original idea to life. Even against the endless Toy Story sequels, which are at least continuing to tell a story that means something to the original movie, Lightyear feels uninspired.
The visuals are outstanding, the humor reminded me of the slapstick from WALL-E, Chris Evens did a very believable job as Buzz Lightyear and I might not have known it wasn't Tim Allen if I hadn't already found out. But there's so much everymovie genericness to Lightyear that it makes The Good Dinosaur feel more original and Pixar-like. As disregarded as THAT movie is, at least it has the honor of being one of the original ideas invented when Pixar was founded.
Instead, with Lightyear, we're watching a movie about a movie within the universe of another movie (that is the official claim made at the start of the film). Maybe if they had made something that resembled what would have actually been released when Andy was a child (a mid 1990s American action movie set in space), it would have passed on account of its period charm.
The animated Buzz Lightyear of Star Command movie and TV series that Disney made ages ago are much better stories about a real Buzz Lightyear. Those works are already classics as far as many people are concerned. This movie will probably just be in every completionist's library for completion's sake.
shamelessly puts Lightyear in his complete library of everything Pixar has ever released