Lightyear
Year: 2022
Director: Angus MacLane
Starring: Chris Evans, Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, Dale Soules & Taika Waititi
Runtime: 105 mins
BBFC: PG
Published: 22/06/22
Director: Angus MacLane
Starring: Chris Evans, Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, Dale Soules & Taika Waititi
Runtime: 105 mins
BBFC: PG
Published: 22/06/22
The COVID-19 pandemic screwed up a lot of film releases over the last few years but arguably few studios were hit as hard as Pixar were. With Onward releasing just weeks before cinemas across the world were closed indefinitely, and then the studio’s three subsequent films (Soul, Luca, and Turning Red) releasing direct to Disney+. Whilst Pixar were able to release their films unhindered through the means of Disney+, the lack of the grand theatrical release for these films did occasionally make them come across as something to be less excited about in comparison to other films that were being delayed for eventual theatrical runs. Lightyear then was Pixar’s big return to the big screen, and they really did go big with Lightyear releasing in just about every premium format you can find…a first for a Pixar film. With a trailer that promised a grand sci-fi adventure, and answers to burning questions surrounding Buzz Lightyear’s origins, does Lightyear go to infinity and beyond?
When investigating signs of alien life on T’kani Prime, Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans) and his commanding officer Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) are attacked by hostile plants and insects. In their attempt to flee the planet, Buzz damages the ship and destroys the hyperdrive, leaving them stranded on this dangerous world. Desperate to prove himself worthy of the Space Ranger title, Buzz becomes the pilot of a mission to test new forms of hyperdrive fuel, until a robotic alien race known as the Zurg attack the planet, and Buzz must team up with Alisha’s granddaughter Izzy (Keke Palmer), elderly convict Darby (Dale Soules), and cowardly recruit Mo (Taika Waititi) to take on the evil Emperor (Josh Brolin) and save the colony on T’kani Prime.
When investigating signs of alien life on T’kani Prime, Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans) and his commanding officer Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) are attacked by hostile plants and insects. In their attempt to flee the planet, Buzz damages the ship and destroys the hyperdrive, leaving them stranded on this dangerous world. Desperate to prove himself worthy of the Space Ranger title, Buzz becomes the pilot of a mission to test new forms of hyperdrive fuel, until a robotic alien race known as the Zurg attack the planet, and Buzz must team up with Alisha’s granddaughter Izzy (Keke Palmer), elderly convict Darby (Dale Soules), and cowardly recruit Mo (Taika Waititi) to take on the evil Emperor (Josh Brolin) and save the colony on T’kani Prime.
Unlike the four Toy Story films that inspired it, Lightyear feels like it lacks soul and nuance in favour of generic sci-fi action and characters that aren’t particularly memorable or interesting. What Lightyear succeeds at is in the way the story is told, without spoiling too much there’s some time manipulation that happens and seeing the world around Buzz progress and move on from his mistake despite his inability to is really great. But unfortunately, characters like Izzy, Darby, and Mo are just there, I felt no connection to them and their problems that they need to overcome to save the planet are trivial at best. Zurg is a great villain, and despite the changes made to the canon established in Toy Story 2 I enjoyed what they did with the character in this film.
Replacing Tim Allen with Chris Evans as the voice of Buzz Lightyear is a peculiar choice. Whilst Evans is perfectly good in the role, and he even tries to sound like Allen at a number of points in the film, I just don’t understand the need to have recast the character. Despite not really being all that bothered about the character of Izzy, I thought that Palmer did a great job with the script she was given. She’s definitely passionate in her performance and it's therefore a shame that I failed to connect with her characters desires because I didn’t feel they were brought to the forefront enough.
Waititi is just playing Korg from Guardians of the Galaxy here. It’s a total waste of a character and whilst he definitely had some good jokes and Waititi’s performance is always on point, I could never shake the feeling that the character didn’t need to be there and contributed nothing to the story.
Replacing Tim Allen with Chris Evans as the voice of Buzz Lightyear is a peculiar choice. Whilst Evans is perfectly good in the role, and he even tries to sound like Allen at a number of points in the film, I just don’t understand the need to have recast the character. Despite not really being all that bothered about the character of Izzy, I thought that Palmer did a great job with the script she was given. She’s definitely passionate in her performance and it's therefore a shame that I failed to connect with her characters desires because I didn’t feel they were brought to the forefront enough.
Waititi is just playing Korg from Guardians of the Galaxy here. It’s a total waste of a character and whilst he definitely had some good jokes and Waititi’s performance is always on point, I could never shake the feeling that the character didn’t need to be there and contributed nothing to the story.
Whilst the film seems to have rested on its laurels in a number of areas, it certainly excels visually. Pixar have a reputation for pushing the envelope of what is possible with 3D computer animation ever since the release of Toy Story in 1995 and whilst the last few films they have released I personally feel have lacked the same level of depth in detail that Toy Story 4 did, Lightyear does one-up Toy Story 4 in that area. The colours are considerably more muted than most Pixar films with greys and browns being the primary colour here, and any surfaces that we’re used to seeing have a burst of colour to them (such as Buzz’s iconic green & white Space Ranger suit) are toned down to fit in with the more industrial aesthetic the film offers up. But when you get into the minutiae, that’s where Lightyear really shines. Subtle reflections on shiny surfaces, imperfections to materials, particles and liquids that move dynamically. The way the shots have been framed is clear that this is an animated film to experience on an IMAX screen too, having watched it in a normal theatre I noticed that it often felt like the shots needed a little extra room to breathe and IMAX will absolutely offer that so I would recommend checking it out there if you can.
Lightyear is not the film I hoped it would be, and I’m disappointed to say the least. But this is the curse of being a Pixar film, if it’s not outstanding then it seems below par. The reality of it is that Lightyear is just as good as the majority of animated films on the market at the moment from other studios such as Warner Animation, Dreamworks, and Illumination…but when compared to the rest of Pixar’s illustrious catalogue it is definitely one of the weakest films they’ve ever made. There’s a lot to enjoy in Lightyear, despite how I may have made it sound, and I’m sure that kids will have a blast with it. But it does lack that soul that make films like Toy Story such timeless classics.
Lightyear is not the film I hoped it would be, and I’m disappointed to say the least. But this is the curse of being a Pixar film, if it’s not outstanding then it seems below par. The reality of it is that Lightyear is just as good as the majority of animated films on the market at the moment from other studios such as Warner Animation, Dreamworks, and Illumination…but when compared to the rest of Pixar’s illustrious catalogue it is definitely one of the weakest films they’ve ever made. There’s a lot to enjoy in Lightyear, despite how I may have made it sound, and I’m sure that kids will have a blast with it. But it does lack that soul that make films like Toy Story such timeless classics.