Lightyear (2022)

Lightyear (2022)

 

7/10

Starring the voices of

Chris Evans

Keke Palmer

Peter Sohn

Taika Waititi

Dale Soules

 

Directed by Angus Maclane

 

This movie is okay, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the four movies before it. The Buzz character was like the one we know, but this time, the annoyance level was turned up a notch. The action and adventure are something young children will love, but not to the extent of wanting to see it again.

This spinoff stands on its own, with a voice change from the usual Tim Allen, as this is not the same Buzz that we know. As far as animations go, Disney went all out, something I think, in retrospect, they may have wished they didn’t.

Studios take risks with their movies. Nobody knows what the audience will flock to the cinema for next. That’s why, when studios have a movie franchise that keeps bringing in money, they plan to milk it for all it’s worth.

The Toy Story franchise, to me, is just an amazing job by Disney/Pixar. Four films, and each one doing financially better than the previous. Even critically, all four films are classics. They’re written in a forward motion as we watch the toys deal with Andy as he ages and, in the third film, outgrows them. The last film was an emotional ride, but worth every moment of seeing it.

Now, when I heard there was going to be a Lightyear movie, I expected it to be about the same Buzz from the first to the fourth films. But this movie isn’t about that. It’s about the movie Andy watched that made him want Buzz for a toy. So, this is the prequel to the first Toy Story (1995).

So, don’t go see this movie expecting to see anyone from the previous franchise.

Here’s the plot: Buzz Lightyear, a space ranger in Star Command, was sent to explore a planet with his crew and commanding officer and best friend, Alisha Hawthorne. The planet they were exploring, T'Kani Prime, turns out to be the home of hostile creatures, and the crew is forced to retreat to their ship, where Buzz damages the ship by accident.

After a year, repairs were completed, and Buzz volunteered to test the ship. But his four-minute hyperspace jump test turns out to be four years on T'Kani, because of Time Dilation. He and the team continue to work, and the more tests they carry out, the older everyone becomes, except Buzz, who is carrying out the tests. After many years, Buzz returns to discover that even more time has passed, and his colony on T'Kani Prime is now under the control of a mysterious Zurg.

Buzz must now work with the few people who aren’t trapped in a dome to stop Zurg and free the other members of the colony.

In the end, the movie was cool, but I think bad marketing and not enough good word of mouth from the children who went to see it, hoping to see Woody and the rest, hurt its reception.