Review: ‘Lightyear’ is a satisfying origin story for the other Buzz
Lightyear is a space adventure featuring the inspiration for everyone’s favourite toy astronaut on a gripping mission to defeat a robot invader and get his crew home.
One of the keys to animated films is ensuring they appeal to audiences of all ages because kids aren’t going by themselves and adults would prefer not to be bored. Pixar unquestionably understands this and has been delivering widely popular movies for decades. But they — and the fans that love them — have frequently returned to where it all started: Toy Story. Now that Andy is all grown up, and Woody and the gang are bringing joy to other kids, it became a question of where do we go from here? The answer seems to be even further back to before there were toys. Thus, Lightyear is the movie that served as inspiration for the arrogant astronaut action figure.
Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans) and Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) are Space Rangers, travelling the galaxy with precious human cargo as they make their way home. Unfortunately, unforeseen disaster maroons them on a hostile planet. Refusing to give up and determined to get the mission back on track, Lightyear sacrifices his chance at a life to get everyone home. With Hawthorne’s support and the help of an A.I. cat named Sox (Peter Sohn), Lightyear just might do it. But then an occupying robot alien race led by Zurg (James Brolin) throws a wrench in their plans, threatening to destroy everything the Space Ranger worked so hard to save.
On the surface, the narrative is a standard sci-fi story about a mission gone wrong and the need to adapt to a new environment. It begins with an action sequence in which the main personalities are introduced to the planet’s unfriendly inhabitants, followed by a high-speed escape. When it’s discovered they cannot leave the planet, the second act shows a resilient group of people who make the best of a bad situation, while Lightyear does his best to rectify the error and get everyone back to where they belong. Of course, as this is family-friendly science fiction, Lightyear learns a lesson along the way about moving forward from past mistakes, embracing people’s flaws by focusing on their strengths, and accepting help once in a while.
Lightyear is slightly less arrogant than the toy version of him, though he’s still very courageous and unwavering in his commitment, which Evans can portray in spades. Hawthorne has strong Monica Rambeau vibes as she lives for the adventure and is quick on her feet. She’s Lightyear’s best friend, while her granddaughter, Izzy (Keke Palmer), becomes his greatest ally. The younger Hawthorne, alongside a small group of misfits, turn out to be instrumental in helping Lightyear… and the source of a lot of strife as they bungle most of their assignments. Taika Waititi simply can’t help playing loveable personalities as Mo is a bit clumsy, but very well-meaning. In addition, Sox is a total delight and he’s at the centre of multiple Star Wars references.
As the narrative predates Toy Story, moviegoers shouldn’t expect too many tie-ins beyond Lightyear’s catchphrases. But fans of the toy astronaut will not be disappointed by this space adventure.
Director: Angus MacLane
Starring: Chris Evans, Keke Palmer and Peter Sohn
