Minor, unnecessary "Lightyear" gets the mission done

Lightyear (2022) 

As you may remember, Buzz Lightyear was a toy. He was the hot new action figure owned by a kid named Andy from 1995’s “Toy Story.” Well, that action figure now gets an origin story with “Lightyear,” which isn’t exactly a prequel or a spin-off but more so the movie about the character that gave Andy the inspiration to have his mom buy the toy. Got all that? As long as one wraps their head around the meta connective conceit from writer-director Angus MacLane (co-director of 2016’s “Finding Dory”) and co-writers Matthew Aldrich (2017’s “Coco”) & Jason Headley (2020’s “Onward”), this is a minor, mildly engaging space adventure. It’s Andy’s “Star Wars,” or maybe closer in quality to “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” but not the big event one expects from Disney and Pixar. 


Taking over for Tim Allen, Chris Evans capably voices Buzz Lightyear, the stoic, rigid Space Ranger who lives to always “finish the mission.” He is a bit of a maverick, not always taking a liking to rookies, but has a close friendship with his commanding officer Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba). On their long space journey of exploring an uncharted alien planet full of killer vines, Buzz and his ego damage the ship, only to leave everyone marooned. In an attempt to save the entire crew left on the planet, Buzz undergoes a dangerous test flight and achieves hyper-speed (and that’s just one “Top Gun: Maverick” parallel). However, when he returns, time dilation causes four years to pass for everyone, including Alisha. Buzz feels responsible, but he keeps taking a test run as more and more time passes. A whole 22 years later, Buzz acquires an emotional-support robot feline, Sox (voiced by Peter Sohn), and he’s graced with a new crew, including grouchy paroled convict Darby Steel (Dale Soules), new recruit Mo Morrison (Taika Waititi), and Izzy Hawthorne (Keke Palmer), Alisha’s granddaughter. Now that the planet has been invaded by the evil Emperor Zurg and his robots, can Buzz stop being a Maverick and work with his ragtag group to save the day?


It can feel like lazy film criticism to call a movie “unnecessary,” but here we are. “Lightyear” feels wholly unnecessary, as if the only reason for its existence is as calculated product. The whole arc of Buzz Lightyear from the first “Toy Story” was his self-discovery—he is “a child’s plaything”—but since he isn’t a toy here, there’s not much character growth that’s interesting. If this is the movie Andy fell in love with, it just feels like a missed opportunity to not really run with the trappings of a cheesy sci-fi epic released in 1995 or before. As much as Disney finally puts its money where its mouth is (and one can’t begrudge the corporate behemoth’s step forward), one has to take it on faith that a movie back in the dark ages of ’95 would be progressive enough to feature a Black lesbian character being able to kiss her wife on screen. Even as a creatively unambitious but perfectly pleasant diversion below Pixar’s usual output, there’s certainly stuff to like here. The animation is good-looking as can be, and Izzy’s spacewalk with Sox very late in the film is very cinematic and surprisingly anxiety-inducing. An “Up”-like montage showing the passing of time for everyone but Buzz, particularly through Alisha’s journey of falling in love with a woman, having a child, and then getting old, is also quite moving and bittersweet. 


Through no fault of Chris Evans' dutiful voicework, Buzz is rendered closer to the side of bland than the dynamic Buzz we now know after loosening up with Woody and his pals. Buzz will learn from his mistakes by the end, of course, but by making the star more of a conduit than a big personality, that does inevitably make some of the supporting characters pop more. And that's okay, considering Keke Palmer, Taika Waititi, and Dale Soules all bring liveliness and endearing qualities to their voice performances. Easily coming away as the biggest scene-stealer, though, is Buzz’s personal companion Sox, a lovably deadpan robotic cat made to ease the Space Ranger’s emotional transition and be the comic relief for us. 


We tend to put so much pressure on the next big film from Pixar, a studio that prides itself on telling stories that can work on multiple levels for young and old. Not entirely the cynical cash-grab to bring back Buzz bedspreads and action figures, “Lightyear” lacks the visual wit and the emotional infinity of all four of the “Toy Story” films. The emotions are earned, if never overwhelming, and nothing ever engenders much more than a light, “oh, that was clever” chuckle (like Buzz’s astonishment over the normal way of eating a sandwich with the meat on the outside). Look, "Lightyear" is fine and gets the job done by being enjoyable in the moment, but it will not be remembered far beyond the credits.


Grade: C +


Walt Disney Studios is releasing “Lightyear” (105 min.) in theaters on June 17, 2022.

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