Mark Reviews Movies: LIGHTYEAR

Lightyear, Disney/Pixar

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Review by Mark Dujsik | June 15, 2022

The hesitation about Lightyear, a sort-of prequel to and spin-off of the Toy Story films, is that its existence is more than a bit of a stretch. It's technically not based on one of the characters from those previous films, because the character in question from those films is a toy, while this is the character who inspired that toy to be made. The whole thing feels a bit cynical and like a decision that's more about financial benefit than any creative inspiration.

With all of that doubt established, this inherently weird piece of franchise-expansion, written by director Angus MacLane and Jason Headley, provides a simple and almost lovely bit of internal justification for its existence. Way back in 1995, a boy received a toy for his birthday, and he wanted it so badly because it was an action figure of the lead character from his favorite movie at the time. "This is that movie," the opening text concludes, and with it, MacLane's film demolishes a lot of the skepticism, because the explanation is so sincere and succinct, and establishes a different set of expectations for what we're about to watch.

This is a film that should instantly become some young kid's favorite movie, and you know, it very well might for some kids. It's a solid piece of space-faring adventure, to be sure, with plenty of action, a good number of interesting characters (None of whom is the protagonist, but that's a different story), some clever humor, and a story about regret that reaches much deeper than one might expect from the rest of those descriptions.

The tale, of course, revolves around Buzz Lightyear (voice of Chris Evans), a daring Space Ranger on a mission to do something or other on an inhospitable planet. With him are comrade, as well as friend, Alisha Hawthorne (voice of Uzo Aduba) and a rookie (voiced by Bill Hader), whose red chest plate on his Space Ranger suit is a nice in-joke for the adults who will get that reference to his inevitable semi-fate.

Anyway, the planet is infested with giant insectoid creatures and crawling vines that snatch people without warning. Buzz is about to make a daring escape in the large, turnip-shaped ship housing a sleeping crew of scientists. Because he's the hero of his own story, narrating his every action as if everyone should care and jumping into danger without concern for his own life or the lives of others, Buzz assumes he can do it all on his own. Instead, he damages the ship, sending it crashing to the ground—along with any hope that the crew can return home. They're stranded on this dangerous planet for the foreseeable future.

The plot is a bit more complicated and severe than the opening sequence might suggest. It involves travel at light speed, time dilation, and more straightforward time travel (if such a thing is possible). To the point, Buzz goes out to space, trying to reach hyper-speed to ensure a return trip home for the entire crew, and returns to discover that, while he has only aged about an hour, everyone he knows has aged four years.

He keeps going out, trying to save the day, and in a rather desperate and despairing montage, Buzz is eventually left out of his own life, as his friends and colleagues get married, have families, age, and die while he's out trying to be a hero. Maybe saying this will be "some" kids' "favorite" movie is a bit of an exaggeration, because this part is bluntly bleak.

The rest of it is a bit more of an adventure, as Buzz returns from one trip to discover that alien robots have invaded the planet and are attacking the city the stranded crew members have built over the decades. He has to stop them, and our blinded-by-heroism protagonist grudgingly gets help from a ragtag crew of misfits, including Alisha's granddaughter Izzy (voice of Keke Palmer), parolee Darby (voice of Dale Soules), and the clumsy Mo (voice of Taika Waititi).

Lest we forget, there's also Sox (voice of Peter Sohn), Buzz's robotic emotional-support cat. The cat is so weirdly loveable, with its dead-pan computer voice and a collection of meowing and beeping vocalizations, that one wonders why any kid would want a Buzz Lightyear action figure compared one of this guy. As the straight man to those other characters, Buzz is intentionally dull, but Evans does his best to inject some bluster, some exasperation, and, ultimately, some sorrow into the bland hero.

Anyone who has seen the previous film will recognize some story elements, such the main villain Emperor Zurg (voice of James Brolin), and smaller details, such as Buzz's dialogue occasionally mirroring his toy counterpart's and how the uniforms' name tags peel off like stickers. Smartly, MacLane and Headley clearly aren't beholden to those details. The film doesn't rest on simply referencing what we know, and in terms of the story, the villain's identity, for a good enough reason (so that Buzz can confront what he could and, in some ways, has become), is changed from a very funny revelation in Toy Story 2.

In these ways (not to mention the specific, more realistic aesthetics brought to life by Pixar's team of designers and animators), Lightyear announces itself as something more than just some cash-in spin-off. The film is almost certain to become its own series and sell a lot of toys in the process, but while watching it, one can believe the filmmakers don't care about such concerns. They have a smart and thoughtful story to tell about the natures of heroism, teamwork, and regret, while also creating an exciting, funny, and visually striking space adventure.

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