Lightyear

Lightyear

Legendary Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear embarks on an intergalactic adventure alongside a group of ambitious recruits and his robot companion Sox.

  • Released: 2022-06-15
  • Runtime: 93 minutes
  • Genre: Adventure, Animation, Fantasy
  • Stars: Chris Evans, Mu Leen, Taika Waititi, Keke Palmer, Dale Soules, Peter Sohn, Uzo Aduba, James Brolin, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Efren Ramirez, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Keira Hairston, Bill Hader, Angus MacLane, Carlos Alazraqui, Kimberly Bailey, William Calvert, June Christopher, David Cowgill, Terri Douglas, Jackie Gonneau, Rif Hutton, Matthew Yang King, Stephanie Komure, Piotr Michael, Cristina Milizia, Arthur Ortiz, Jacqueline Pinol, Griffin Puatu, Shane Sweet, Debra Wilson, Matthew Wood, Cory Yee, Ruth Zalduondo, Debra Wilson, François Civil, Michaël Grégorio, Lyna Khoudri, Chantal Ladesou, Jean Barney, Georges Caudron, Virginie Emane, Frantz Confiac, Pauline Moulène, Volodia Serre, Lionel Lingelser, Donald Reignoux, Juliette Davis
  • Director: Angus MacLane
 Comments
  • masonfisk - 11 January 2023
    DID WE NEED THIS...?
    The current Pixar release in theaters. Following the big screen adventure of one Buzz Lightyear (as stated in the opening crawl this is the movie Andy from Toy Story went to see back in 1995), voiced by Chris Evans, as he & his partner, Uzo Aduba, are marooned on a planet & have to find a means to successfully test a new hyperspace fuel which after use jumps Evans into future (62 years in fact) where after facing the evil Zurg, James Brolin, & his minions he must form a new unit which consists of Aduba's granddaughter, Keke Palmer, & assorted misfits (Taika Waititi, Dale Soules & Bill Hader) to fight back. Joining them is a cat robot named Sox who abets them in their adventure (providing much comic relief). Well made & acted in a story which feels competent & entertaining but still left me feeling cold as it felt like a sequel to a movie which never came out (there was a direct to video special I believe which I never saw) which puts me in mind Pixar had nothing on the books & decided to make this since they own the IP & for them a finished product would be a no brainer.
  • matitya-33937 - 22 December 2022
    The original was way better
    In the summer of 1969, a man by the name of Neil Armstrong became the first human ever to walk on the moon, a decision made by a coin flip, and Armstrong was followed by Dr. Edwin E. Aldrin. But Commander Aldrin normally answered to the nickname Buzz. In 1995, a company called Pixar made the first CGI movie ever filmed called Toy Story about a jealous cowboy doll named Woody and an action figure named in Aldrin's honour, the galaxy's greatest hero Buzz Lightyear.

    In the film, Buzz Lightyear was an exaggerated and over the top parody of cheesy sci-fi action heroes thus making the fact he believed himself to be a real space ranger rather than a toy quite funny. Toy Story 2 built upon the Lightyear lore with Utility Belt Buzz and the joke about Star Command being essentially the Toy Story Universe's version of Star Wars. Buzz Lightyear was everyone's favourite character so it was all but inevitable that he would get his own spin-off, the direct to VCR movie Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins which was quite good and was used as the pilot film for a woefully underrated television cartoon.

    Lightyear is essentially the remake of Star Command. Which means it's comparison time.

    I don't mind the fact that Zurg isn't Buzz's father in this movie because the original show already established that Zurg was lying when he said that. That said, I have other problems with the depiction of Zurg. In the original Toy Story, Buzz's mission is "to protect the universe from the menace of Evil Emperor Zurg, sworn enemy of the Galactic Alliance" with that being repeated verbatim by the box. (Buzz even says he's trying to stop Zurg from activating a planet destroying weapon). And in Toy Story 2, the Zurg action figure is explicitly advertised as "Evil Emperor Zurg" in addition to Zurg being called that in the video game. This movie's Zurg is neither an Emperor nor an enemy of the Galactic Alliance and he isn't even named Zurg. And because of the tragic villain idea they went for he's not the kind of character who creates Death Stars either.

    This is all quite frustrating because Wayne Knight's Zurg from the cartoon, as comical as he was, was an Evil Emperor worthy of the name. He tortures the Little Green Men, blasts X-R to bits, fires a mind control Ray into the planet of widows and orphans, abuses his henchmen and enslaves every planet in the Galactic Alliance before being defeated by Buzz Lightyear but still manages to escape vowing vengeance so he could be the main antagonist of the show. A show wherein Zurg actually created and used a planet destroyer (patent pending) and told Buzz "I am your father. Psyche! Made you look, you dimwit" and who is still in the business of invasion, torture, enslavement and (to the extent the cartoon can get away with it) murder. He was a force to be reckoned with worthy to be Buzz's archenemy and one who engages in his evil plots from Toy Story. This movie's Zurg isn't that, he's an evil future Buzz Lightyear.

    (Star Command had an episode with an evil Buzz Lightyear from an alternate universe who was a much better villain and Warp Darkmatter being evil was a much better twist).

    Likewise, in Star Command, Buzz was traumatized by the apparent death of Warp Darkmatter and survivor's guilt motivated him to refuse to have another partner again resulting in him having an arc of having to accept that even he sometimes needs help and he can't always "work alone" in this movie, it's an arbitrary prejudice against rookies.

    Also, the Star Command supporting cast included a hilariously self-centred and amoral robot by the name of X-R (basically the G-rated version of Bender from Futurama) a strong female character by the name of Mira Nova, Princess of Tangea who is quite talented and has a peculiar set of superhumanoid abilities but can still be overly impulsive and hot-headed hence her needing Lightyear's leadership. And Booster, a seemingly cowardly janitor cum space ranger who hero worships Buzz and is a frequent target of slapstick but is also the nicest of them and more than manages as a space ranger despite the advantages of the rest of the team. While Buzz's boss Commander Nebula was a grumpy bureaucrat but has a heart of gold and didn't get to be big boss by being a lightweight.

    Also, Star Command has an action and adventure vibe whereas the remake is essentially Robinson Crusoe in space, which is fine but not what Toy Story promised us.

    (Also, there's no way a merchandise-driven movie from 1995 and advertised primarily to children would have prominently featured a homosexual relationship though that's honestly a nitpick).

    And the thing is, I'm not even saying this is a bad movie (though this review would be a lot easier if it were). But having watched the original film Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, I cannot help but notice all the many ways in which it falls far short. The original was way better.