Pixar’s first fully computer-animated feature film Toy Story hit the big screen in 1995 and introduced the world to the now-beloved characters Woody, the toy cowboy doll (voiced by Tom Hanks), and Buzz Lightyear, an arrogant toy space ranger who thinks he’s a real spaceman on a mission only to discover he’s a child’s toy (voiced by Tim Allen). The film was a huge success and became the second top-grossing movie that year. It received three Oscar nominations and is ranked at 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. The ’95 release was followed by three very successful sequels.
Disney/Pixar apparently wants to keep the franchise going but in a very different direction with Lightyear, a prequel that focuses on the backstory of the popular space ranger that inspired the toy featured in the Toy Story franchise. When the film begins, Buzz (now voiced by Chris Evans) is a space ranger on a special mission that ends with him and his large crew, including his dear friend Alisha (voiced by Uzo Aduba), marooned on an uncharted and hostile planet. Determined to get everyone back home safely, Buzz goes on a series of 4-minute space flights trying to achieve the hyperspeed required to get back to Earth.
Finally reaching the hyperspeed needed, Buzz returns to the planet only to discover he and his robot cat companion SOX (voiced by Peter Sohn) have been gone for 62 years, seven months, and five days. Buzz and SOX also discover an army of robots commanded by a ruthless robot giant named Zurg (voiced by James Brolin) are after them and have imprisoned his crew.
Fortunately, Izzy Hawthorne (voiced by Keke Palmer), who is the granddaughter of his former commander; Mo (voiced by Taika Waititi), a good-hearted klutz; and Darby (voiced by Dale Soules), a scrappy, elderly convict, have escaped Zurg’s clutches and offer to team up with Buzz to stop the robots. The ragtag team must work together and overcome their deepest fears if they hope to defeat Zurg and his robot army.
To say Lightyear is a disappointment is an understatement. The 2022 prequel is a dull, lackluster, and soulless film that lacks original ideas and features characters that aren’t just uninteresting but also downright annoying. It’s a far cry from the four Toy Story films that preceded it.
Chris Evans delivers a bland, boring, and humorless Buzz Lightyear who doesn’t remotely resemble the cocky, arrogant, and self-assured space ranger Tim Allen brought to life so magically in the original film. This version of the space ranger comes across more like Captain America-light than Buzz.
The computer animation is stellar, but the planet Buzz and his crew wind up stranded on is dismal, and the threats, such as the long green vines and giant flying insects, are old ideas right out of some 1950s B-grade science fiction films. There is nothing new or creative to be seen.
The one saving grace in the film is the funny and likable character SOX, Buzz’s robot cat. A mixture of the personalities of C-3PO and R2-D2 from Star Wars and hilariously voiced by Peter Sohn, SOX is the only enjoyable and engaging character on the screen and steals every scene he’s in. Sadly, it’s not enough to make the film worthwhile.
Unimaginative and spiritless, Lightyear is an empty, dull, and forgettable animated film. Buzz deserves better and so does the movie-going public.
GRADE: C-
MPAA Rating: PG for action and peril
Running Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Release Date: June 17, 2022
Directed By: Angus MacLane
Studio: Disney/Pixar
