Movie Reaction: Lightyear

Formula: Interstellar ^ (Toy Story – Woody’s Roundup)

The discussion around this movie has been annoying since it was first announced. I hate to be a “why are people so stupid” guy, but why are people so stupid? I heard that the movie was about the character Buzz Lightyear and not the toy and it immediately made sense to me. In Toy Story lore, Woody was from the Woody’s Roundup show. For the upcoming Barbie movie, no one needs it explained that it’s about a character Barbie, not the doll. Same for G.I. Joe. I know that it’s slightly more confusing since Buzz Lightyear is weirdly IP as a toy from a 27-year-old franchise, but it should only take a half second to readjust. It would be one thing if the takes were like “I’m not sure that kids will understand this”, but for years now, I’ve heard endless jokes of people dragging the premise for being too confusing, as if they don’t understand it. It’s reached the point where the most referenced part of this new movie is the title card at the beginning saying that in 1995 Andy got a toy of Buzz Lightyear from his favorite movie and this is that movie.

 

While all the dragging about the “unclear premise” I’ve found tedious, I do support the larger ridiculing of Disney doing damage to the Pixar brand lately. The last three, all original, films have been Disney+ releases. Lightyear is the first theatrical Pixar release since the barely pre-COVID Onward, which was already looking like a box office dud before theater shutdowns got in the way. It’s very arguable that they’ve done some brand damage with the long run of Disney+ releases. I think it’s a tad overstated – Soul, Lucca, and Turning Red weren’t likely to be huge box office smashes had they been released that way – yet it’s telling that a release with, technically, one of Pixar’s most famous characters, was met with a relatively muted public response. Only time will tell if the hits to the Pixar brand power are permanent or just a Good Dinosaur blip.

 

The Lightyear movie itself, ignoring the surrounding chatter, is a lot of fun. Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans) is a space ranger investigating unknown planets. On one mission, an act of hubris leads to him and a crew of 1200 being marooned on a planet otherwise inhabited by aggressive plant life. In order to get back off the ground, Buzz has to test a fuel source to put in the ship. The problem is, because –science–, each test flight into hyperspace he takes only lasts a couple minutes for him but takes 4 years on the planet. So, the more Buzz tests, the more his friends disappear until 2 generations have passed and the planet is being attacked by robot invaders led by Zurg. I highly recommend just going along with the SciFi premise rather than try to make any sense out of it. There are a lot of holes even beyond the basic time-travel element.

 

I was happy with how little Lightyear was indebted to Toy Story. They do a good job of keeping the references limited to Buzz. In particular, we see many of the Tim Allen Buzz’s mannerisms come from the character in this. You could never see a Toy Story movie and follow this perfectly; maybe even appreciate it more. It’s a vintage Pixar voice cast of familiar faces without outright star chasing. Evans is the only major star lending his voice. The rest of the cast are familiar actors chosen for the voice performance ability and not just press-tour potential. Uzo Aduba has a smaller role as Buzz’s best friend when they first land on the planet and it made me appreciate how much even her live-action performances owe to her voice. She has a great “Everything is going to be ok” voice. Keke Palmer as Aduba’s granddaughter later on is the right level of energy. Taika Waititi and Dale Soules show up too. They have cheat code voices, kind of like John Ratzenberger. You know what they’re about the second they open their mouths.

 

I was torn on the world of the movie. Pixar works best when it feels like they had several drafts just to punch it up and add more detail. The busier a shot, the better. It’s that thing where if a character pulls a book off the shelf, would I believe there was anything written in it? Lightyear has the most excuse of any Pixar movie to be barren. After all, it’s an uninhabited planet that a group of 1200 people landed on with only the resources in their admittedly large ship to start with. In 60-ish years though, they’ve built up a full society complete with abandoned outposts and major factories. The world feels weirdly too populated, however I wouldn’t want the opposite – a mostly empty planet – either.  Perhaps I just wanted them to approach it with more curiosity about the planet.

 

Lightyear is thoroughly mid-tier Pixar. When all the noise about what the movie is and why it got the theatrical release dies down, I assume it will be looked at as mid-tier Pixar by most. It’s an exciting movie that leans more into SciFi than Pixar has before. It has a solid voice cast and looks great. I do question Andy’s taste if this was his favorite movie back in 1995. After all, that was the same year as the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers movie.

 

Verdict: Weakly Recommend