Cinematic Releases: Lightyear (2022) -Reviewed

Courtesy of Pixar

In 1995, audiences the world over were introduced to Pixar and the world of Toy Story. Introducing the world to iconic characters like Woody and Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story was a monster hit. It won Academy Awards, spawned a series of four universally beloved movies, shows, and merchandise, and also redefined the animation medium as a whole. Toy Story is the foundation for what Pixar would become. It is also one of the very first movies I ever saw and solidified a lifetime of loving movies and science fiction, Almost twenty-seven years later, Pixar has decided to return to the beginning and explore the origins of the world's most famous space ranger.

Lightyear is the story of legendary space ranger, Buzz Lightyear. Lightyear embarks on an intergalactic adventure alongside ambitious recruits Izzy, Mo, Darby, and his robot companion, Sox. As this motley crew tackles their toughest mission yet, they must learn to work together as a team to escape the evil Zurg and his dutiful robot army that are never far behind.

Lightyear is the first movie that Pixar has released in theaters since the start of the pandemic, a welcome return to normal after the straight to streaming releases of films like Soul, Luca, and Turning Red. While the pandemic has made it hard for parents to get their children in seats, it was a relief to see this movie on the big screen with a rowdy audience of children and adults. I have missed seeing a Pixar movie in the theater and this is one that is definitely designed to be seen on the big screen. 

Chris Evans does an admirable job of replacing Tim Allen in the film. It makes sense for the film why Allen isn't there as this Buzz Lightyear isn't the comic relief of the film. He does a good job of bringing the pathos he brought to Captain America to this character. He makes Buzz feel like an actual character rather than a parody of sci-fi tropes. He is not meant in this film to have a Shatner-esque approach to how he speaks and it would hurt the story this film was telling if he was talking like that. Buzz's robot cat companion, S.O.X. frequently steals the show and is the highlight of the movie. The rest of the voice cast are fun additions to the Pixar canon and help ground the movie. 

The film is being presented in large format theaters like IMAX. It definitely benefits from being seen on the big screen possible. The visuals here are gorgeous with a wide array of colors that are engaging and breathtaking to look at. Same goes for the film with it's impressive Dolby Atmos mix. The sound mix for this film is fun, taking advantage of it's science fiction premise to make new and exciting types of sound effects while also exploring the limits of what one can do with an Atmos mix. The sounds of the rockets going off and the sequences involving interstellar travel in particular are impeccable and benefit from the sound design choices that Atmos allows for.  The same can be said for Michael Giacchino's exciting score for this film. His score adds a palpable amount of fun to the film's throwback old school science fiction adventure vibe.  This movie looks and sounds great. 

Since the film's announcement, there have been many questions about just what Lightyear is. Is it a prequel, a re-imagining, a biopic about Buzz Lightyear?  The answer is simple and ingenious once you realize just what Pixar is doing here. Lightyear is meant to be the kind of movie that kids fall deeply and passionately in love with. It is their love letter to the movies that inspired them to be filmmakers. Think of movies like Star Wars, Ghostbusters, or in my case, Toy Story.  Lightyear is the movie that a young Andy Davis saw in 1995. He loved it so much it that made him go get a Buzz Lightyear action figure and abandon his other toys. Lightyear is the movie that Andy loved so much one can guess that he wore out the tape watching it so much.  Lightyear is a film that is rooted in nostalgia for the classic science fiction adventure serials that inspired the character in the first place. It is meant to be the kind of movie that kids fall deeply and passionately in love with. 

Is the film perfect? No, I am sure there are things that you could nitpick about it's filmic elements. The film borrows liberally from movies and TV like Star Trek and Star Wars with little bits of Christopher Nolan's Interstellar sprinkled in their for good measure. Or that Lightyear doesn't look like a film from the nineties. That's what we do now, nitpick things because they don't fit into what we imagined them to be because of the marketing, fan theories some YouTuber came up with, or the mental movie that our brain created out of excitement. I am sure there's some Reddit posts in Andy's universe where someone is mad about plot holes in the Buzz Lightyear movies in the same way we nitpick to death Star Wars. To watch Lightyear in that way goes against the point of the movie. 

Sure, the plot can be cheesy and overly familiar at points, referencing things we as an audience know from other places. You can probably guess where this movie goes or what will happen to Buzz and his friends. None of that mattered to me as I was watching the film. I got to bear witness to something that I myself experienced because of Pixar. I saw the kids around me getting hooked into the film. You could just feel it in the room that moment where you watch someone discover their next cinematic obsession. They were having the same experience I had watching Toy Story all those years ago. The same one that Andy had watching this movie. They fell head over heels in love with a movie. As the movie ended, there was a burst of applause and the joyous shouting of little kids who just realized how awesome Buzz Lightyear is. All of those nagging thoughts about lore and plot holes went away and I just let the movie wash over me. Maybe you can too. 

-Liam O'Connor