Lightyear

At the start of Lightyear, an opening crawl informs us that what we're about to see is the movie that little Andy from the Toy Story movies saw in 1995 that led to him getting a Buzz Lightyear toy for his birthday.  Ordinarily, such thinking would probably be discarded as Hollywood marketing run amok, and it's true, we probably didn't need this film.  And yet, if Pixar has taught me anything, it's that even most of their "B-Projects" that didn't need to be made still have something of value, and this film ends up having plenty of value.

This is also the studio's first theatrical release in two years, and it's fitting that the scope is appropriately epic and fun, while still taking time for character moments that might get adults choked up a little.  This is a different Buzz than what we're familiar with.  According to director Angus MacLane (Finding Dory), he wanted to make him less the comic relief that he is in the main franchise, and a bit smarter and braver, while still giving him the arrogance and headstrong attitude that audiences are familiar with.  This also is his explanation as to why Tim Allen is not returning to the role this time, but has been replaced with Chris Evans.  I'm sure Evans' current box office status probably helped this decision as well, but I digress.  The key thing that matters is that it's easy to accept Evans' portrayal.

All commercial and behind the scenes wranglings aside, what we have here is a rip-roaring space opera that is visually stunning at times, funny, and fast-paced.  It helps expand Buzz's universe, giving him characters from his own unique franchise to interact with.  Yes, there was an animated Buzz TV series in the early 2000s that did the same thing, and which this film ignores.  Buzz (voiced by Evans) is a Space Ranger who, with his best friend Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba), is exploring a habitable planet that ends up being populated mainly by sentient vines that want to kill them.  Their escape from the planet is foiled when Buzz's arrogance and wanting to handle the mission on his own ends up in them crashing, and the inhabitants of the ship having to create a new home on this dangerous planet.

Buzz volunteers to test a hyperspace fuel that could be powerful enough to send them all home, but each test ends up being a failure, and due to the effects of time dilation, each time Buzz tries to travel at great speeds, he winds up four years in the future each time he lands, even though he's only been gone for a few minutes.  In a scene reminiscent of the opening of Pixar's Up, we get a montage where Buzz keeps on trying and advancing time around him, which ends up forcing him to watch his fellow Space Rangers age and eventually pass on, while he remains the same each time he lands.  By this point, the descendants of the original team have become comfortable living on the planet, and don't want to leave, much to Buzz's annoyance.

With the help of his robotic cat companion Sox (who is the movie's best creation, and is voiced by animator Peter Sohn), Buzz does figure out the successful formula for a hyperspace flight, and goes against orders to test it.  However, the test winds up flinging him further into the future than before, where the planet is now under the cruel control of the alien overlord Emperor Zurg (James Brolin).  With no one else to turn to, he will have to rely on a ragtag team of rookie Space Rangers which include Alisha's granddaughter Izzy (a likable Keke Palmer), the clumsy and accident-prone Mo (Taika Waititi), and the elderly prison convict Darby (Dale Soules), who is only a Space Ranger rookie in order to get time off her sentence, and has a passion for explosives.  

Lightyear manages to work, despite its obvious commercial reasons for existing, because I found myself strangely drawn into the movie's world, and the characters that inhabit it.  Even if this is not a top tier effort for the studio, it still shows a lot of effort, and has more than enough effective action sequences and humor that got me involved.  The cast are doing great line readings, there's more than enough heart to the story given Buzz's situation of being forced to watch those around him age because of his hyperspeed test flights, and the film's message of learning to trust others and accept help is expertly inserted without being preachy.  I liked all of the new characters that the filmmakers introduce here, with Sox the Robo Cat easily being the MVP.  Yes, he's an obvious merchandising ploy, but Sohn's line readings are so pitch perfect, it's hard not to fall for it.

But most of all, the film has a sense of wonder and adventure to it, which is something I missed in the recent Jurassic World sequel.  It's not all narrow escapes and daring rescues, and the movie is smart enough to balance out the action with character building.  It adds so much to an action film when we actually give a hoot about these people, and it's surprising how little Hollywood seems to understand that.  It doesn't simply rely on the nostalgia we have for the main character, but gives us a new view of him that seems a bit different, but still fitting.  This movie's Buzz is different from the toy Buzz, and that kind of makes sense the more I think about it, since both characters have had different experiences.

Not every Pixar movie needs to tackle tricky issues in a family-friendly way.  Lightyear just wants to be a stirring adventure, and it succeeds.  I came in with lowered expectations, but walked out thinking to myself that I wouldn't mind seeing another film from this movie's world.  Bring Sox back, and I'll be first in line.

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