“Lightyear” Movie Review by Rafy Mediavilla (@Rmediavilla). #Lightyear #DisneyPixar
While spending years attempting to return home, marooned Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear encounters an army of ruthless robots commanded by Zurg who are attempting to steal his fuel source. Lightyear was that Disney Pixar/Toy Story “origin” movie, or is it? that is not 100 percent clear, Buzz Lightyear story that we didn’t know we wanted to see, but it worked just as effective at bringing out all the typical emotions that most Disney Pixar are known for.
The story is very straight forward, Buzz Lightyear is stuck in space with his crew, and he needs to find a way to get back home. But the whole ordeal comes with a lot of hefty baggage, and that where the story works. In the middle of the story Buzz must deal with learning to work and trust his newfound team of rookies, and with that comes the lesson of learning that nobody is perfect and letting go of the past.
Between all the drama, Lightyear is also full of action-packed scenes, and that’s where the characters come to shine. Keke Palmer as Izzy was great, and someone many young adults will come to relate to as she is trying to find herself and overcome her fears. SOX the robot cat is the star of the show, and without a doubt the character kids, and even adults like me, will absolute go crazy for. SOX sole purpose is to guide Buzz is his journey, but his role is much bigger in scope as the story progresses which is something I loved. Chris Evans a Buzz Lightyear was good, and while I grew up with Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story, I can understand why they when in this direction with this specific story. While Allen is the cartoonish version of Buzz, Evens gave the character the more serious tone, which I appreciate.
I need to mention one more thing about Disney Pixar movies, and how much they have mature and adapted to the times we live today. Lightyear was not exception to these changes, and even being a Toy Story movie, they manage to put a little something here and there for everyone to identify with, and I give them props of that. While they just dab on it light, with Alisha we see an openly queer woman in a same sex relationship and we see a family built around it, which is my book is something that I absolutely loved, and I know many will appreciate
The main problem here is Zurg as the villain of the story. While we get hints here and there as the story progresses, and we know Zurg is the villain of Buzz story in Toy Story. The way they went about it for Lightyear felt rush and undercooked. If we look at Lotso in Toy Story 3, you could absolutely see and feel the menacing emotions of that character as the villain of the story. With Zurg when his end gold finally gets reveal, you are so caught up in everything that has happen between the characters and you don’t feel the same rage of emotions you would need to make it a menacing villain.
Lastly animation wise and this being a Toy Story movie, we see the same level of Polishness we see in other Disney Pixar movies so there is really no need to dive into this any further. In the end, Lightyear doesn’t seek to reinvent anything anyways. It works as intended, as an action-emotion packed Toy Story movie for the whole family to enjoy, and as always spark up some type of conversation.
