Disney Pixar's latest returns to infinity and beyond with Lightyear, an in universe origin for the toy of Buzz Lightyear.
Watch Sam's Take here:
Directed by Angus Maclane, the story follows the legendary Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans) after he and Star Command are marooned on a hostile planet 4.2 million light-years from Earth. As Buzz tries to find a way back home through space and time, he's joined by a group of ambitious recruits and his charming robot companion cat, Sox (Peter Sohn).
It is an in-universe origin for the toy Buzz Lightyear. So, Andy would have watched this movie and bought the toy of it.
One of the first things many latched on to when this film was announced was that Tim Allen does not reprise his role as the titular space ranger from the Toy Story movies. Chris Evans brings a lot of gravity and compelling emotion to Buzz, drawing on that tenacity from his days as Captain America.
While there's been a lot of debate whether Allen should have come back for continuity purposes, that's neither here nor there. But in a statement producer Galyn Susman said the reason Buzz was recast was because: "It would cause more confusion for audiences instead of helping them understand the movie we're trying to tell."
Executives really need to give audiences more credit. Just because you change the voice of a character doesn't instantly mean they're not going to understand your movie. The voice is irrelevant in that. What's important is a coherent script and journey for your character.
Tim Allen's voice is iconic to Buzz, but not having him in this doesn't derail any comprehension of the story. That's ridiculous. And also the in-universe equivalent origin for Woody - Woody's Round Up from Toy Story 2 -uses the same voice as the toy so there's just no leg to stand on with the argument.
But also, did this movie need to be made?
Not really, it's kinda just capitalising on a beloved IP. There's nothing about it that adds to Buzz's story.
The main conflict in the film is that Buzz crash lands a large ship containing a large amount of space rangers on a hostile planet, then they spend the next year crafting a ship that can handle hyperspace so they can send the ship home to get help. Why not use that time to communicate to home that you need help?
This then devolves into a bunch of fetch-it quests. While it's kinda meant to be for kids, that doesn't mean you can slack off with lazy plot.
Buzz says a lot of lines from the original franchise, obviously as a way to link this to voice lines for the toy. But these lines mixed with lots of reused story beats just feel throwaway and like Disney is poking us saying "you remember this? This is something you know and you like that mhmm". It just felt a little condescending putting them in there with little substance or weight.
As for the portrayal of Buzz, Chris Evans does do a great job. He has presence and emotion that lives up to the legend of the space ranger. The characters place in the story has compelling elements. His obsession with this mistake in his past and its consequences is an engaging exploration of being blind to the impact of one's need to fix.
But it's the characterisation of this Buzz that feels off. Firstly he has this weird unexplained hatred for autopilot AI. And there are a lot of things that make Buzz, Buzz that he doesn't have for majority of the film. Things that would make solving certain problems so much easier, which of course doesn't make a movie but just feels like an age old decision to remove the thing that makes a character a character, for the sake of what? I go to see Buzz being Buzz doing Buzz things and I feel like I didn't get that to the full extent that I could.
As for the main supporting cast, the personality trait for them is, be stupid and hope for best equals profit. It's a shame too because these are diverse people of colour characters who have been given these traits. I found them rather insufferable and when the film tries to give them backstory and emotional moments they just don't land for me, because they don't change as characters.
This thankfully doesn't apply to Peter Sohn's robot cat Sox who is so emotive and endearing for something that's only form of expression is moving its mouth and eyelids up and down.
It's sad to not have trained voice actors in the roles. Not that those in the cast are bad or to gatekeep who can and can't do voice acting roles, but just that there are people trained for this who are getting a little shafted for a-list stars.
This is a trend that has become a bit more mainstream after Robin Williams in Aladdin, which is an iconic and favourite performance of mine. But it somewhat kicked off a trend of getting movie stars to do voice acting roles which eat up opportunities for those specialised for it.
Maybe I'm looking at this from too much of a lens of fondness and protectiveness, but this movie just wasn't as compelling as I thought it would be and seems like a bit of a cash grab. There is also a massive plot hole at the very end regarding a robot that shouldn't be functioning. It makes me a bit sad because this franchise holds a very dear space in my heart. A lot of lines from the original in particular have been staple quotes in my house with my family for as long as I can remember.
Of course this one not being great doesn't remove the good ones from existence, but it's just a bit disheartening to see it mishandled in places.
