buzz lightyear movie review

“Lightyear” is not the origin story of the Buzz Lightyear toy from Pixar’s “ Toy Story ” series. It’s the origin story of the reason the Buzz Lightyear toy wound up in Andy’s bedroom. You see, Andy’s Mom bought a Buzz Lightyear toy back in 1995 because he was the main character in Andy’s favorite film. “This is that film,” a title card tells us before plunging us into an animated space opera starring Chris Evans as Buzz. Along the way, we’ll meet the Evil Emperor Zurg and learn where all those catchphrases folks have been saying for the past 27 years originated.

I won’t fault suspicious viewers who think this sounds like a bunch of cash-grabbing malarkey, but I should point out that this retrofitting is not without Pixar precedent. If you recall, “ Toy Story 2 ” revealed that the Woody toy was originally a tie-in to a television show from the 1950s. Which begged the question as to why the Hell a millennial like Andy would want him. At least this time, the toy came from a contemporary reference for the kid. After seeing “Lightyear,” I was full of even more questions, such as, “Would Andy’s Mom have allowed a toy version of Buzz’s partner in her house?” And, “Come on, Andy! Why didn’t you ask your Mom for a toy version of Buzz’s cat?!”

More on the kitty cat later. “Lightyear” begins with a special mission for space rangers. Buzz is partnered with Alisha Hawthorne ( Uzo Aduba ), his best friend. They share in-jokes and memories of missions past. Hawthorne is a Black woman, something you don’t often see in space movies despite all that work they did for NASA in “ Hidden Figures .” She constantly mocks Buzz’s penchant for “monologuing,” that is, recording the Shatner-like captain’s log into that device on his arm. Before each adventure, the duo touch fingers and yell “To infinity and beyond!” which I assume would have been the tagline for this film when Andy saw it. By that rationale, the makers of “Lightyear” can sue the makers of “Toy Story” for stealing it.

But I digress. Buzz Lightyear, the movie character, has the same penchant for being stubborn and following his own path that his toy did. This gets him in a heap of trouble when he disregards the advice of both his team and his ship’s autopilot navigator I.V.A.N. ( Mary McDonald-Lewis ). The turnip-shaped ship he’s flying crashes, marooning everyone on a hostile planet filled with killer vines and bugs. Guilt-ridden, Buzz makes it his mission to discover an energy source that will help them achieve hyperspace and get off the planet.

Or something like that. The most important thing to know is that every failed attempt to reach his goal results in Buzz missing four years of life back home. Everyone gets older while he stays the same age. “Lightyear” represents much of this repeated passage of time in a montage scored by Michael Giacchino ; it’s reminiscent of the opening scene in “ Up .” Buzz’s unwillingness to accept failure keeps him from celebrating the marriage of Hawthorne and her girlfriend, the birth of their daughter, and far too many in-jokes and experiences for him to count. When he finally achieves hyperspace, it costs him 22 more years. By this time, Hawthorne has passed on, leaving him a recorded message that Aduba delivers with such bittersweet beauty that there were audible sniffles at my screening. You’ll hear them at yours, too.

Hawthorne’s message is delivered to Buzz by her daughter, Izzy ( Keke Palmer ). She’s inhabiting the latest iteration of their home planet, one that’s full of hostile robots who are under the control of the suspicious “Zurg” space ship. Buzz sees a new shot at getting everyone off the planet. Unfortunately, he’s on the outs with Commander Burnside (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) the military man who used to run things, and must retrieve the turnip ship without any skilled help. Izzy offers to assist and volunteers her team of amateurs, ex-con/bomb expert Darby Steel ( Dale Soules ) and Mo Morrison ( Taika Waititi ). Their space ranger abilities are best described by Whitlock’s profane catchphrase on “The Wire.” Morrison is so bad, and causes so much trouble, that he manages to make the pig-headed Buzz look reasonable.

Director Angus MacLane and his co-writer, Jason Headley do a very good job gently mocking the type of space movie that would have existed in the 1990s. They fill “Lightyear” with details that are sure to inspire arguments on Twitter from the “Toy Story” faithful. The film’s visuals gleefully rob from other movies. I saw “ Return of the Jedi ,” “ Avatar ,” “ 2001: A Space Odyssey ” and even “ The Last Starfighter ” amongst the inspirations. I.V.A.N. looks like something Nintendo would have created. Each character fits neatly into the familiar roles the genre specifies: Flawed heroes seeking redemption, rookies hoping to prove themselves, villains with secrets, and so on. The score by Michael Giacchino is one of his best, a delectable spoof of bombastic space movie music that elevates every scene it plays under.

Of course, every great hero needs a great sidekick. “Lightyear” gives us Sox ( Peter Sohn ), an adorable cat whose job is to offer emotional support to Buzz. Sox speaks in soothing tones, sort of a cross between “ Big Hero 6 ”’s Baymax and HAL, and will purr if you scratch his stomach. He is exceptionally good at calculations and occasionally makes a noise that sounds like “Be-boop, be-boop, be-boop!” Like any cat, Sox is full of surprises both hilarious and ominous. If Pixar’s plan was to create a character whose toy would fly off the shelves, they were successful. He has one scene in the movie—you’ll know it when you see it—that elicited audible gasps of panic in the theater. I’m not a cat person, but I was stanning so hard for Sox that I wanted to—you’re mocking me, aren’t you?

No matter. As far as spin-offs go, “Lightyear” is a lot of fun. The voice talent is topnotch, especially Palmer and Evans. They have big shoes to fill; Palmer has to build on the emotional bond Aduba created, and Evans has to give us a Buzz Lightyear that’s close enough to Tim Allen ’s characterization to make us believe the film’s toy tie-in. Sohn is perfectly feline and Bill Hader has a good time with his small role as a rookie with a difficult to pronounce last name. When Zurg finally appears, he’s voiced with a deranged glee by Mr. Barbara Streisand himself, James Brolin . Hell, if his kid can play Thanos, I guess he can play Zurg.

After the lackluster “ Toy Story 4 ,” I’d had enough of this series, so much so that I expected to file a negative review. In the immortal words of Buzz Lightyear, “Not today!”

“Lightyear” will be available only in theaters on June 17.

buzz lightyear movie review

Odie Henderson

Odie “Odienator” Henderson has spent over 33 years working in Information Technology. He runs the blogs Big Media Vandalism and Tales of Odienary Madness. Read his answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire  here .

buzz lightyear movie review

  • Chris Evans as Buzz Lightyear (voice)
  • Keke Palmer as Izzy Hawthorne (voice)
  • Dale Soules as Darby Steel (voice)
  • Taika Waititi as Mo Morrison (voice)
  • Peter Sohn as Sox (voice)
  • Uzo Aduba as Alisha Hawthorne (voice)
  • James Brolin as Emperor Zurg (voice)
  • Mary McDonald-Lewis as I.V.A.N. (voice)
  • Efren Ramirez as Airman Diaz (voice)
  • Isiah Whitlock Jr. as Commander Burnside (voice)
  • Keira Hairston as Young Izzy (voice)

Writer (based on characters created by)

  • Andrew Stanton
  • John Lasseter
  • Pete Docter
  • Angus MacLane
  • Jason Headley
  • Anthony Greenberg

Cinematographer

  • Ian Megibben
  • Jeremy Lasky
  • Michael Giacchino

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Lightyear First Reviews: An Exhilarating, Visually Spectacular Sci-Fi Adventure for Fans who Grew Up with Toy Story

Critics say pixar's toy story -adjacent space romp is gorgeous and fun, even if it doesn't reach the studio's greatest heights, and a scene-stealing sox the cat will be everyone's new favorite sidekick..

buzz lightyear movie review

TAGGED AS: animated , Animation , Film , films , movie , movies , Pixar , toy story

Pixar returns to theaters with Lightyear , a sort of spin-off of their Toy Story franchise featuring the in-universe inspiration for the Buzz Lightyear toy (voiced here by Chris Evans ). The first reviews of the movie celebrate its animated sci-fi action and adventure story and visuals, as well as its scene-stealing robot cat for comic relief, but it’s not necessarily the studio’s greatest release.

Here’s what critics are saying about Lightyear :

Does it live up to peak Pixar?

Lightyear is the best movie of the year so far, and the best Pixar movie in quite some time. – Tessa Smith, Mama’s Geeky
Lightyear emerges as a disappointing runner-up, capturing but a fraction of the comedy, thrills, and poignancy of its predecessors. – Alonso Duralde, The Wrap
Sadly it never reaches the emotional highs that Pixar was known for. – John Nguyen, Nerd Reactor
It lacks the emotional weight and meaning Pixar moviegoers expect. – Jeff Nelson, Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Not every Pixar production needs to be a new modern classic, but… Lightyear is not exactly going to occupy too much space in my mind in the weeks to come. – Aaron Neuwirth, We Live Entertainment

Lightyear

(Photo by ©Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Will Toy Story fans love it?

The film captures the magic of what made the Toy Story franchise while confidently opening the door for new fans to the franchise. – David Gonzalez, Reel Talk Inc.
For old and new Toy Story and family adventure fans alike, this is worthwhile dream fulfillment and highly exciting entertainment. – Don Shanahan, Every Movie Has a Lesson
Angus MacLane’s animated space adventure is an absolute winner with thematic and emotional resonance, just like the Toy Story films before it. – Ryan McQuade, Awards Watch
This is a movie for Toy Story adults — the people who grew up on the movies and now hold jobs and mortgages — not Toy Story children. – Hoai-Tran Bui, Slashfilm
It won’t engage the heart or the head in the way that Toy Story films have led viewers to expect over the last quarter-century-plus. – Alonso Duralde, The Wrap
What ultimately waters down Lightyear … is an absence of the excitement and disciplined storytelling spirit that made Toy Story such a pioneering hit. – Tomris Laffly, AV Club

How is the writing?

Angus MacLane and his co-writer Jason Headley craft a transportive and imaginative screenplay… The most impressive thing about the duo’s screenplay is added layers of freshness to an already beloved character. – David Gonzalez, Reel Talk Inc.
The script… tosses off a few gently mind-bending twists, but otherwise rests comfortably within an accessible, highly allusive branch of family-friendly science fiction. – Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times
The movie feels a little episodic… like a kid recapping the plot of a movie, saying, “This happened and then this happened and then this happened.” – Fred Topel, United Press International
This feels like a story designed off a checklist rather than one told from the heart because it needs to be told. – Rob Hunter, Film School Rejects

Poster for Pixar's Lightyear (2022)

What about a strong message for the kids?

Lightyear will show you why Andy was enamored with his movie of choice and make you remember which one did that to you too back when you were a kid. – Don Shanahan, Every Movie Has a Lesson
Lightyear is a moving movie to see in our modern, cynical times when we can see people grow beyond what they are into the people we need them to be. – Ryan McQuade, Awards Watch
There is a lesbian kiss in Lightyear … This is a great way to have LGBTQ+ representation and inclusion on the screen, and should be applauded. – Tessa Smith, Mama’s Geeky
A tired message better taught in Monsters University : never underestimate the hard work, determination, and loyalty of your allies. – Tomris Laffly, AV Club

Does it play well as a sci-fi action movie?

Lightyear is still an extremely fun action sci-fi film that is better than most animated films released in a given year. – Ross Bonaime, Collider
The space action is genuinely thrilling with stakes as high as Gravity . – Fred Topel, United Press International
Pixar has dabbled in the action genre with The Incredibles and doubles down here with visually impressive, grin-inducing shootouts and fights. – Jonathan Sim, ComingSoon.net
It works out well enough to be entertaining overall for people who enjoy animated films that take place in outer space. – Carla Hay, Culture Mix
Offers exhilarating action sequences, involving racing rockets, robot armies, and a truly breathtaking space walk. – Kristy Puchko, Mashable
The outer-space visuals and action-packed fight sequences are undoubtedly riveting. – Mike Massie, Gone With the Twins

Chris Evans as Buzz Lightyear in Lightyear (2022)

How are the visuals?

If it needs to be said, the film is a visual triumph, with stunningly photo-real images and richly detailed deep-space locations. – Scott Mendelson, Forbes
Lightyear is easily Pixar’s best-looking movie yet. It isn’t even a question. – Tessa Smith, Mama’s Geeky
One of the most aesthetically appealing features Pixar has done. The environments’ scale and scope are dazzling. Many gorgeous frames are pure art. – Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction
With stunning space sequences, Lightyear adds to a genre rich in space beauty with one of the best-looking films of the year. – David Gonzalez, Reel Talk Inc.
Lightyear has visual pizzazz, from the hyperspace sequences to the heretofore hidden surprises that emerge from those colorful buttons and dials on the Space Ranger uniforms. – Alonso Duralde, The Wrap
The visuals are definitely up to Pixar standards, but the visual effects in Lightyear  are not really game-changing or extraordinary. – Carla Hay, Culture Mix

How is Chris Evans as the new voice of Buzz?

While Evans’s version of Buzz is akin to Tim Allen’s interpretation, this version is given the space to mold something fresh. – Ryan McQuade, Awards Watch
Evans puts his stamp on the character and makes it relatively easy to forget about the re-voice casting and fall back into the world of Buzz. – David Gonzalez, Reel Talk Inc.
Evans also does a commendable job of taking on the iconic role of Buzz Lightyear, giving the character just the right amount of gravitas and heroism that he needs, but mixed with just a dash of ignorance and naivety. – Ross Bonaime, Collider
He’s intentionally impersonating George Clooney for the entire movie; that’s how it sounds, anyway. – Alonso Duralde, The Wrap
[He] does a creditable job… though a bit of that Allen snap gets lost. The character seems less funny, a notch more ordinary. – Owen Gleiberman, Variety

Peter Sohn as the voice of Sox the cat in Lightyear (2022)

Will fans love the new characters too?

One of the movie’s greatest strengths is that it introduces characters with memorable personalities and quirks, with Sox being the one that viewers might be talking about the most. – Carla Hay, Culture Mix
Sox immediately belongs in the pantheon of great Pixar secondary characters, alongside Edna Mode, Dug, and Bing Bong. – Ross Bonaime, Collider
One of the best character debuts in any Pixar film. – David Gonzalez, Reel Talk Inc.
[Sox the cat is] one of the best new characters in recent Pixar memory. – Ryan McQuade, Awards Watch
Despite feeling a bit derivative of Baymax in Big Hero 6 , [Sox] the cat brings much-needed charm, heart and smile with his cute behavior, funny situations, and loyalty as a companion. – John Nguyen, Nerd Reactor
Izzy is an instant fan fav. She has the charm, the comedy, determination, overall countenance, natural hair, and all, of a character people can relate to. – Catalina Combs, Black Girl Nerds
This [movie] is packed to the gills with vibrant characters and creepy villains, most of which are sadly more interesting than Buzz himself. – Tomris Laffly, AV Club

Should they have just titled the movie “ Sox the Cat “?

His presence alone makes this movie worth the price of admission. – Jeff Nelson, Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Suffice it to say, Sox would be the toy every kid would have wanted after this film, not a Buzz Lightyear. – Aaron Neuwirth, We Live Entertainment
Hey, if Disney wants to make a Sox streaming show or spin-off movie, I’ll happily watch that. – Scott Mendelson, Forbes

Chris Evans as Buzz Lightyear in Lightyear (2022)

Is it a good sign for the future of Pixar?

If Luca , Turning Red , and Lightyear is the vision of Pixar going forward… then we are looking at a whole new renaissance by this prestigious animated institution. – Ryan McQuade, Awards Watch
If this is what Pixar can accomplish without really stretching its creative or emotional talents, just imagine what they could do if they gave it their all. – Rob Hunter, Film School Rejects

Lightyear opens in theaters on June 17, 2022.

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‘Lightyear’ Review: Infinite Buzz

The new Pixar movie recounts the adventures of Star Command’s most famous Space Ranger before he was a toy.

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buzz lightyear movie review

By A.O. Scott

The simple, charming premise of “Lightyear” is explained in an onscreen text. “In 1995, a boy named Andy got a toy from his favorite movie. This is that movie.” In other words, it’s the origin story not of a hero but of a piece of merchandise, one that started out fictional but long ago crossed the boundary into real life. More than one hard plastic Buzz Lightyear lived in my house for a long time, just like in Andy’s. To be part of the “Toy Story” universe is to be intimately acquainted with the metaphysics of the commodity form.

This Buzz is a little different, though. He isn’t a toy, and he doesn’t sound like Tim Allen, who did the voice work in the four chapters of Pixar’s “Toy Story” cycle. He’s a real live animated make-believe Space Ranger, and he speaks in the manly baritone of Chris Evans, who played Captain America over in the Marvel Universe zone of the Disney empire.

Like Cap, Buzz is square-jawed, stoic and shadowed by a hint of melancholy — a soulful soldier in an endless corporate campaign. If “Lightyear” lacks both the sublimity and the giddy inventiveness of the best “Toy Story” movies, that may be by design. This isn’t supposed to be a 21st-century masterpiece, but a kid-friendly, merch-spawning movie from 1995. (That was a pretty good year for commercial cinema , by the way.) The Buzz Lightyear toy was meant to stick around after the movie had been forgotten, and to populate a richer, more varied imaginative landscape.

“Lightyear,” directed by Angus MacLane from a script by Jason Headley, aims to please by pandering, to be good-enough entertainment. As such, it succeeds in a manner more in line with second-tier Disney animation than with top-shelf Pixar. The hero, fighting off an invasion force of alien robots, falls in with a motley group of misfits, in whom he must instill the competence and confidence necessary for the task. The action is wrapped in lessons, delivered in a manner that isn’t too preachy, about how it’s OK to make mistakes as long as you learn from them. And there is a scene-stealing animal sidekick, in this case a robot cat named SOX, voiced in perfect feline-A.I. deadpan by Peter Sohn.

A few soft-boiled Easter eggs pop up to connect “Lightyear” with various “Toy Story” episodes. Remember Zurg? He’s back, with James Brolin’s growl and a secret I won’t spoil. An early section — a kind of extended prologue to the main action — recalls the celebrated montage in “Up” that compresses a long marriage into a few short minutes. This time, the focus is on the friendship between Buzz and his closest colleague, Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba), who crash-land a crowded space vessel on a distant planet.

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Lightyear follows a familiar Pixar theme — and that’s its biggest problem

By echoing so many past Pixar messages, the Toy Story tie-in opens itself up to comparisons and comes out behind

by Tasha Robinson

Buzz Lightyear and his robot cat Sox stand in the cockpit of an X-wing-like ship in Lightyear

For the last seven years, one of the most popular critical analyses of Pixar Animation Studios movies has come from a Tumblr meme. Granted, it’s an insightful meme. The idea that Pixar movies all boil down to “ What if [random object] had feelings? ” does hold water, and given how much the studio built its name on the idea of evoking profound, powerful adult emotions in animated movies, it’s an understandable lens for viewing Pixar work.

But the studio’s new science fiction movie Lightyear suggests another way of looking at Pixar that’s a little less simple, but just as relevant. Arguably, Pixar’s strongest movies are about people (or toys, rats, robots, anthropomorphized emotions, etc.) figuring out how to accept who they are and how to live with each other. Lightyear forges new ground for Pixar with an ambitious story built around a new alien world and a new human society, focusing on how one man deals with his own shortcomings and losses over the course of more than half a century of lost time. But at heart, it links back to that core Pixar concept about opening up to other people as a first step toward finding a comfortable place in the world. That should be a resonant theme — certainly past Pixar movies, from Inside Out to Up to Coco to the original Toy Story , have drawn powerful narratives from the same message. But Lightyear takes such a disjointed, surface-level approach to the idea that it doesn’t land as powerfully as it should.

Lightyear has a slightly complicated place in Pixar’s franchise thinking. It’s meant to be a fictional artifact from the Toy Story world: the favorite sci-fi movie of Toy Story ’s central human character, Andy. Toy Story ’s toy version of Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Tim Allen) is a piece of merch from the Lightyear movie, where Buzz is a human astronaut (voiced by the MCU’s Captain America, Chris Evans), part of an elite team of Space Rangers. The bits and pieces of Lightyear ’s arc implied throughout the Toy Story movies — like Buzz’s various pull-string catchphrases and the existence of his big purple robot enemy Zurg — were all elements Finding Dory co-director Angus MacLane and his co-writer Jason Headley ( Onward ) had to deal with in plotting Lightyear . (MacLane told Polygon in an interview that they ignored the previous Toy Story animated spinoff, 2000’s film and TV series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command .)

A grubby Buzz Lightyear, Izzy, and robot cat Sox stand together in Lightyear

But those connections aside, Lightyear is meant to stand entirely on its own as an adult science fiction story rather than a movie primarily aimed at 6-year-olds like Andy. Which certainly explains some of its bigger ideas. As the film opens, Buzz is part of a human mission into deep space, aboard a bulbous, turnip-shaped ship full of cryogenically frozen explorers. When the ship is diverted to explore life signs on a planet en route to their final destination, Buzz and his commanding officer Alisha (Uzo Aduba) are thawed out to investigate. The planet proves dangerous, and Buzz tries to pilot the ship to safety, but he miscalculates, damaging the fuel crystal that lets the ship enter hyperspace and leaving it stranded in hostile territory.

Obsessed with fixing his error, Buzz takes on a series of experimental missions to space to test new fuel crystals. But because he approaches the speed of light in those missions, time passes more slowly for him than for the colonists he left behind. After every mission, most of which blur by in a quick montage, he returns to find Alisha older — first married to a woman she met while he was gone, then with young children, then adult children, and so forth. The colonists move on as well, settling in on their new planet and adapting to it, until they finally decide there’s no point in devoting resources to Buzz’s ongoing mission.

That’s a lot to take in as just the scene-setting for the actual action of the film. Too much of it whips by as if there are no questions to be asked and nothing worth mentioning about the ship’s original mission or the society it came from, the time that passes between Buzz’s missions, or whether anyone starts questioning their worth before the hammer finally drops on them. There’s nothing in that setup about how Buzz lives from one day to the next when he’s on the planet, or whether Alisha ever tries to talk him out of his obsessive space jaunts. It’s all presented as the basic buy-in for the rest of the movie, which deals with Buzz’s refusal to accept the future he’s suddenly found himself in, and his struggle to let go of the past.

As a Flash Gordon-style space adventure packed with fast-moving alien creepy-crawlies, snappy banter, and big explosive action, Lightyear is perfectly enjoyable. There’s a lot of funny business about Buzz narrating his actions as if he’s the hero in a space serial, and a strange, silly scene about the sandwiches of the future. It’s no wonder all this would appeal to Andy and his generation, who likely see it much like 6-year-olds in our world might: as an exciting rush through a world packed with killer robots, icky monster-bugs, and cool laser swords.

But Lightyear is so clearly calibrated to be something more: a thoughtful meditation on the passage of time. Its biggest ideas all point to the need to connect with people and live in the present rather than the past. It’s a warning about all the things we might miss if we fixate on past mistakes instead of letting them go. And on that level, the film never hits as hard as it’s meant to.

Izzy, Mo, Darby, Buzz Lightyear, and Sox the robot cat ride together in a vehicle as Buzz narrates his actions into his wrist communicator in Lightyear

In part, that’s because the script spends too much time explaining those themes. In part, it’s because there’s so much other business getting in the way. A robot cat named Sox, given to Buzz as a therapeutic tool to help him adapt to his time skips (and voiced by The Good Dinosaur director Peter Sohn), serves up plenty of gleeful visual and verbal jokes, but never serves his primary purpose. Buzz’s new allies Izzy (Keke Palmer), Mo (Taika Waititi), and Darby (Dale Soules) each get micro-arcs of their own, but they’re largely underdeveloped characters who mostly exist to remind Buzz that he needs to learn the value of teamwork — a moral lesson that crops up so often in kids’ movies that it’s hard to see it as an adult value here.

The way that arc plays out is particularly familiar. In the setup sequence, Buzz repeatedly refuses to accept a rookie on his mission with Alisha. He insists that he works alone and doesn’t need help or input from others. He’s echoing another big-chinned hero who has to learn the value of teamwork: Mr. Incredible, whose similar rejection of a rookie sidekick in the opening sequence of Pixar’s The Incredibles drives the entire plot of that movie.

But Lightyear doesn’t have the same narrative neatness or force. Buzz continues to echo his “I’ve got this, I don’t need help” line as he’s making his big mistake, but there’s no real evidence that teamwork could have solved the problem, or that the rookie he’s shoving aside had anything to offer. His error stems more from overconfidence in his own abilities, and not listening to the ship’s computerized autopilot. There’s only a slight disjunction between “accept other people’s help” and “listen to a robot’s calculations,” but it’s still a fairly serious one that highlights the little ways Lightyear doesn’t entirely connect its emotional dots. When Zurg finally emerges — and unlike so many recent Pixar movies, Lightyear is absolutely a story with an actual old-school villain — there’s a thematic connection to the film’s morals there as well, but one that doesn’t fully make sense within the world MacLane and Headley have laid out.

None of this keeps Lightyear from being a satisfying experience in any given scene, as Buzz and his various teammates outfight aliens and out-think robots, all on the road to the inevitable moment where Buzz finds a way to accept his life and what he’s made of it. The problem is in the ways the pieces all add up into something that never digs as deeply into these characters as it needs to. The Pixar craft is on full display, as MacLane and his team fill the screen with a polished, immersive world full of emotive, likable characters. (Notably, many of them are people of color in roles that don’t revolve around their racial heritage — a welcome reflection of Pixar’s ongoing steps forward in on-screen representation.)

But they’re up against so many past Pixar successes that mine similar emotions and ideas. They all have different constructions, but most of them have more power, in part because they bring more passion to bear. So many of the best Pixar movies are about characters struggling to fulfill one dream or another, but Lightyear makes it clear early on that its hero’s dream is unworthy and misguided, making it harder for viewers to fully engage with his battle to make it happen. (Headley’s Onward takes a similar tack in its climax, but at least lets the audience root for the heroes throughout the rest of the story.)

And that dream might have stronger roots if Lightyear spent a little more time on establishing about who Buzz was in the world he wants to get back to. It’s clear what he’s lost, but not what he values: It’s clear who he is, but not who he wants to be. Certainly viewers will fill in those blanks themselves based on what they value, but that rush to put all the narrative pieces in place leaves too many of the details in viewers’ hands. Seen through that enduring Tumblr lens, Lightyear could be summed up as: “What if people wracked with guilt and regret had feelings?” But seen as another Pixar film about acceptance and connection, it feels like a less heartfelt, more calculated echo of some of the studio’s more personal projects. It’s a familiar message, in a pleasantly shiny but visibly flawed new shell.

Lightyear debuts in theaters on June 17.

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buzz lightyear movie review

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Lightyear Reviews

buzz lightyear movie review

Despite some small throwbacks to “Toy Story,” Angus McLane’s film is a darn good time that can stand on its own two feet...

Full Review | Feb 3, 2024

buzz lightyear movie review

The film offers a good balance between emotion and comedy, although at times the development of the action is hindered by the constant difficulties on Buzz. Despite this, Lightyear is a very entertaining proposal for both adults and children.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Dec 28, 2023

buzz lightyear movie review

Lightyear exceeds all expectations for me & truly goes to infinity & Beyond… an emotional thrilling space Epic that is a true marvel to see in IMAX. This is an incredible experience that I cannot wait to see again! One of Pixar’s Best.

Full Review | Jul 25, 2023

buzz lightyear movie review

In nearly all ways, Lightyear is underwhelming. It’s shocking that this film was Pixar’s return to theatres after the pandemic. Soul, Luca, and Turning Red all would have made better theatrical releases than Lightyear.

Full Review | Jul 24, 2023

buzz lightyear movie review

An adventure filled with tons of entertainment, inspiring messages, and breathtaking animation.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Jul 23, 2023

buzz lightyear movie review

"Lightyear" is frantic and colorful and the one hour and 40 minute runtime zips by, but it's confounding who exactly the movie is intended for.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jul 16, 2023

buzz lightyear movie review

LIGHTYEAR is an approximation of what an energetic kid in the mid-90s would have glommed onto. It's a nostalgia bomb [of STAR WARS meets STAR TREK pastiche] and it works.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Jan 6, 2023

buzz lightyear movie review

Lightyear is an action-packed and visually stunning experience that puts less of a premium on Pixar’s legendary heartfelt comedy. Still, this is a future franchise that’s light-years in the making.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 2, 2023

buzz lightyear movie review

It may not be Pixar's best movie, but it's definitely not their worst; it's the kind of vastly entertaining, emotional, heartfelt and humorous Pixar adventure we all expect from this iconic animation studio.

Full Review | Original Score: 7.5/10 | Dec 30, 2022

buzz lightyear movie review

As Lightyear stumbles to make a compelling story on its own, it’s difficult to not get caught up in the incongruities.

Full Review | Dec 16, 2022

buzz lightyear movie review

Lightyear is fun, summer popcorn fare. However it is unlikely to make the same cultural impact as it did in the Toy Story universe. If it makes enough money to inspire a sequel, Buzz’s legacy may continue to Infinity… but not beyond.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 13, 2022

buzz lightyear movie review

Anything interesting about the character has been stripped from him, and what is left is a by-the-numbers science fiction film with a plot already mined out by generations of earlier movies.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Nov 2, 2022

buzz lightyear movie review

It's not a bad movie - reminiscent of 50s sci-fi where space exploration is at the heart of it all - but smacks of a genericness that lacks that particular passionately careful storytelling that Pixar is famous for.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 1, 2022

buzz lightyear movie review

Lightyear was exciting, suspenseful, funny and heartfelt, and animated action film is a category I didn’t realize I was missing out on.

Full Review | Sep 28, 2022

buzz lightyear movie review

A dubious feat of reverse engineering an IP into a commercial for itself, geared to administer doses of nostalgia to the Toy Story faithful and expand the lore of a character into a potential saga of his own.

Full Review | Aug 29, 2022

buzz lightyear movie review

“Lightyear” offers plenty of pretty things to look at and one funny/adorable robot kitty. But it hardly reaches to infinity, and it certainly doesn’t go beyond.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Aug 25, 2022

buzz lightyear movie review

in relation to the Toy Story series, it lacks the heart-tugging depth that made those movies so memorable. Taken on its own, Lightyear is entertaining, suspenseful (but not too scary), full of action and fun – just right for a summer movie.

Full Review | Aug 23, 2022

To get the most fun you can from Lightyear, only one requirement needs to be met: don’t expect anything extending the Toy Story universe.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 12, 2022

Lightyear is fine, just fine. It inspires no greater superlatives.

Full Review | Aug 4, 2022

buzz lightyear movie review

The film isn’t about the beloved toy Buzz Lightyear, but rather the “real-life” human who inspired him. Second, the hero is not voiced by Tim Allen, like doing a Woody origin story without Tom Hanks. If you can get past that, “Lightyear” isn’t a bad ride.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 3, 2022

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Pixar’s ‘lightyear’: film review.

Chris Evans voices the big-screen Space Ranger who became a 'Toy Story' action figure in the sci-fi adventure spinoff, also featuring Uzo Aduba, Keke Palmer and Taika Waititi.

By David Rooney

David Rooney

Chief Film Critic

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Buzz Lightyear (voice of Chris Evans) and EVIL EMPEROR in LIGHTYEAR.

The conflict in Pixar ’s ageless 1995 breakthrough feature, Toy Story , hinged on the displacement anxiety of old-fashioned pull-string cowboy doll Woody when his young owner Andy acquired a popular new action figure called Buzz Lightyear . The movie named for that Space Ranger, Lightyear , extends the Toy Story franchise by showing us the sci-fi adventure that hooked Andy on the character and inspired the merch. This is a funny spinoff with suspense and heart, a captivatingly spirited toon take on splashy live-action retro popcorn entertainment. The title character is given splendid voice by Chris Evans , balancing heroism and human fallibility with infectious warmth.

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My one major gripe is that this movie has left me low-key obsessed with wanting an emotional support cat robot like Sox, the feline automaton companion assigned to Buzz by Star Command to ease his troubled mind after a series of setbacks. I’ve thought of little else since seeing Lightyear , so I hope you’re happy, Pixar.

Release date : Friday, June 17 Cast : Chris Evans, Uzo Aduba, Peter Sohn, Keke Palmer, Taika Waititi, Dale Soules, James Brolin, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Efren Ramirez, Keira Hairston Director : Angus MacLane Screenwriters : Jason Headley, Angus MacLane

In the studio’s tradition of enlisting members of its creative team to do voice work, Sox is voiced by animator Peter Sohn. The cat is a digital assistant and a sympathetic listener, but he’s also a playful kitty prone to chasing lasers. And in place of fur balls, he can cough up a blowtorch or a tranquilizer dart to immobilize an adversary when necessary. Sox is a cute take on the classic Disney animal sidekick, and is typical of the endearing sense of humor at work in the screenplay co-written by director Angus MacLane and Jason Headley.

Since ranking now seems obligatory, this is solid mid-tier Pixar with plenty of kid appeal and a significant nostalgia factor for fans of ‘80s and ‘90s sci-fi. It can’t touch the studio’s space-age masterpiece, Wall-E, or Brad Bird’s ineffably moving The Iron Giant , from Warner Bros. But the beauty of the outer-space environments and the expressive charm of the characters should make this play well as the first Pixar release to hit theaters since the pandemic began. That includes IMAX screens, with parts of the film specifically shot in the larger format.

The title character of course is embedded in the imaginations of generations as an action figure — voiced by Tim Allen over four features — who came out of the box convinced he was a real Space Ranger in Toy Story . The shattering of that illusion and the rewards of becoming part of a tight-knit community gradually taught Buzz humility, reshaping him from an over-confident he-man to a lovable, occasionally clueless goofball; from a solo star to a team player.

In reimagining the live-action screen hero (albeit in a CG rendering) on whom the toy was based, the filmmakers’ first smart decision was casting Evans, whose overlapping Captain America experience enhances his authority in the role. This version shares the physical characteristics of the toy — the puffed-up barrel chest, the massive astronaut’s jawline and dimpled chin — but is more flexible both in his facial features and movements, as befits a theoretically flesh-and-blood character over a plastic one.

But the new Buzz’s emotional arc is not altogether unlike that of his toy-store counterpart. At the start of the adventure, he respects his friend and mentor Commander Alisha Hawthorne ( Uzo Aduba ), but he’s also an elitist who likes to be in control. His hero complex is such that he even narrates his own story, passing it off as a mission log. He’s as dismissive of rookie recruits as he is of his spaceship’s autopilot function, I.V.A.N., or Internal Voice-Activated Navigator, voiced by Mary McDonald-Lewis.

Lightyear is about how this gung-ho Space Ranger learns to acknowledge his human limitations and accept help. It’s also about the passage of time, and whether we fixate on regrets or move forward with whatever circumstances life presents.

That’s Buzz’s dilemma when he and his commander and their 1,000-member science and tech crew, while heading home to Earth, stop to investigate an uncharted planet, T’Kani Prime. Hostile life forms — aggressive monster vines and giant flying bugs — prompt a hasty exit, in which Buzz attempts the same steep cliff-climb flight maneuver recently seen in Top Gun: Maverick . Only he’s not so lucky. Damage to the fuel cell leaves them stranded on T’Kani Prime, with no way home until they can fix the hyper-speed drive.

Crushed by his rare taste of failure, Buzz vows to complete the mission and return everyone to Earth. But one year later, his first hyper-speed test flight using crystal fuel made from the planet’s natural resources is a bust. And the time dilation of his 4-minute flight means that everyone back on T’Kani Prime has aged more than 4 years when he returns.

With each successive test flight, that process intensifies, so while Buzz remains the same age, relentlessly pursuing a solution, everyone he knows accepts their situation and gets on with life within the new colony’s protected perimeters. This applies especially to Commander Hawthorne, an openly queer character who marries her girlfriend, becomes a mother and an eventual grandmother while Buzz continues plugging away at the perfect crystal fuel formula, aided by Sox.

Pixar and Disney films both have shown faith over the decades in children’s ability to understand death, and Lightyear is no exception, providing poignant moments of loss that cut deeper with Buzz since his life has essentially remained frozen in time.

But when a new threat emerges in the form of an alien spaceship captained by mega-robot Zurg ( James Brolin ) and his army of Zyclops automatons, Buzz is forced to go rogue. His only backup comes from the Junior Zap Patrol, a ragtag trio of volunteer cadet trainees that includes Alisha’s granddaughter Izzy ( Keke Palmer ), who dreams of becoming a Space Ranger if she can overcome her fears; clumsy beanpole Mo ( Taika Waititi ), who admits he was an academic underachiever; and jaded Darby (Dale Soules), a tough as nails old broad who’s more than happy to overlook the veto on weapons handling that is one of her parole conditions.

How that band of outsiders find mutual trust and strength in their collaborative know-how while also discovering their individual skills is a story very much out of the Pixar playbook — albeit with some time-bending twists as they travel into the future.

MacLane, who co-directed Finding Dory as well as a couple of Toy Story shorts, and Headley, who co-wrote Onward , are clearly genre fanboys high on the boundless capacity of sci-fi to create distant worlds; they toss in nods to everything from Starship Troopers to Alien to Gravity . The material is bouncy and light-hearted, even as danger mounts — there are loads of amusing throwaway jokes that humanize technology, like I.V.A.N. releasing a cockpit confetti bomb when the hyper-speed works, or two Zyclops exchanging nervous side-eye glances when Zurg stomps out in a rage.

But the filmmakers also inject plenty of tenderness, especially in the way Buzz comes to care for and rely on the crew that initially seemed such a liability. Having been too busy with his mission to focus on any personal life of his own, he finds unexpected closeness with his surprisingly resourceful cadets, particularly Palmer’s spunky Izzy, who represents a continuous line from his friendship with her grandmother. The comforts of fellowship also tidily echo the bonds that action-figure Buzz found with Andy’s other toys.

The textured visuals are often breathtaking, pulsing with luminous color, and the detailed character work is delightful, matched by strong contributions from the voice actors. Involvement in the story is enriched at every turn by Michael Giacchino ’s robust orchestral score, which ranges from quiet, intimate moments through hard-charging suspense to triumphal jubilation. The film gets in on the MCU act with a jokey mid-credits sequence and then a more dramatic one at the very end, opening the door to a sequel.

Perhaps the sweetest adjustment here to the familiar Toy Story Buzz is that his cornball heroic catchphrase, “To infinity and beyond,” is as much a reinforcement of human connection as a rallying cry for space adventure.

Full credits

Production company: Pixar Animation Studios Distribution: Disney Cast: Chris Evans, Uzo Aduba, Peter Sohn, Keke Palmer, Taika Waititi, Dale Soules, James Brolin, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Efren Ramirez, Keira Hairston, Bill Hader Director: Angus MacLane Screenwriters: Jason Headley, Angus MacLane Story: Angus MacLane, Matthew Aldrich, Jason Headley Producer: Galyn Susman Executive producers: Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter Directors of photography: Jeremy Lasky, Ian Megibben Production designer: Tim Evatt Music: Michael Giacchino Editor: Anthony J. Greenberg Sound designer: Ren Klyce Animation supervisor: David DeVan Character supervisor: Mark Piretti Effects supervisor: Bill Watral Visual effects supervisor: Jane Yen Casting: Kevin Reher, Natalie Lyon

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Movie Reviews

Movie review: pixar's 'lightyear'.

Bob Mondello 2010

Bob Mondello

Buzz Lightyear flies to infinity and beyond in Lightyear , the fifth film in Pixar's Toy Story saga.

Copyright © 2022 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

IMAGES

  1. Buzz Blasts Off In The First Teaser Trailer For Pixar’s Lightyear

    buzz lightyear movie review

  2. Lightyear Review: Is It Better Than the Toy Story Movies?

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  3. 'Lightyear' Review: Buzz Lightyear Gets His Own Adventure. It's Div

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  4. Chris Evans plays 'original' Buzz Lightyear in new movie trailer

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  5. Lightyear Movie Review (2022)

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  6. 'Lightyear' sputters upon liftoff in Pixar’s new Buzz Lightyear movie

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