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Monday, 13 June 2022

Lightyear Review

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Lightyear hits theaters June 17.

At the very start of Lightyear, words flash across the screen to tell us, “In 1995 Andy got a toy. The toy was from his favorite movie. This is that movie.” Somehow, what unfolds after those words fade manages to have all of the heart and emotional impact we’ve come to expect from Pixar while still feeling as derivative as one would expect a movie about a toy from another movie to be.

For that very reason, Lightyear may be the movie I’ve struggled most to assign a score to. When the story hits the notes it needs to, it works wonders. When it doesn't, however, it’s equally as noticeable. Perhaps the biggest cause of this hit-or-miss problem is the length and pacing of the movie. There’s no real reason for Lightyear to be as long as it is — and it’s pretty short (at an hour and 45 minutes) compared to what we’ve become used to with our blockbusters. Lightyear doesn’t find its stride until about 40 minutes in, but once it hits that point, it’s relatively solid for the rest of the run.

Chris Evans is not one of Lightyear’s problems, though. As Buzz, he seems to step into voice acting with ease. It’s not a skill all live-action actors are able to accomplish (sorry to Sebastian Stan in What If…?), and tackling a long-beloved character with an already iconic voice makes matters even more complicated. But at no point does it feel like he’s trying to emulate Tim Allen. Evans brings his own charming, charismatic spin here, and it works. He’s once again playing a man out of time — he even steps out of the same kind of chamber as Captain America did early on in this film — so maybe that helped him ease into things.

Though, it’s gotta be said that while Evans rocks his introduction into voice acting, Taika Waititi’s Mo and Peter Sohn’s Sox steal the show. They’re not together much; they’re just the best parts of the movie. And yeah, Taika is still basically just playing Taika in the movie. But it’s Taika if he were a space cadet, so it’s still fun to watch!

Pixar doesn’t make ugly movies, but Lightyear is particularly gorgeous. Not only is it filled with bright colors and flashy space adventures, but it has a lovely attention to detail in both its environments and cast. This is especially true for its Black characters. The texture in Alisha (Uzo Aduba) and Izzy Hawthorne’s (Keke Palmer) hair is beautiful, and it’s really exciting to see natural hair illustrated so beautifully in an animated film.

A lot of Lightyear may be “on the nose,” but its occasional lack of subtext is a benefit rather than a detriment. Specifically, Alisha is a lesbian, we see her multiple times with her loving family, and both her queerness and her happiness are important to the overall plot.

Lightyear just doesn’t live up to Pixar’s usual standards.

The themes of Lightyear are more subtle. The story challenges Buzz to separate his self worth from his duty as a Space Ranger as well as understand that he is worthy of love not once he is perfect but while he is flawed. They’re great messages! They’re just tackled in the gentlest of ways. This may work for some, but may go over others’ heads (and this is technically a kids’ movie, after all) – the story, for example, shows a real lack of willingness to call Buzz out as he carelessly ostracizes those around him. The story is, overall, feel good. But it’s also a slow-moving softball that Pixar has proven it’s better than.

Michael Giacchino’s score compliments Lightyear’s strong visuals, and the cast all does a great job in their respective roles. It just doesn’t end up being a new Pixar classic. You get the patented Pixar tears and the warm fuzzies you’ve come to expect from their stories – you just probably won’t remember them a week after you watch. Unless, that is, you’re still questioning whether or not there really needed to be a movie about Buzz Lightyear rather than any other spaceman working through his work/life balance issues.



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