Lightyear (2022) User Reviews

Doesn't go to infinity and beyond

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 27 January 2024]

'Lightyear' (2022)

Opening thoughts: Expectations actually weren't low for 'Lightyear', despite its polarising critical reception and the controversy it garnered for a same sex couple and kiss. Buzz Lightyear is one of Pixar's greatest creations and more than interesting enough to warrant his own prequel origin story. Am also a fan of Pixar and of the first three 'Toy Story' films. 'Monsters University' and 'Finding Dory' were proof to me too that prequel origin stories to Pixar hits could work.

'Lightyear' didn't quite come together for me, a case of it starting off so well but losing momentum and focus. It is nowhere near as bad as what was said about it when first released and the controversy over something so brief and that was actually done tastefully was very over the top and not deserved. When it comes to Pixar's films though, 'Lightyear' is one of the weaker ones (perhaps the weakest of the non-sequel efforts) and one of the missed opportunities. There is a good deal done right, but what Pixar does so well only comes in spurts and there are too many drawbacks.

Good things: Starting with the plus points, 'Lightyear' is gorgeously animated with it shining especially in the visually inventive action sequences and the galactic backgrounds. Michael Giacchino's score is beautiful and rousing, with real atmosphere.

The film starts off incredibly well, with a lot of intrigue and suspenseful excitement. The voice acting is excellent, Chris Evans filling Tim Allen's giant shoes with great charisma. Of the characters, it is agreed that Sox is the best, so lovable and funny and a character worthy of his own series. Izzy also brings a lot of heart.

Bad things: Was a bit mixed on Buzz, he is very heroic and relatable to begin with but the more the film takes itself too seriously the duller his personality gets. Too many of the characters have thin personalities and the clumsiness of the characters becomes overdone and repetitive. Zurg is a huge disappointment, not sinister at all and instead very generic and underdeveloped with a plan that makes the viewer raise their arms up in confusion and frustration.

Pacing wise, 'Lightyear' is all over the map. With too many draggy stretches in a film that feels too much like an over extended prologue. Much of the story is flimsy, while the over reliance on false starts complicated the narrative too much and made some of the film convoluted. The script doesn't always flow and takes itself too seriously, when there is humour it only comes to life with Sox and is annoying elsewhere. The film could have done with a lot more suspense and excitement, both of which dim significantly the thinner and more complicated the story gets. The big Zurg reveal is agreed beyond awful, introduced out of nowhere, severely underwritten, absolutely ridiculous and doesn't make sense at all and succeeds in dumbing him down. From that point on it all felt rushed and the whole climax anti-climactic.

Closing thoughts: Overall, not unwatchable by any stretch but should have been a lot more considering the character and studio.

5/10.

A muddled and mediocre effort

[AlsExGal · 5/10 · 4 July 2023]

As a sci-fi fan, I found the film mildly entertaining, if only for the setting and concepts, but I get why it didn't land well with the general audience. I think the film had two major flaws that dragged it down.

First would be that the film couldn't decide what it wanted to be. It took itself too seriously and had too many convoluted concepts (time dilation, time travel, alternate timelines) to be enjoyed by children, but it also didn't really explore any of it's themes or concepts well enough to be enjoyed by adults. This whole film really comes across as Interstellar-lite, which is just an odd thing to base a kids film on.

The other issue for me was the characters. They just weren't very engaging. Buzz himself came off as kind of humorless and dour, and the rest of the cast was entirely one note. Buzz's team in particularly just felt tacked on and didn't really add anything to the film. Tim Allen is a better Buzz Lightyear. Even Patrick Warburton is probably a better Buzz in terms of being engaging and fun. Chris Evans does a solid job here, and I kind of agree that he brings a more "human" quality compared to the wacky Tim Allen. But when you look at how devoid of energy the film is, I have to wonder if Tim Allen could have somehow injected some life into this movie with clever ad-libs. This movie needed energy, and it has nothing in the tank.

Ultimately, I think the film just needed to pick a lane. Either make this a fun adventure romp across the galaxy, or lean into the mature themes and ideas. As is, it's a film that didn't really make me laugh or make me feel anything, it's just kind of "there".

Really don't get the hate

[mjb301086 · 7/10 · 17 July 2022]

It wasn't the best Pixar film but it definitely wasn't the worst. Why it gets such a low score on here I'll never know. I'll admit the trailer did make it look better than it actually was but it was still decent and funny.

Sox steals the movie

[Rectangular_businessman · 6/10 · 22 November 2022]

While I personally don't dislike this movie, I think the overall result is a little bit forgettable, far below the usual quality Pixar used to have in their classic films such as Finding Nemor, Up, or Ratatouille.

Still, an okay adventure film; the best and most memorable aspect from it was Sox the robotic cat, which basically stole every single scene where he appeared.

His alternate timeline version was also a charming character; shame it was so unceremoniously killed off by the antagonist.

The connection between this and the original Toy Story was...Well, pretty much irrelevant. It had such a little impact in the plot that ultimately felt unneeded. It's pretty much an independent work rather than some sort of addition to the Toy Story film series.

The movie is ok. Many of this film's reviewers seem nuts

[brianjohnson-20043 · 7/10 · 30 June 2022]

This film seems to spark a lot of people to say that this film is completely terrible or that it's completely fabulous because it included a gay relationship in the periphery of the main story, and to an even lesser extent, a convict character who is sympathetic. So. I'll address that quickly: None of that seemed like a big selling-point or issue with the movie to me. And those reviewer who make the movie all about those things seem to say more about themself in their review than the movie itself.

Overall I found the movie better than what I was expecting based on it's IMDB score, but still far from being a Pixar classic.

The animation is very good, the story is solid even if it feels like a lot of the ideas have been done before in different ways and feels like a few ideas didn't quite work as well as possible. In some ways it reminded me of an inferior "Up". The main protagonist's circumstance were less sympathetic and more a result of his actual decisions. Overall I wonder how the movie would have looked if it had explored a B storyline for another character during some of the time-jumps. I also think the twist could have been established a little better than it was.

The voice acting for the film is fine. I didn't think a lot of the comedy landed well for me. But it wasn't awful like a lot of kids movies either and didn't detract much from the drama of the main story. Overall it will be acceptable to most audiences, with the robot cat being a likely favorite character for many viewers. Most kids will probably like it a bit more than adults and not notice or care much about the politically controversial content unless their guardians have already primed them to have an major opinion about it like them.

I'd say it's a good time at the theater and better than the average score right now of 5.8. But don't expect it to be a classic Pixar film like Coco, Up, Walle, or Toy Story 1-3.

No signs of intelligent life anywhere....

[PerryAtTheMovies · 6/10 · 16 June 2022]

6.4/10

The nostalgia was there for ten minutes and then it went away as the story trails away into something that just didn't sit right. While we never got firm info about Buzz's origins in the "Toy Story" films. This isn't what I expected for his story. I expected this to be an emotional journey, but there were maybe three moments where a tear was shed. The rest was just "empty" space.

The voice acting was good. Chris Evans sounded like Buzz and brought the character to life. The surrounding characters were just as enjoyable. Definitely some funny moments amongst them. I did get a few laughs out, but it felt forced sometimes to be able to enjoy the film.

The film definitely looked, and sounded, great, but it didn't do enough to grasp a love for the character, or the story. Honestly, I don't think this film was for adults to reach back to the childhood nostalgia, but rather its for a new generation to make the character it's own meaning. Flip side to Buzz was Zurg. Zurg was perhaps the biggest disappointment with how they portrayed him. Who he was in "Toy Story" is not the same as who is here, and again, it didn't sit right.

I think the biggest thing is to forget the trailer. Go in with an open-mind and make of it what you will. The kids in the theatre seemed to have loved.

Overall, not the outstanding film I was expecting even with all the great visual and sound. The story lacked expectations for a nostalgic character, but wasn't necessarily terrible, so again, go in with an open-mind.

Thank you for reading my review. Until next time.... Enjoy the show!

Mediocre

[bbevis-47954 · 4/10 · 20 June 2022]

I enjoyed the first thirty minutes or so of Lightyear. The pacing was decent and the humor/heart was in the right place. Once the twist in the trailer happens the story becomes a beautifully predictable entry for Pixar, and my five year old became incredibly antsy to leave the theater. Socks steals the show but that isn't enough to enliven a boring plot. Wait for Lightyear to stream on Disney+.

Pretty good

[jpmock · 8/10 · 24 July 2022]

Wow I just can't believe the bad reviews. I use imdb scores and written reviews religiously and 95% of the time u think they are spot on. I watched this with my family and we were all very entertained throughout the entire movie. That should say enough. It was pretty well done and interesting.

It's an okay product, but wrong I.P.

[Mr-Fusion · 6/10 · 19 November 2022]

"In 1995, Andy got a toy. That toy was based on a movie. This is that movie. "

I think I would've gotten more out of this if they'd left out that opening text. "Lightyear" is a decent space adventure movie, the visuals are pretty great and Chris Evans gives a strong performance.

But the idea that the Tim Allen Buzz we all know and love came from this movie . . . Eh, I just couldn't get there. There's a bigger "Top Gun" vibe going on here than anything "Toy Story" related and "Maverick" did a much better job of living with failure.

I admit I walked into this with low expectations (really, was anyone asking for this movie?) but the Toy Story association is totally forced.

Boring

[Balnyetnikoff · 3/10 · 17 June 2022]

I saw this in the theater with my 6 year old. She fell asleep and I almost did too...boring, nonsensical, inconsistent, and worst of all, not funny. What was the point?

Should have been free to watch on Disney plus.

Great sci-fi adventure

[masonsaul · 8/10 · 17 June 2022]

It may be Pixar's most straightforward film so far but that doesn't stop Lightyear from being another gorgeously animated installment and a great sci-fi adventure that's thrilling, funny and emotional, with the odd twist and heartfelt message up its sleeve as well.

Chris Evans gives an incredible lead performance as Buzz, honouring what's come before but still finding his own interpretation. Keke Palmer is full of likeable innocence and Taika is great as himself. The standout by far is Peter Sohn as Sox, endlessly adorable and always funny.

The animation is absolutely phenomenal with a lot of it bordering on photo real. Angus MacLane's direction is excellent, there's a clear love for sci-fi present and the world is satisfyingly clunky in the technology. The music by Michael Giacchino is really good, nothing too memorable but still suitably epic and futuristic.

This isn't as bad as everyone is claiming!

[Seb_3 · 7/10 · 16 June 2022]

I don't get the bad reviews! The score at the time of writing is pretty horrible, and I don't understand. This isn't the best from Disney and Pixar, but it is a great addition and a clever way to tell a new story set in the Toy Story universe. It brings great animation and the array of emotion that we have come to love from the studio.

The movie lightyear is the movie that got Andy excited for the new Buzz lightyear toy in the universe of toy story. A great sci-fi action flick for both children and adults with a story of friendship, acceptance and the importance of taking a step back from time to time. Chris Evans as Buzz does a great job of capturing the essence of the iconic voice delivered by Tim Allen in the original. The side characters are great and have some fun dialogue and one liners, especially the cat Sox is amazing and next to every single joke made the theater laugh.

The animation and story is great, but it does feel a bit safe. The animation is stunning but a bit bland at times, and it isn't as colorful compared to other movies, and it doesn't have a distinct style, but stays inside a boundary. The story is good and does have quite a few tear pressers, but it is something you will have seen in other movies before.

Lightyear feels safe, not as exploratory and daring as previous Pixar films, but it is a good movie worth watching, especially if you love the original movies. All around it's a fun and entertaining movie, with great humor and a few heart wrenching moments.

7/10.

Not good

[FeastMode · 4/10 · 16 June 2022]

This movie isn't terrible. But it's not good. As a comedy it fails. I laughed only a few times, almost exclusively at the cat. Most of the jokes were crickets in my audience and a bunch made me roll my eyes.

As a sci-fi movie it fails. It gives us the most basic child version of several sci-fi concepts stolen from other movies like Interstellar. And if you think for more than a few seconds, so much of it doesn't make sense. There was a cool fight scene and a couple of good action moments, but for the most part I found myself not caring about the action.

The movie does this thing where it keeps throwing a wrench in the plan, creating obstacles that the characters must overcome. This is normally a good strategy and makes any later success feel earned and satisfying. But every obstacle is a result of dumb characters, silly mistakes, or simply being clumsy. This makes it hard to stay invested. When this strategy is executed better, there is a much better reason for the obstacles, such as a really smart antagonist.

Late in the movie, it goes in a direction that I wasn't a fan of. And we get a few ridiculously cheesy moments, one that made me cringe so hard it hurt. The great animation doesn't make this worth watching.

P. S. The mid- and post-credits scenes are absolutely not worth the wait. (1 viewing, early screening IMAX 6/15/2022)

Good film - with the right expectations.

[woodstock-82880 · 7/10 · 4 August 2022]

I went to see this with my 5 year old daughter, and in the build up to seeing it - I took to IMDB to get a feel for the rating. At that time, it was a poor 5.5. My rule of thumb is, anything lower then 6 is probably not worth it - but my daughter was super keen, so we went for it. And I am glad I did. A good film, with solid principles baked into it about team work, determination and friendship. I get why the rating on it is lowish on here, it's not a patch on the toy stories, but it is worth watching. You just have to go in with the mentality of this is going to be a good stand-alone film and not strictly tied to the toy story franchise, (although a close relative.).

Oh well, I liked it

[ericstevenson · 7/10 · 4 July 2022]

"Lightyear" is the defictionalization of the movie that exists in the "Toy Story" Universe and seeing as how any "Toy Story" movie is my favorite animated movie of all time, I just had to see it and...it's not bad at all. Look, I know that many people were angry about the twist that Emperor Zurg is Buzz in the future and I wasn't a fan of it either. I still felt that this was a fairly unique film. It isn't a "Toy Story" movie at all, it's a Buzz Lightyear film. The plot is that Buzz is trying to reach hyperspeed but keeps failing and ends up time traveling four years into the future. The last of these (and his only success) results in a world ruled by Emperor Zurg and I already told you the spoiler.

Sox the robot cat is fantastic. I felt this movie was very well paced and it was something different for Pixar. Yes, it didn't work out nearly as well as the "Toy Story" films, but the characters were fairly likeable and the visuals are really good with nice action scenes. It is kind of weird to think this is the movie that launched the Lightyear franchise In-Universe. Wait, the green aliens came from Buzz Lightyear, so why weren't they in this movie? It's by no means a classic, but I still enjoyed it and I don't care that it's the lowest rated Pixar film here at all. ***

It's a mindless action-adventure film and I loved it!

[subxerogravity · 7/10 · 16 June 2022]

It's not bad at all.

A side movie within a movie as the text at the beginning states that this movie was released in 1995 to sell the Buzz Lightyear toy in Toy Story.

If you're looking for any Toy Story references or expecting this film to be like Toy Story, think again. In fact, as a Pixar movie, it a little subpair in the usual Disney formula.

What it had going for it is that it's a fast-paced exciting, animated film from beginning to end. It never stops being charming.

I don't know why they decided to replace Tim Allen after 25 years of being Buzz, but I'm not mad at all at what Chris Evans did with the character. KeKe Palmer was also a good voice over but not as good as Uzo Aduba who killed it.

It may not impress Toy Story fan but if you think about as its own thing which in every way that matters it is than it works greatly.

For what it was I enjoyed myself. So worth the ticket price.

"Zurg."

[mattstone137 · 4/10 · 18 June 2022]

"In 1997, a child named Andy bought a Buzz Lightyear action figure after seeing the character in his favorite movie. This is that movie." These sentences precede Lightyear, a gorgeously realized and superbly animated film which has also been finely calculated and sterilized to assuage those who greenlit its production. Despite its visual splendor, Lightyear is not always easy to look at, with the knowledge that a soulless, artless, superficial corporate entity has hollowed out the insides, and is wearing the film like a glossy, finely crafted skinsuit.

The film follows Buzz Lightyear as he attempts to bring home a crew aboard "The Turnip" an exploratory vessel used by Star Command. His attempts bring about strange consequences with time, and he is quickly thrust into an unfamiliar timeline with a trio of unlikely helpers, including the teenaged granddaughter of his compatriot, Izzy Hawthorne. Together, they must stop a robot invasion and complete the mission Buzz began almost a century ago.

There are a number of threads and disparate qualities to Lightyear, many of wildly varying quality, but one thing is certain; this is a proudly corporate and sterilized product. This nagging fact presents itself with the aforementioned opening lines, a reminder that the film currently being watched is explicitly and purposefully nothing more than a product consumed by a child twenty-five years ago. The message is stated not only to help Disney merchandise the film, but to remind and entice their audience about the wonderful array of products present under their corporate umbrella, their distressingly tightening grip on all entertainment. The sentiment registers early and often; this is not story, this is product.

This corporate slavishness manifests itself in the typical risk-aversion attitude and spinelessness of contemporary Hollywood. Lightyear is bland; not visually, but in its story, in most of its directorial choices, and its tone. It's a painstakingly manufactured blandness, meticulously constructed to smooth over or erase the rough edges of human complication. The nature of the story and the moodiness of the animation call for a mature telling, but the writers and producers of the film clearly aren't interested in mining any potential emotional complexity or intrigue.

Another irritating and telling sign of Lightyear's men-in-suits meddling is its frantic pace and fear of looking death in the eye. Buzz's story here is actually quite tragic, a futuristic vision of uncontrolled loss and temporal grief akin to Interstellar or Ad Astra. A film more attuned with its characters and their psychological needs and nightmares would nurture this tragedy, use it to frame their journey early and often. Lightyear not only blows by this thread in the pursuit of lubricating its plot, but its final twist runs totally counter to Buzz's previous motivations and desires. Buzz is not allowed to feel true human-like grief because he's not human. He's merchandise. The same could be said for all other characters.

A counterargument arises: "It's just a kid's film!" But if there's any animation studio which has shown the propensity for mature children's programming in the past, it's Pixar Animation. Even goofier franchises, like Kung Fu Panda, have occasionally hit emotional paydirt because the writers were aligned with their characters, psychologically and plot-wise. When Po learns of his parents' death at the hands of Lord Shen, he mourns, and the film mourns with him. He's allowed time to focus within and process the information. He doesn't immediately stumble onto a new plot point, he doesn't mindlessly enter into a final confrontation, he doesn't make any insipid quips. Buzz Lightyear, when presented with emotionally charged material, does all three...though not in that order.

The writing is simply too cartoonish for the material presented, in terms of both visual awe and narrative substance. No character is fleshed out beyond a few superficial quirks. The trio which accompanies Buzz succeeds too often in spite of themselves, careening jollily from one set piece to the next with no recognition of the stakes or danger within the film.

All four characters are at least twenty-two years of age, but consistently behave like children, hooting and hollering in the face of clear and present danger. Just quip, quip, quip, quip, quip. No setups, no punchlines, few personality-driven situations; just quip, quip, quip, as if the film were ghostwritten by a prepubescent James Gunn. Again, this approach usually works in lighter, lower-staked children's material, but Lightyear promises to be something more early on. The immediacy and frequency with which the film reneges on that promise is incredibly frustrating.

There is a final problem with Lightyear which is difficult to describe without spoiling. Buzz makes an all-cinema selfish decision at the film's climax, which is inexplicably framed as heroic and unquestionably morally correct. The decision is framed as such in no small part because of Disney's creative bankruptcy. It's a sad reality that the company most noted for typifying villainous roles and creating memorable, distinct, and creative threats has succumbed to believing that no one individual is ever a true villain. Everyone is simply misunderstood or morally gray. It's a shame. Another small but relevant note is the film's general lack of structure or causality. The whole endeavor feels generally purposeless, and the film struggles to sustain itself.

As mentioned, for all of the film's narrative and emotional problems, there is an incredible team using unbelievable technology at work. The animators of Lightyear have created a stunning, immersive, and moody alien environment. It's staggering to look back at the original Toy Story and realize just how far the medium has come. Extensive and frequent credit must be given to the artists at work, who are undoubtably the best of their craft. Many of the sequences feel like hyper-stylized renderings of recent sci-fi extravaganzas, like the aforementioned Ad Astra or Interstellar, with just a sprinkling of 2001: A Space Odyssey for good measure. Some of the film's images are truly breathtaking.

All in all, Lightyear is a typically disappointing and spiritless stab to create new life from old IP. There are many problems with the film's writing, but the central issue is Lightyear's eponymous caricature. The audience is told Andy wanted a Buzz toy after seeing this movie; even beyond the transparent cynicism of such a statement, it's hard to even believe at face value. This film's Buzz Lightyear is a mostly incompetent, insecure, rash, and boneheaded figure. Younger viewers will probably enjoy the space-age antics, but most out of grade school will feel the familiar tinge of disappointment. What could've been!

Almost Perfect!

[bryvill · 8/10 · 13 July 2022]

Honestly, I was quite hesitant seeing this film after seeing a lot of low reviews. I was planning to see it weeks ago and keep cancelling it, then I gave it a chance finally last night. I was initially expecting not too much, but surprisingly, it was good! A lot of emotional connections, wacky comedy and as always, visuals were at its best. If you just go see it, have an open mind and just enjoy the film as is. I do understand why many viewers gave a low rating, the pacing is not that exciting as a whole, need more plot surprises or twists, the tone of the flick is cater for older audiences or young audiences who like a bit a serious tone of animation. Again , go see it, you'll enjoy it!

Solid Pixar movie

[Jithindurden · 7/10 · 20 July 2022]

This doesn't feed on my nostalgia for Toy Story. This doesn't feed on my nostalgia for Buzz Lightyear of the Star Command animated series either. But it really seems that, other than the bigots who hate this for their made-up offensive content everyone who hated this didn't like the idea of not catering to nostalgia.

Lightyear is a solid Pixar movie. Simple and entertaining with some important themes. My biggest surprise was Sox the robocat who I thought would be obnoxious from the trailers but was fabulous in the movie.

A disappointment

[schorschi100 · 3/10 · 5 September 2022]

The film tries to become a prequel to the extremely successful toy story line. As such it fails miserably, not due to technical issues, but simply because the story sucks. It is inconsistent, carries nothing but clichés and failed punchlines along, and is full of loose ends, even for five-year-olds.

The main problem is that the hero, the actual Buzz Lightyear (who in this movie is supposed to be a real hero, an experienced space ranger, and above all a real person, rather than a cartoonish toy), has all the traits of the wannabe action hero of the actual Toy Story films, and this simply does not work. I did not count how many times "To infinity and beyond" was said, but definitely way to many, I guess due to lack of better punchlines, obviously. Buzz is stubborn, rather than brave, a do-it-all loner, rather than a team capable personality, childish and opinionated, rather than wise and adventurous. All these traits are fine for the toy, which actually does not quite know what the real world looks like, but fail miserably for a real person (in fact I kept asking myself, how this guy could even become a space ranger in the first place...).

If the movie was at least funny, or creative, one might forgive its shortcomings, but unfortunately this is not the case.

The whole plot is an incomprehensible mixture of a cartoonish outer space (where one would expect the black Martian from Roger Rabbit to land any moment), and a B-movie of the space horror genre from the seventies. Huge malicious brainless plants and bugs, an even more brainless super intelligent super villain, and utterly stupid but insanely strong robots. The secondary characters, are something of the trio Stooges, but unfortunately not as funny, with only a couple of punchlines which keep repeating over and over again....

The three stars go for the animation technology, the voice acting and the (strangely enough) not completely wrong physics..... However, Pixar's amazing team cannot compensate for the totally inadequate script.

Watch it at your own risk, with lots of coffee to to help you overcome the boredom (or even better watch something else).

Wow such a low score

[kaefab · 8/10 · 23 July 2022]

Honest i was not really sure about this movie since its straight out of toy story.

But it delivered and was really exciting, not sure why people are giving it low ratings, and also bad reviews.

Not worthy of the 'Pixar' title

[larshoeijmans · 6/10 · 16 June 2022]

Toy Story is a legendary franchise and Buzz Lightyear might be among the most iconic animated characters ever created. Taking risks and telling an unique story with these priceless assets is therefore a daunting task. A task which Pixar could not fulfill.

Characters in the early scenes of the movie are well written and the relationships well established. The newly introduced characters (which you spend most of your time with) are not. They all got potential, but they fail to connect with Buzz and therefore fail to connect with the audience. The main antagonist has the same issue. He could've been an interesting character, but Pixar went for the easy route instead. This means that we got to see a very generic evil villain, one of which we've seen countless times before.

The plot was predictable. Lightyear never tries to surprise you, stun you, wow you or shock you. You simply go from A to B to C (sometimes with an obstacle in the way) till the movie is over.

Lightyear isn't unique. Lightyear isn't touching. Lightyear isn't worthy of being called a Pixar production.

Except the cat, the cat was incredible.

Snoozefest

[neil_thiessen · 4/10 · 18 June 2022]

First 10 minutes or so were great, got you excited for what was to come but....what a disappointment. Flat out plain ole boring. Chris Evans did a great job but the story line was poorly written. Even kids (I'd say between the ages 8-13) were talking after about 30 minutes because of the lack of interest when a movie like this should have everyone's attention from start to Finnish. My 7 year old fell asleep and wanted to leave! Overall I would not recommend this movie. Save your money for something else which is awful to say since it's Pixar and we all had such high expectations.

An ok, generic, kids sci-fi movie

[thekarmicnomad · 6/10 · 18 November 2022]

First off, for better or worse, this has nothing to do with Toy Story - absolutely nothing.

That out the way this is a well made animated movie about Buzz trying to get home.

There are some really clever ideas here - the main aspect here is that Buzz experiences time dilation every time he attempts a test flight - flinging him into the future.

There are some nice characters and some touching moments as Buzz lives his life outside time.

For the first third of this film I was really engaged and settled down to enjoy this.

Unfortunately, outside of the time dilation, this film is very empty.

The characters run around waving their hands in the air screaming, not really doing much.

When it all comes to the crunch the ending is predictable (I can forgive that) but makes no sense - on any level really.

All that running around is revealed as even more pointless than it first appeared.

This is fine.

You can stick it on and watch it with the kids. There are a few jokes that land and the cat is cute. But in a months time you will probably struggle to remember if you watched this.

What Walts Watching

[waltermwilliams · 7/10 · 16 June 2022]

In 1995, a boy named Andy got a new "Buzz Lightyear" toy as a gift licensed from his favourite movie that year.

"Lightyear" is the movie about that movie.

This explains why Chris Evans can voice Buzz, because not all toy franchises use the original movie actors to voice the toys.

They sometimes hire voice actors (guys like me) who can mimic the lead actors voice for the product that ends up on toy store shelves.

Fun fact: Evans and Tim Allen, who voiced the character in the "Toy Story" franchise, share the same birth date, June 13th, just decades apart.

That said I loved this movie!

It's just pure joy and the animation is first class...wait for the sandwich eating scene.

"Lightyear" is one of those rare animations that can make you laugh, cry and sigh.

Others that fall into this category are also from Pixar and Disney including "Up", "Lion King" and of course "Toy Story".

There are so many nods to other famous movies in the course of "Lightyear", including Star Wars.

You'll have fun just picking them out and discussing all of them with family and friends long after this movie has ended.

By the way do NOT leave till the house lights come on because there are 3 Easter Eggs in the titles.

Interestingly even the name of the movie isn't revealed till the end of the film.

This animation would look great on IMAX...just saying.

"Lightyear is Pixar's first spinoff and second prequel after "Monsters University".

The LGBTQ community will be happy to see representation in a children's animation although it is causing issues in some Asian & Middle East countries with refusals to screen the movie.

Whilst others see the relationship as too woke.

Let's face it the creators are simply reflecting real world lifestyle's...same sex marriage is legal in most countries now...even Australia.

Listen out for veteran actor James Brolin voicing his first animated film role in his 80's.

I can't tell you his character because that would a huge spoiler, but it will blow your mind and fits in with the "Toy Story" Universe.

By the way the on board navigation system "IVAN" (navi spelt backwards), Kiwi actor/director Taika Waititi playing a wannabe Space Ranger and a character called "Sox" are all scene stealers.

I liked this movie so much I know I'll watch it again on Disney Plus but it won't be the same as my cinema experience which was so close to perfect.

See this with your whole family because it works on so many levels as great movies should.

To infinity and beyond!