Lightyear Review: An Exciting & Heartwarming Origin Story For Buzz
Lightyear is a clever expansion of Pixar's iconic Toy Story franchise. It's packed with fun moments, warm sentiment, and downright gorgeous animation. A prequel story (of sorts), Lightyear introduces audiences to the «original» Buzz Lightyear — a character who feels both familiar and fresh at the same time. While fans might have worried that Lightyear would in some way undermine Tim Allen's clueless Space Ranger, Buzz the movie character doesn’t feel at odds with Buzz the toy. The film actually manages to reflect shared insecurities and arrogance in a way that makes both variations of the hero more nuanced and rich as a result. While it's certainly not the studio's most original film, it's an impressive and well-executed evolution of Toy Story as a storytelling platform.
A simultaneous franchise spin-off and in-universe prequel to the Toy Story franchise, Lightyear is the origin story of animated astronaut Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Chris Evans), the «movie» hero on which Andy Davies' Space Ranger action figure was based. The new film sees pilot Lightyear attempt a brazen escape from man-eating plants on a dangerous plant, only to strand a ship full of colonists as well as his crew — robotic cat Sox (Peter Sohn), Commander Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba), and Diaz (Efren Ramirez) — far from Earth. Punishing himself for his failure, Lightyear hatches a rescue plan that, in the process, attracts the hero's future nemesis: the ruthless and powerful Emperor Zurg (James Brolin). To save his people from annihilation, find a safe way home, and defeat Zurg, Lightyear must confront his past and seek help from a rogue group of aspiring Space Rangers (voiced by Keke Palmer, Taika Waititi, and Dale Soules).
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