WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS LIGHTYEAR SPOILERS! DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW PLOT DETAILS.
I now understand why Andy so desperately wanted that Buzz Lightyear action figure back in Toy Story.
Disney Pixar’s latest film, Lightyear, hit theaters Thursday, and it’s simply the studio doing what it does best. It doesn’t have the same heart that Coco has, nor does it absolutely devastate your soul like the first 10 minutes of Up or the entirety of Inside Out. But it takes you into a far away world and really makes you care about Buzz and co.
Not only does it warm the heart, but it’s also visually stunning. It one of Pixar’s more gorgeous movies, rife with beautiful space vistas, lava fields and more. At times, it looks more like a live action movie than an animated one.
Opening text informs the audience that Lightyear is the movie that Andy saw in Toy Story that made him want the action figure, clearing up a little bit of the mystery around how this flick would fit into the timeline or canon of the Toy Story series. Hunky superstar Chris Evans has taken over the voice role of Buzz, and he brings a perfect mix of Steve Rogers rule following and young exuberance to the character.
Buzz and his best friend and mentor, Alisha Hawthorne (voiced by Uzo Aduba), divert the course of their turnip-looking spaceship to investigate a new planet. That duo — plus rookie Featheringhamstan (if you though that was the voice of the incomparable Bill Hader, it was) — unsurprisingly run into problems in the form of giant vines and flying bugs. In trying to escape, Buzz refuses the help of the rook (he doesn’t like rookies), and he crashes the ship.
As a result, the entire crew of Space Rangers, scientists and more are now stuck on this new planet. Lightyear begins testing out different fuel mixes to try and find the right combo that will allow them to hit hyper-speed and resume their original mission, but they find out quickly that each four-minute trip off planet for Buzz equals four years for everyone on the ground.
Filled with a deep sense of regrets over his mistake and responsibility to come up with a solution, Lightyear continues to make test flights. He lets his life and friends pass him by — each return home shows us the life that Alisha has made with her new wife, son, granddaughter and eventual death — all while trying to right his perceived wrong.
Thanks to his emotional support robot cat, Sox, the appropriate fuel mixture is discovered. But by the time he returns to the planet, 22 years have passed, the Hawthorne suited up is granddaughter Izzy (not Alisha) and an ominous group of robots have invaded.
Buzz, Izzy (voiced by Keke Palmer), convicted felon and demolitions expert Darby Steel (Dale Soules) and the very nervous Mo Morrison (the impeccable Taika Waititi) band forces to attempt to reconnect with the rest of the members of the colony cut off by the robot forces. Oh, and Sox. You cannot forget Sox. Sox (Peter Sohn) is utterly wonderful and must be protected at all costs.
They run into several challenges, none bigger than a face-to-face meeting with the mysterious Zurg (James Brolin) that is way more than he seems. Along the way, Buzz must learn to cooperate, ask for help and realize that although life may not go as you planned, it doesn’t mean that it needs to be fixed.
Lightyear is a ton of fun and a very worthy entry into the Toy Story lineage. There’s just enough nostalgia that connects us to the Buzz of years past, plus plenty of new faces that will have viewers of all ages laughing, stressing and yes, crying (it is Pixar, after all). To infinity and beyond.
