A needlessly complicated and narratively underwhelming space adventure, "Lightyear" is not worthy of its titular action hero, Buzz Lightyear, who at this point is nearly as beloved in American pop culture as real life astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
It takes the "Toy Story" icon and sticks him in a meandering story that never hits the stars and struggles to even achieve liftoff. Audiences are used to infinity and beyond from the character, while "Lightyear" relegates him to the realms of second-tier Pixar.
An introduction positions "Lightyear" as the movie that inspired the Buzz Lightyear toy that Andy, the child from 1995's original "Toy Story," called his own. In other words, Buzz is a character from a "Star Wars"-like big screen sci-fi feature, and "Lightyear" is that feature, which suggests a late '80s or early '90s action-adventure with a fun retro-future aesthetic.
Yet "Lightyear" is a galaxy away from that story, and it's as if the intro text was added onto the film following its completion and the filmmakers were working from a different set of blueprints altogether. "Lightyear" is thoroughly modern in its characters, humor and sensibilities, and lacks even the kind of imagination that Andy would have dreamt up in his head while playing with his Buzz and Woody dolls all those years ago.
Chris Evans voices Buzz in a performance that lacks the humor, personality and twinkle or heroism that Tim Allen brought to the role over the course of four "Toy Story" films. Which, OK, this is a different Buzz Lightyear — again, not Buzz Lightyear the toy, but the character the Buzz Lightyear toy is based on — and sometimes toys have different voices than their big-screen counterparts and Tim Allen's politics definitely didn't have anything to do with the decision. We get it. But neither the script (by Angus MacLane, Matthew Aldrich and Jason Headley) or Evans' reading do enough to chart a new path for the character, or to separate him from our memories of him. There's simply more of Buzz, but more isn't always better.
The cocky pilot, already an established space ranger when we meet him here, is pals with Alisha Hawthorne (voiced Uzo Aduba), his commanding officer, with whom he crashes onto a strange planet in a sequence that mirrors the daring escape in "Top Gun: Maverick." Buzz, tougher on himself than anyone else, court marshals himself after botching the mission.
In attempting to escape the planet and find a way back home, Buzz navigates a series of time-hops, which don't affect him but age everyone on the planet below by four years. So "Lightyear" inexplicably winds up taking place over a span of 60-some odd years, a superfluous plot wrinkle, and Buzz eventually teams up with Alisha's granddaughter Izzy (Keke Palmer), reducing Alisha's life to an extended montage, which includes her coupling with her same-sex partner and eventually their 40th wedding anniversary together.
Buzz and Izzy are given a couple of random sidekicks, an aging parolee (Dale Soules) and a clumsy ball of nerves (Taika Waititi), both of which feel like characters from the reject bin. Buzz is also tasked with fighting off robot overlord Zurg (James Brolin), whose only mode is the destruction of Buzz and who may or may not be hiding a deep, dark secret. In order to defeat Zurg and save the day, Buzz the individualist needs to learn the value of teamwork and that it's not always all about him, while also accepting the reality of the passage of time.
The comic heavy lifting, then, is left to Sox, a robotic cat that becomes Buzz's wry, sardonic, blowdart-shooting sidekick (Peter Sohn provides the dry voiceover). The cute kitty is undoubtedly a ploy to sell toys, which again is what Buzz was in the first place, so in a sense it's true to the overarching storyline.
Directed by "Finding Dory" co-helmer Angus MacLane, who bakes in references to Kubrick's "2001" and other sci-fi hallmarks, "Lightyear" is lightyears beyond the original "Toy Story" in terms of its visual presentation, which is in keeping with the advances in computer animation technology over the last quarter century, if not the supposed time-frame of the movie-within-the-movie.
But mostly, "Lightyear" serves to extend the Buzz Lightyear brand, and in a world of ever-expanding movie universes and intellectual property grabs, don't be surprised if Woody is next. But here's a lesson the film teaches, even if it's not one that Buzz learns: You can always get new versions of your favorite old toys. But nothing tops, or replaces, the originals.
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'LIGHTYEAR'
Grade: C
MPAA rating: PG (for action/peril)
Running time: 1:45
How to watch: In theaters Friday
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