Don’t think that we needed the Lightyear movie. Some things should be left alone. Buzz Lightyear was one such superhero. From the point he was introduced to the epic Toy Story movie, he had become an instant favorite. People wanted a spin-off even back then. Hadn’t we already milked that cow enough? Clearly, somebody in the Pixar department wasn’t convinced that it was over and still wanted to make moolah based on one character’s popularity.
I grew up watching the Star Command series of Buzz. The series spoke about the adventures of Buzz with his eclectic team facing off against Zurg, the main antagonist of his life that literally dictates why Buzz is the way he is. But with the Lightyear movie 2022, everything changes. Unfortunately, this one tries to slap you out of your childhood as if to tell you that it didn’t happen. It wants you to forget and unsee everything that you could possibly define as nostalgia.
So you can imagine the disappointment I was hit in the face with, on finding out that they tried to change who Zurg was. It’s almost like taking your Batman Joker toys away to declare, “You know what! Batman’s archnemesis Joker never existed.” Boom! Now deal with that.
On top of that, there are no LGMs here, which was a major disappointment given how I looked forward to watching them. Maybe they didn’t want to get into a comparison war against the Minions. What’s more, is that they also tried to change the original team. They were basically rewriting everything you had learned about Buzz in the past. Now it is almost as if you don’t know him.
The Direction and Plot of Lightyear Movie
Angus MacLane the director of the movie, who also had his hands deep in its writing did a really great job of kickstarting things. You can feel the momentum kicking in, in the first few minutes as the plot is bedecked on a terrible mistake on Buzz’s part.
The Lightyear movie is like a misadventure where the story kicks in with a mission to set things right again. It is a subtle play with the concept of time where Buzz has his limitations. No matter how many times he tries, he has to face the most humane thing ever – failure.
However, it is quite commendable to see Buzz’s ungiving resolve. He has never tasted failure the way he has, which successfully sets up the core of the tale.
A pleasant addition to the story is a puss-bot called SOX which is a very handy and meaningful filler that takes away your attention from all of the movie’s shortcomings.
The Editing and the Tumble
The pace of the Lightyear movie seems apt but then on many occasions edits forward to lose focus many times. It stops being a Pixar movie right after the eye-opener introduction of Zurg and Buzz’s inability to understand the former’s motive.
The movie, then just like Buzz, begins trying to undo its fiasco by rewriting a new narrative. It tries to be a little over-smart too by calling Zurg, “Ba-Zurg” which was actually a pronunciation error by the dumb robots who were trying to call Buzz.
You can almost sense a man in the movie premiere telling us – “Wait! Wait! Keep watching! New narratives are good.” while the writers of the movie, quite possibly, might have at some point stated, “We will see where it leads us.”
I think everything could have been forgiven if there was at least a good storyline to hold everything tight. But what started as a great backdrop and what looked promising initially gradually began to fade and lose its meaning. The plot makes you want to go, “Really?” at one point when Buzz decides to choose a different timeline for existence.
Other Factors to Consider in Movie Lightyear
Just as there are good sides to almost everything in the world, Lightyear movie too has its fair share. To begin with, the animation of Pixar remains top-notch, kudos to the CGI team who did a tremendous job of hammering a mirror image of the Toy-Story hero into reality. Buzz looks really good, the detailing on him is superlative. You can tell how much work has been put in, in almost every frame that the movie houses.
SOX – the AI cat is a delight to have. One of those good things that the movie has. It remains constantly in the support of Buzz throughout the movie. The overcoming of fear part of other side characters acts as a good side plot to the story. There is at times real seriousness to the flick that you thoroughly nod to. It forces you to wonder what might happen next. But then with the daftness of the villains, it all goes away pretty quickly. You feel that the real villain in the movie is actually missing. Those are the times when you really miss the real Zurg and wonder had they introduced him, how could it have affected the story?
The Final Verdict
It is not that the Lightyear movie is bad, it is just that it lacks a good storyline, apart from the fact that we didn’t need it in the first place. Also, the fact that it tries to rewrite things feels like a punch in the gut. Had they done a better job at it, the complaints would have been definitely less. Well, that goes without saying, doesn’t it?
The existence of the Lightyear movie in 2022 makes you wonder what the Pixar team might have gone through in their discussions. Probably running out of ideas, and wanting to flip back to the old pages to see what else can we hot press and squeeze. It was almost as if someone said, “Hey why was Andy such a big fan of Buzz? Let’s try to justify that.”
With the sordid flick that we received in the form of Lightyear 2022, I think it does not justify why Andy was a big Buzz fan. Neither does it justify our obsession with the most amazing animated characters of all time.
Lightyear
Pros
- Outstanding Animation
- SOX
Cons
- An unneeded spinoff
- Tries to rewrite your childhood
