Review by Jon Donnis
In the Toy Story films, there was a toy called Buzz Lightyear, that toy was based on a film, that film was called Lightyear, and this is that film that has now been released, so in some ways this is a prequel to the origin of a Toy from a film that was made 27 years ago.
Now in the Lightyear film, Buzz Lightyear is voiced by Chris Evans, yet the toy that was made from that film, instead of casting Chris Evans, they cast the much superior voice of Tim Allen.
This is what Disney Pixar want us to believe. Can you think of any toy that has ever been released that did not have the voice of the original actor?
First of all, Buzz Lightyear will ALWAYS be Tim Allen, anyone else is just a poor imitation, and with that said, that is the first huge problem with this film. They changed the actor who played the character. So instantly I dislike the new Lightyear, even though it is not the toy character but instead a real character from a film.
Now I have that off my chest, let's get to the story.
Buzz Lightyear is a space ranger in Star Command, and along with his commanding officer Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) they explore the planet T'Kani Prime along with rookie Featheringhamstan played by Bill Hader. They soon realise that the planet is already inhabited by hostile plant lifeforms forcing them to make a quick retreat. As Buzz is flying the "Turnip" to escape, he makes a mistake and it clips the side of a mountain and they crash back down on the planet.
The damages mean they are stuck on the planet. Fast forward 1 year and the crew have constructed a colony as well as infrastructure to make full repairs. They have had to develop a new fuel source, Buzz tests the new fuel and tries to make a hypersonic test flight, but something goes wrong and when he lands 4 years have passed due to time dilation.
At this point we get introduced to the real star of the film; a robotic cat called Sox (voiced by Peter Sohn). Buzz repeats his hypersonic test flight, but each time the test fails and 4 more years pass. Quickly we see Alisha get older, have a lesbian relationship, because of course they have to shoehorn it in for "reasons". She has kids (despite being a lesbian), and of course one of those kids grows up to be a gay man. And yes, the various relationships are all interracial too. I cant imagine why people have called this film ridiculously "woke".
More and more tests, more things go wrong, and blah blah blah.
This film is everything that is wrong with Disney these days. They do not know how to write good characters, instead they seem to have a check list and they go through each one to make sure they keep a tiny minority of twitter trolls happy.
The result is wonderfully animated, yet with characters that are incredibly dull and unlikeable.
The ONLY saving grace is Sox the cat, who is actually interesting, has some comedy moments and is by far and away the one character that kids will be interested in.
Outside of Buzz and Sox all the other characters are stereotypes, and instantly forgettable. And even Buzz has just lost something about him since they went with Chris Evans.
The film has flopped in the cinemas and I can understand why. This was a film that never should have been made in the first place as it makes little sense. Fans of Toy Story will hate it because it lacks all of the Toy Story characters outside of Buzz, and they will also hate it because it is NOT Buzz Lightyear the toy voiced by the legend that is Tim Allen.
The Good
The animation is fantastic, and Sox the robot cat stands out as the only likeable thing about the film.
The Bad
Everything else. Poorly written, ridiculous stereotype woke characters, Chris Evans is good as Captain America, but he is no Buzz Lightyear. He should apologise to Toy Story fans right now.
Overall
If a kid has never seen any of the Toy Story films, they may like it as a stand alone cartoon, but for me the film failed in its most important job, that being to entertain me, make me laugh and make me feel engaged with the characters.
Lightyear will quickly be assigned to the trash can of history.
I score Lightyear 0/10, and Sox 3/10, so combining the scores, I have the film a 3/10, and that is purely due to Sox.
Out now in cinemas, but make sure you buy this super cool Sox Plush, Space Mission Robot Cat, Movie-Inspired Talking Soft Toy at https://amzn.to/3o7tDB0
Imagine if they voice the toy cat with an actor other than Peter Sohn, that would be really dumb.
