Out this week in cinemas is Lightyear. This sci-fi adventure is all about Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans) a space ranger who is a part of Star Command and is marooned on a hostile alien planet with his fellow crew members. He feels guilt over the situation he has left his crewmates in, so he takes on the perilous journey to try and get them home. His commander and best friend Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) believes he can do it and this becomes Buzz’s obsession. Like all obsessions though there is a cost and the film is about Buzz getting out of his own way and learning to work with a team.
To infinity and you get it
The best part about Lightyear is its themes. The idea of this man out of time trying to save everyone for an ideal that is more a dream than anything concrete is fascinating. The film touches on this idea of Buzz’s most destructive nature being his obsession with being the best and how he won’t let anyone near him in case it brings him down. It plays out well and I love his journey throughout the film even if it has pacing issues at times.
Lightyear is also not light on content. It’s bursting with action set pieces (one or two that are unnecessary). The film would have benefited with slowing down, letting the characters breathe. Instead it races from set piece to set piece giving Buzz a set of goals to achieve, similarto a game.It distracts from some of the more human moments between Buzz and the other characters in the film. Which is a shame because there are several noteworthy characters.
My personal favourite is Sox (Peter Sohn) Buzz’s emotional support robot pet. He is absolutely brilliant and has an excellent back and forth with Buzz. Their friendship transcends time and it is wonderfully charming. Some of the other characters are less interesting. For example Taika Waititi has a role as Mo Morrison. His name is quite appropriate as he is basically a stooge. He causes so many problems, tries to be funny and is there for comic relief and nine out of ten times he fails. He is ultimately harmless though as the film still has a wonderful cast within it.
Lightyear is a charmingly beautiful film. When space faring is happening it is big and bold. Whenever Buzz enter hyperspace the colours are quite dazzling and engaging. The score is also energetic and reminiscent of those Satuday morning cartoons that were full of adventure.
With Chris Evans at the helm Lightyear is a lot of fun and is one for all the family. It won’t win any awards and isn’t trying anything new. However it is still a lot of fun and is a new adventure for fans of Buzz Lightyear to follow.
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