Lightyear (2022)

Lightyear starts with a little message about this being the film young Andy saw in 1995 that made him want a Buzz Lightyear toy and honestly something about that just sunk into my heart and gave me a tonne of feels. Maybe because the young me had favourite movies as a child and had toys that helped me relive those movies and maybe just maybe it struck something about my life long passion for movies.

I found Lightyear had a sense of wonder like a classic sci if adventure, capturing the spirit of a genre that has given so much pleasure. There were a few times I felt the film’s story cut corners to get to where it wanted to go but there was enough good will built up for me to forgive and just let myself enjoy it. Lightyear has some of the hallmarks of Pixar film making such as the connections in chosen family and the valuing of lived experience over what is supposed to be. Overall it was a solid adventure. 

I will admit that after Pixar’s strong streak of Soul, Luca, and Turning Red, Lightyear is more... well, light. It doesn’t reach the heights of the best Toy Story movies or the originality of the recent Pixar films. But it is a solid adventure that is thoroughly entertaining and offers a perspective that is quite important. 

And it brings me back to my childhood discovering a love of cinema. In that it took me beyond indeed. 

Lightyear

Starring: Chris Evans, Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, James Brolin, Taika Waititi

Director: Angus MacLane

Writers: Jason Headley, Angus MacLane