Luke McWilliams gives his review of the 2022 Pixar film, Lightyear (PG), starring Chris Evans and Uzo Aduba.

After learning that Andy’s spaceman toy from 1995’s Toy Story was based on a character from one of his favourite movies, that movie starts. Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans), and his commanding officer Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) explore a seemingly habitable planet. After damaging their spaceship while escaping some alien nasties, Buzz becomes obsessed with completing his mission to return home.

Twenty-five years after the first Toy Story movie, the series finds a new angle by exploring the characters that the toys are based on. Whereas the toy character (voiced by comedian Tim Allen) was quite cute because he thought he was a real space ranger, the ‘real’ Buzz is a stock-standard American hero throwback to the Buck Rogers age; single-minded in his pursuit to go to infinity and beyond!

With brilliant visuals, influenced greatly by the original Star Wars series, and a time-twisty plot influenced by classic sci-fi TV episodes and movies such as Lost in Space and Star-Trek, it is a shame that Buzz’s main obstacles come from the clumsiness of his reluctantly adopted teammates. While the movie makes its point about the importance of choosing a team over a lone life, it also seems to highlight the acceptance of making mistakes as opposed to striving for brilliance. This wouldn’t fly in Top Gun!

Verdict: A brilliant-looking movie with great action set-pieces and a strong turn from Chris Evans, it is hampered by the addition of a motley crew diverting from our lead. 3.5 stars.

– Luke McWilliams, themovieclub.net. Viewed at Dendy Canberra Cinemas.

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