Legendary space ranger Buzz Lightyear embarks on an intergalactic adventure alongside ambitious recruits Izzy, Mo, Darby and Sox( Robot companion).
The era of the Toy story for me was particularly amazing as it exposed my young mind to the idea that my toys had life. And would only come alive whenever I'm away. This personal delusion of mine lead me to have an intense and emotional attachment for the franchise while growing up. The mere fact that it exposed toys for what they truly are, and how they operate made me come back for more of it's animated adventure, until, it came to an end with it's third installment. And although a fourth one came after, it wasn't able to reignite the nostalgia feelings and moments I had with the first three Toy story movie.
And just when I thought it was over, Lightyear emerges. Threatening to be the spinoff of a lifetime, with star studded cast and a story based on a character I have come to love.
The movie begins with Buzz alongside his space rangers and crew and we see them carrying out their intergalactic duties, until they get stuck on a hostile planet due to an error from buzz. And then, we watch Buzz sacrifice everything in an attempt to get them home. How ever many people stopped him from achieving his goal and fulfilling his mission of fixing the problem he caused, including himself.
The film itself takes a dark approach in telling the story of our hero(Buzz). As we see buzz go through a state of depression that is kept alive for the most of the film, which is because he is unable to accept his mistakes and move on. Instead, he keeps pushing boundaries, Lossing time, family and friends until he is finally left alone. But one thing I did learn from this movie is that it's is okay to make mistakes, as long as we don't get too obsessed trying to fix it, because cherishing every moment we have with our family and friends can help heal the wounds with time. A single obsession can distract us from our main focus which is living. And that is what buzz was unable to achieve despite finding the answer to his long lived problem.
Although the story drew inspiration from Buzz's delusion of grandeur in the original Toy story movie. I still felt very empty with this movie as their was no link with this story and that of the Toy story, it completely felt like a standalone movie instead of a spinoff which I thought it would be.
The animation is exactly what you expect from Pixar, excellent, with attention paid to detailing. But I can't help but wonder why there wasn't a little bit of 2d sprinkled into the animation. As it is what most company's are making use of these days. But Alas, Pixar didn't disappoint In their animation.
There is also the star studded cast that kept the flame alive in this movie. Playing a variety of characters that help to move the story along. From Buzz, the charismatic hero (Chris Evans), to Izzy the optimistic rookie (Kiekie palmer), to elderly space convict Darby, to clumsy Mo and the robotic Sox.
But my favorite of them all is Sox(a feline robot companion). His animation design was flawless, making him appear cute and harmless. His interaction with the rest of the cast felt so real and intelligent that when clumsy Mo threw him to the floor, I feared he had lost his smarts.
In the end, I thought the movie would be related more to the Toy story in some way, but it's serious approach made it a standalone movie, that rides it's way to success on the wave of nostalgia.
It's a movie I did enjoy but I didn't love because this isn't the story I asked for, I was hoping for a little bit of connection to the Toy story world. But, if you love Buzz from the Toy story movie, then you don't want to miss this movie because, Buzz..is alive!
