Jonathan’s review published on Letterboxd:
“Don’t worry about it. None of this is gonna matter.”
-Buzz Lightyear-
Full disclosure. Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story franchise is a Mount Rushmore Disney creation that has been one of my personal favorites since I was kid. Buzz, for me, is what Han Solo is to Star Wars. Needless to say, I love me some Buzz Lightyear, Mrs. Nesbit included.
So, like many others, I wasn’t overly thrilled with the initial trailers or the fact that my man Tim Allen wasn’t involved, but, I figured I’d still give it shot. Then, the word of mouth hit. The ratings hit. There was enough bad press surrounding Lightyear to send Rex into a full tyrannosaurus meltdown. I meant to go see it in theaters despite the negative hype but just never got around to it. Here I am seven months later and I finally watched it…To my surprise, it wasn’t so bad. But, it wasn’t so good either. Lightyear is perfectly “Meh”.
I guess the best part is that due to its dismal reception this’ll probably a one and done. Enjoy what you can in a snapshot and “don’t worry about the rest, none of this is gonna matter anyway.”
On the negative side. Lightyear is a meandering and borderline boring film that is devoid of any originality or depth. Lightyear, while impressive in animation design, is ultimately marred by its overly realistic features and grey and lifeless backdrops. Lightyear is a smorgasbord of sci-fi tropes that have all been done better and have become tiresome and worn. For a character as beloved as Buzz Lightyear, and this being the movie that allegedly started the Buzz Lightyear craze in the Toy Story-verse you’d think there’d be something worth emulating. There isn’t. Plus the big “twist”…Barf.
On the positive side. Lightyear is a fleetingly entertaining and oft humorous film that showcases some impressive and exciting action sequences amidst its drab and dreary locale. Lightyear, despite its lack of THE Tim Allen, is backed by a strong voice cast that makes for memorable and believable characters that are *almost* worth rooting for. The animation is impressive even though it’s not fun to look at, so I guess that’s a double edged sword.
Actually, ya know, now that a couple days have passed and I’m just now writing the review, I’ve realized this movie just wasn’t great. Such a bummer. Sox was fun though.
Lightyear made me miss Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. Now that’s a good Buzz Lightyear continuation.
