House Macleod is abuzz about LIGHTYEAR!
"To infinity and beyond!"
Hello movie buffs and welcome to the House Of Macleod movie review corner.
Today we take a look at Disney Pixar's LIGHTYEAR (2022, PG, 1h 40m) starring Chris Evans, Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, Taika Waititi and James Brolin. LIGHTYEAR is directed by Angus MacLane from a story by MacLane, Matthew Aldrich and Jason Headley.
The film begins with a title card that tells us that Andy from the "Toy Story" series once had a favorite movie about Star Command's Buzz Lightyear and it's that movie. This sets the tone nicely for what follows, which I found to be a very entertaining and heartfelt film about not being able to change our mistakes, but living our lives despite them. It also focuses on the idea that a man, even the great hero "Buzz Lightyear", sometimes needs to trust others, you can't do everything alone.
The story opens on prime planet T'Kani where we find Buzz and his superior and friend Alisha Hawthorne exploring with their new recruit Featheringhamston (the reddest of the red shirts). The crew discovers that the planet is inhabited by not-so-friendly species that prompt Buzz and co to attempt a daring escape. Buzz, unfortunately, decides to work alone and damages the ship, forcing them to remain in the dangerous world until repairs can be made.
A year later, the crew is still on T'Kani Prime after building a colony and launch station to test a new hyperspace fuel that will allow them to return to their own world. Buzz, sensing he is the cause of their predicament, volunteers to test the fuel and make up for his mistake. He launches into space and, after a near miss on his way home, learns that due to time dilation, the four minutes he was away took four years on T'Kani Prime. When he returns despondent, he's gifted a sentient robotic cat named SOX (who, by the way, steals the show in every scene he's in) whom he tasks with doing the calculations for fuel while Buzz did the physical flight tests. . He continues to test the fuel until 62 years have passed and the colony has grown, a civilization has formed and his friend Alisha has married, been promoted and had a son with her. wife Kiko and eventually died of old age. May I take this opportunity to say that although Lightyear was criticized for having a gay kiss in his film, I thought it was natural, normal and completely appropriate. It didn't feel snug, and if it wasn't for that all over the news outlets, I doubt I would have even noticed. Rant over, back to review. SOX has been working on the fuel composition problem for almost six decades and is finally solving the problem. So, against the orders of his commanding officer, Commander Burnside, Buzz steals a ship and decides he must give one last attempt to bring his people home. When he returns from his successful mission, he learns that T'Kani Prime has been invaded by Emperor Zurg and his robot army the Zyclops. I'll leave the plot alone from here on because I don't want to spoil the second half of the movie for you, I'm not that kind of idiot.
There are things I liked about LIGHTYEAR and some things I didn't like. For me, however, the things I liked far outweighed what I didn't like. Fair enough, the plot is a little messy and sometimes feels like it's not sure where it's heading, but that didn't stop me from supporting Buzz, SOX and the rest of the crew. There are some great sight gags scattered throughout the film and a few Toy Story nods, but I liked that MacLane didn't turn it into a nostalgia fest. LIGHTYEAR tries to be its own film and for that I applaud it. There are those who say the voices are fake and it should have been Tim Allen voicing Buzz but it's a younger Buzz. It makes sense that that voice is younger too and I thought Chris Evans did a terrific job. LIGHTYEAR is a typical PIXAR film at its core. It's funny, heartfelt, and has a decent story and message that really makes you care about the characters. The animation is top notch and I, for someone, would absolutely watch the hell of a sequel. Let us know what you thought of it in the comments below!
LIGHTYEAR is in theaters worldwide and will find its way to DISNEY PLUS on AUGUST 3.
Overall, The House of Macleod gives LIGHTYEAR an 8/10
"To infinity and beyond!"
Hello movie buffs and welcome to the House Of Macleod movie review corner.
Today we take a look at Disney Pixar's LIGHTYEAR (2022, PG, 1h 40m) starring Chris Evans, Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, Taika Waititi and James Brolin. LIGHTYEAR is directed by Angus MacLane from a story by MacLane, Matthew Aldrich and Jason Headley.
The film begins with a title card that tells us that Andy from the "Toy Story" series once had a favorite movie about Star Command's Buzz Lightyear and it's that movie. This sets the tone nicely for what follows, which I found to be a very entertaining and heartfelt film about not being able to change our mistakes, but living our lives despite them. It also focuses on the idea that a man, even the great hero "Buzz Lightyear", sometimes needs to trust others, you can't do everything alone.
The story opens on prime planet T'Kani where we find Buzz and his superior and friend Alisha Hawthorne exploring with their new recruit Featheringhamston (the reddest of the red shirts). The crew discovers that the planet is inhabited by not-so-friendly species that prompt Buzz and co to attempt a daring escape. Buzz, unfortunately, decides to work alone and damages the ship, forcing them to remain in the dangerous world until repairs can be made.
A year later, the crew is still on T'Kani Prime after building a colony and launch station to test a new hyperspace fuel that will allow them to return to their own world. Buzz, sensing he is the cause of their predicament, volunteers to test the fuel and make up for his mistake. He launches into space and, after a near miss on his way home, learns that due to time dilation, the four minutes he was away took four years on T'Kani Prime. When he returns despondent, he's gifted a sentient robotic cat named SOX (who, by the way, steals the show in every scene he's in) whom he tasks with doing the calculations for fuel while Buzz did the physical flight tests. . He continues to test the fuel until 62 years have passed and the colony has grown, a civilization has formed and his friend Alisha has married, been promoted and had a son with her. wife Kiko and eventually died of old age. May I take this opportunity to say that although Lightyear was criticized for having a gay kiss in his film, I thought it was natural, normal and completely appropriate. It didn't feel snug, and if it wasn't for that all over the news outlets, I doubt I would have even noticed. Rant over, back to review. SOX has been working on the fuel composition problem for almost six decades and is finally solving the problem. So, against the orders of his commanding officer, Commander Burnside, Buzz steals a ship and decides he must give one last attempt to bring his people home. When he returns from his successful mission, he learns that T'Kani Prime has been invaded by Emperor Zurg and his robot army the Zyclops. I'll leave the plot alone from here on because I don't want to spoil the second half of the movie for you, I'm not that kind of idiot.
There are things I liked about LIGHTYEAR and some things I didn't like. For me, however, the things I liked far outweighed what I didn't like. Fair enough, the plot is a little messy and sometimes feels like it's not sure where it's heading, but that didn't stop me from supporting Buzz, SOX and the rest of the crew. There are some great sight gags scattered throughout the film and a few Toy Story nods, but I liked that MacLane didn't turn it into a nostalgia fest. LIGHTYEAR tries to be its own film and for that I applaud it. There are those who say the voices are fake and it should have been Tim Allen voicing Buzz but it's a younger Buzz. It makes sense that that voice is younger too and I thought Chris Evans did a terrific job. LIGHTYEAR is a typical PIXAR film at its core. It's funny, heartfelt, and has a decent story and message that really makes you care about the characters. The animation is top notch and I, for someone, would absolutely watch the hell of a sequel. Let us know what you thought of it in the comments below!
LIGHTYEAR is in theaters worldwide and will find its way to DISNEY PLUS on AUGUST 3.
Overall, The House of Macleod gives LIGHTYEAR an 8/10
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