In 1995, Toy Story revolutionised animated cinema with its brilliant and ground-breaking animation. So when Pixar announced the new spinoff film, it was an exciting but controversial decision as it would undoubtedly live in its predecessor’s shadow. This film is the origin story of the space ranger, Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans) on his mission of redemption.
Despite its great enjoyability, this movie feels as if it is jumping onto the success and marketability of the Toy Story franchise. It’s always frustrating when a company chooses to make a film guaranteed to make money rather than something with a unique potential. However, I found myself pleasantly surprised with how much I appreciated Lightyear.
Typically, I’m put off by an animal sidekick. Most of the time, they add little to the plot and are more annoying than funny, only used to bring children to the cinema and sell soft toys. However, I was amazed when I left the cinema thinking that the robot cat could be my favourite part of the film. Sox (Peter Sohn) made me smile throughout and really transcended even the best of the human characters, even Buzz Lightyear.
Chris Evans does a great job at portraying the proud, yet stubborn Buzz Lightyear and works brilliantly with fun characters Izzy Hawthorne (Keke Palmer) and Mo Morrison (Taika Waititi). Another fantastic element of this film is the animation as it truly brings this universe to life and made me wonder how long the animators worked on the detail of Buzz’s hair before going mad.
My favourite thing about Toy Story 2 was the cartoonish villain, Zurg (James Brolin). He was clearly a rip-off of Darth Vader, yet he was one of the best comedic elements of the film and served his purpose as a constant threat. However, I am disappointed in how Zurg was presented in this film as, despite his few menacing moments, he is vastly underused and is one of the weakest villains Pixar have ever produced. When he finally becomes a threat and attempts to deepen his motives, I became frustrated and bored as everything I learned turned me further away from this boring antagonist.
This film compared to Pixar’s prior films feels weaker in comparison and one I will forget. Over the last few years, projects like Soul and Luca were full of passion and heart from the director and writers which this movie lacks.
Essentially, if you like the first 5 minutes of Toy Story 2, you’ll love this film. For anyone else, you should find enjoyment in the fun this film presents but will be let down by its wasted potential. This film fails to reach anywhere near the infinity standards set by other films, but it does manage to go beyond my first expectations.
3/5
Image Credits – The MovieDB
