It’s the most blatant meditation on mortality and aging in any Pixar movie since the opening sequence of “Up.” So why does the movie only go down from there?

After several attempts to rescue his marooned people by speeding around the planet where they’re trapped, Buzz Lightyear flashes forward so many years that he’s out of touch with everything around him. I actually enjoyed the time-bending premise of the earlier scenes, as they depict a man so intent on his messianic mission that he loses touch with the world around him.

However, that issue only really kicks in during the final third, as the movie devolves into a pileup of plot twists and half-baked sentimental revelations. The logic holds up: “Lightyear” is far more underwhelming than the iconic Pixar character behind it. The whole premise of the movie is that it came out in 1995, when “Toy Story” kid Andy saw it and was inspired. Watching “Lightyear,” I couldn’t help but think about this disconnect. ‘Elemental’ Review: Pixar’s Latest Offers Mixed Immigrant Metaphors and a Genuine RomanceĮRIC KOHN: The weird thing about nostalgia is that it almost always feels better than its source. It’s the rare misstep for the animation powerhouse, but hardly a death knell if it can serve as a course correction for Pixar’s own wild rocket-ship ride. Audiences seem to agree: the film fell far short of its opening weekend projections, and ultimately didn’t even win the top spot at the box office. Lessons are learned, cute robots are introduced, and a motley pack of friends teach Buzz nothing less than the real meaning of life.īoth IndieWire executive editor and VP of editorial strategy Eric Kohn and executive editor, film Kate Erbland agree on some of the film’s bigger problems, but their overall reactions diverge. Styled as a movie (within a movie franchise? trust us, this actually makes more sense in practice), Angus MacLane’s space-set adventure imagines Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Chris Evans) as a lauded Space Ranger who accidentally strands his spaceship (and hundreds of fellow space travelers) on a distant planet and must somehow find a way home. This weekend saw the release of Pixar’s return to theaters with “Toy Story” spinoff “Lightyear,” the origin story for a beloved, uh, toy.

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