The classic Buzz Lightyear is making its big comeback this June. This time, Buzz is not just one of Andy’s toys friends. He is the most significant space ranger. And the movie is all about him. If you expect something different from “Toy Story”, this is the movie you may like. However, whether this movie makes it to infinity and beyond successfully….? That’s the question.
The movie first tells the audience that it is the same movie Andy watched in 1995. And that is why Andy wanted to take Buzz back home in “Toy Story”. The story quickly introduces what happened in the world. Lightyear and his crew, commanding officer Alisha and rookie Featheringhamstan, land on an unknown planet T’Kani Prime with people in the exploration vessel nicknamed ‘the Turnip’. When they are scouting the landing site, they are attacked by hostile lifeforms. So they decide to take off, but they fail. Buzz then blames himself for escaping failing and leaving all the people here. And volunteers for testing the hyperspace fuel crystal to return home.
However, the test has his pay. The time counts different in space. Four minutes in space, four years on T’Kani Prime. Every time Buzz comes back from his flight, something changed. Many a little makes a mickle. Even his commander and best friend Alisha has gone. She gifts Buzz a cute cat AI robot therapist Sox. And it makes an important role in his next journey.
The new Commander Cal Burnside has developed a new way of living after years. But Buzz still insists to take everyone home. So he escapes and goes on his final test secretly. During the test, he achieves the hyperspeed with Sox’s help. However, he also skips 22 years into the future. He also meets a group of people who are not even rookies – they are not trained and completely new. In the beginning, he feels desperate and wants to do it alone. But the new crew – Izzy, Mo, and Darby keep joining him accidentally. He has no choice but to learn how to work with them to defeat the evil robot Zurg. They not only have to protect the hyper crystal from Zurg’s attack, but also encounter a new threat.
The tempo of the movie is quite fast in the beginning. It uses a quick and precise pace to show Buzz’s personality – responsible, dedicated and independent. The rapid transition scenes of every time Buzz returns from his flight are impressive. Seeing the significant time difference between space and T’Kani Prime expresses the world’s changes and highlights the loneliness of Buzz.
The existence of Sox is absolutely an extra spotlight. The interaction between Buzz and Sox can show the process of how Buzz changes from working alone to relying on others. Sox’s intelligent and humane sounds form an interesting contrast with his adorable appearance as well. Sox is definitely one of the classic Disney sidekicks.
However, compares to Sox, the existence of other crew is a little bit dull. The friendship between Buzz and Alisha is precious, but the story of how they become a great partner in the past is less shown. The sparkle between Buzz and rookie Featheringhamstan only appears at the start. If it can talk more about why Buzz does not like working with rookies instead of just saying it directly it will be more reasonable.
Buzz’s new crew members, Izzy, Mo, and Darby, although it is understandable that they are wholly new, some actions and behaviours really make people believe that Buzz is better doing on his own. And the reason why put them as partners to work with Buzz is questionable as well. Their characteristics and charms are less shown. They are more like tools to process personality changes of Buzz in the end. Therefore, the pace of the film in the last half becomes quite slow and boring.
If you expect to see a story like “Toy Story”, you may be disappointed. Although it still includes some easter eggs from Toy Story and Star Wars, It is a film about the grow-up process of Buzz. The animation is beautiful, as well as the characters and scenes. However, it is hard to believe that it is the film that 6 years old Andy will be interested in and like.
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