You don’t have to be a ‘Buzz’ fan to watch Lightyear, the latest movie from Pixar, but you surely would become one after watching it.

Lightyear is the backstory of the astronaut who was the inspiration behind Andy’s favourite toy from the Toy Story series, and this film shows you what made him stand out as an inspiration.

The movie recounts the adventures of Star Command’s most famous Space Ranger before he inspired a whole chain of toys. Beginning with a special mission for space rangers, Buzz Lightyear is a space ranger who, with his best friend Alisha Hawthorne, embarks on intergalactic missions. During one such mission, he crashes his turnip-shaped ship, marooning everyone on a hostile planet, due to his stubborn nature.

In order to rectify the mistake, Buzz alone decides to mend things, but during the process of searching for an energy source that takes them off the planet, he loses time and friends. With every failed attempt that lasts less than four minutes, Buzz misses four years of his life. While his friends get older, he remains the same and that’s why when he finally cracks the formula for the energy source, he has to team up with Alisha’s granddaughter and her friends to complete the mission and revive the Space Rangers Corps.

Lightyear has a nostalgic feel to it since it borrows stuff from space films like 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Return of the Jedi from the Star Wars franchise. We also come across I.V.A.N, (Internal Voice Activated Navigator), a HAL 9000 inspiration from 2001: A Space Odyssey, with elements of K.I.T.T. (Knight Industries Two Thousand) from the Knight Rider. However, it’s Sox, a robotic cat, which steals the show as Buzz’s trusted sidekick who has answers to everything, and is instrumental in cracking the formula for the energy source.

The titular character is voiced by Chris Evans, although in the Toy Story series, Buzz is voiced by Tim Allen. Since this film is not about the toy but the man who inspired the toy, no one else would have done justice to it, except Captain America of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Keke Palmer (Izzy), Peter Sohn (Sox), and James Brolin (Zurg) are also part of the ensemble cast, while Taika Waititi and Uzo Aduba also make their presence felt as supporting characters.

Directed by Angus MacLane, who has been part of famous animated films like Monster Inc., The Incredibles, and Finding Dory, Lightyear is a tribute to the 1990s. Animated films such as these were a rarity back then and MacLane made sure the animation is close to that period. The 100-min film has a storyline that would make any viewer proud because it’s entertaining for the entire family.

Viewers who were kids in the mid-90s would be able to relate to this film more than youngsters of today, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t attract a newer audience. It has the thrill, the suspense, the comic elements and the antagonist who could make or ruin your day. Just be sure to have Buzz on your side and he will take you ‘to infinity, and beyond!’

Published in Dawn, Young World, July 30th, 2022