Lightyear

Pixar's Llightyear is a great homage to classic sci-fi movie adventures and a nostalgically fun film for anyone who watches Star Wars every now and again. An old-school piece full of great action with a likeable hero who's a little different from his Toy Story colleague. With unexpectedly fewer jokes and humour, but a quite interesting and in the right places touching story, a casual retro atmosphere, a brisk pace and filmed with the right fan enthusiasm. (16.06.2022)

A very pleasant surprise for me. Lightyear is an awesome animated sci-fi ride across time and space with really amazing technical aspects (the computer animation is revolutionary), fun characters (Buzz and Sox the cat rock), great action (robots Warhammer style, amazing), alien bugs, impressive alien landscape, plenty of humour and one unexpected twist. I found it not only entertaining, but also quite refreshing in the animation genre. I felt like I was watching a new sci-fi blockbuster with a compelling story and cool action, rather than a children's fairy tale, and I’m not far from a full rating. 8/10. (11.08.2022)

An adventurous romp through time and space. The story grabs you right from the start and doesn’t let go. Pixar came up with an unexpected idea of making this movie featuring the hero who was so important for Andy from Toy Story. Lightyear isn’t so much for today’s kids as it is for people who were kids back in 1995, a bit like Andy. The only thing in this movie that maybe has anything to say to the kids of today is Sox the Cat. The movie is amazing in visual terms. A wonderfully designed and created spaceship and beautiful alien landscapes. A feast for the eyes. Giacchino’s music is great again. Will there be a sequel, or a solo for Woody? (01.08.2022)

Awesome sci-fi adventure. I have no problem believing that Andy fell in love with him and just had to have the Buzz action figure at home. The only criticism I could level at Lightyear is that the redemptive idea the characters get in the finale hits home somewhere in the middle of the film, but why would I fault it? I smiled for an hour and forty minutes like I hadn't smiled in the cinema for a long time. Boyishly enthusiastic, I was carried away by a test flight that seemed to have fallen out of the new Top Gun, and then moved by a montage that was equal to the opening of Up. I was curious to see where the story was going (besides, of course, to infinity and beyond) and how many more times the brilliant Sox would make me laugh. And I liked that it wasn't silly and that it was fun, communicating some of those necessary moral values in a completely non-violent and painless way. Great! And the production design! Proper Sci-fi, from the references to Star Trek, Alien and 2001 to the refined design of the ships and bases to Giacchino's bombastic music, which is so good you don’t want it to stop. Thanks! (17.06.2022)

The Toy Story tetralogy captivated me with its mature yet child-friendly narrative style, which nicely blended fun, action and light melodrama. Lightyear is a spin-off of the aforementioned series, but it shrewdly distances itself from it already in the opening credits. While watching it, several films – most notably Interstellar, Star Wars and The Martian – came to mind in various sequences, from which Lightyear (un)intentionally borrows some plot motifs. The catbot was amazing, as were the hyperspace travel scenes (the character of Alisha was touching while also bringing LGBT themes into the film in a non-violent way). Buzz was similarly "off" as in Toy Story, and the supporting characters were fine at first, but after a while they got awkward and tiresome. The Zorg line left me with mixed feelings. All in all, better three stars! (17.06.2022)

This theme isn’t suited to this kind of animation. If you want to film a dark story, the animation shouldn't be so childish. And if it is, it should at least look like that was the intention. Here, however, it seemed as if the appearance of the characters was determined by Buzz and nobody else, jumping on the Toy Story bandwagon, while the overall feel of this animated movie is completely different. It would have been better if they had broken away from Toy Story and taken their own path. It is so absolutely unlikely that such a hero would become the archetype of children's toys, and even if he did, that any child would like or even love it. And the attempts to bring it closer to a child audience (whom the movie somewhat falsely entices) in turn prevent the dark story of Lightyear from descending into the despair that would be more appropriate for such a narrative. (27.03.2023)