The study pixar It has given us many great movies over the years, but surely there is none more emblematic than ‘Toy Story’. After all, it was his first feature film and with the adventure of Woody and Buzz Lightyear he managed to conquer the hearts of millions of viewers.
That saga grew little by little, but from the first moment the question always arose as to whether it was necessary to make sequels. ‘Toy Story 2’ showed us that yes, ‘Toy Story 3’ also did it and ‘Toy Story 4’ may be the least successful of all, but it was worth it and in its own way it served to close Woody’s story. There, yes, a fifth installment seemed out of place, but at Pixar it occurred to them that the best way to expand the franchise was to go in another direction.
A solid foundation
The result of that is ‘Lightyear’, a great science fiction movie which serves to tell the story of the character from which one of Andy’s favorite toys was created. Therefore, do not expect here a prequel to ‘Toy Story’, but a most stimulating space adventure that also works quite well as a complement to one of the most acclaimed film sagas in history.
To be fair, ‘Lightyear’ It could perfectly have been another character’s story with no connection to ‘Toy Story’ little by little that certain details were altered, such as the use of “To infinity and beyond“, but it is not difficult to recognize that the project would have aroused much less interest among the public. In addition, the film was born that way instead of being the result of the reconversion of a completely foreign script, a practice that Hollywood has resorted to on several occasions .
That said, the really important thing about ‘Lightyear’ is that at no time is it raised in such a way that its existence does not go beyond the wink. Here you will find a movie that has all the ingredients to conquer the public no matter what you think of ‘Toy Story’, especially for science fiction movie lovers.
an irresistible cocktail
For now, the script of Jason Headley and Angus MacLanethe latter also director of the film, knows how to perfectly integrate its science fiction component to propose a story with hook, some surprises along the way and enough virtues so that ‘Lightyear’ alone was worth it.
However, MacLane is not satisfied with this and adds a gallery of endearing characters that easily arouse sympathy in the viewer, from Buzz’s tenacity to fulfill the mission entrusted to him to that motley gallery of allies he ends up having. Yes indeed, Above all, we must highlight Sox, the robot cat that steals each and every one of the scenes in which he appears.
In addition, the emotion makes an appearance not only in relation to the tension about whether they will be able to complete an almost impossible mission, because being Pixar, that desire of the studio to touch the sensitive fiber of the viewer could not be missing. It is always clear that he tries, but that does not stop it from working, especially with that recorded message that they leave the protagonist. That Of course, Pixar manipulates our emotions, but you also have to know how to do it well.
Nor could a presence of humor be lacking in a film that is still designed for the whole family, both to fulfill a certain function of relief and, above all, to balance the tone of ‘Lightyear’. Also, it is not something that appears occasionally to achieve that, but is always there latent and simply comes to the fore when it best suits you to do so. It is not hard at all to believe that it was Andy’s favorite movie.
The dog
In fact, the only but reasonable thing that I think could be put to ‘Lightyear’ is that everything is still very measured. Here there is no such freshness that Pixar was recovering with ‘Luca’ or ‘Red’, something that may disappoint some viewers. In exchange, there is a quite successful treatment of classic science fiction, but there will be those who ask this study for more, who miss throwing themselves a little more into the void.
In its own way, it could be said that it also affects the animation work, totally technically irreproachable, but perhaps an extra point of inventiveness would have come in handy here. At least they have wanted to go a little further than they know will work. There I could not help but remember ‘The Mitchells against the machines’, and ‘Lightyear’ loses in that comparison. And I don’t think it’s unfair to do it either.
In short
A priori, ‘Lightyear’ might seem like a mere attempt to continue squeezing the ‘Toy Story’ saga, but the truth is that it is a very different film that mixes science fiction and adventure very successfully. It’s fun, exciting, with the occasional surprise and you grow fond of its protagonists, but a little more impetus and inventiveness is missing in the visual, being a luxury occasion for it. With everything, highly recommended.