The first reviews for Lightyear are in and suggest it’s an entertaining sci-fi adventure film, although one that may fall short of Pixar expectations. Lightyear is the origin story of Buzz Lightyear, a space ranger who would go on to inspire the beloved toy featured in the Toy Story franchise. Chris Evans takes over the role of Buzz Lightyear from Tim Allen in an attempt to distinguish the film’s tone from the Toy Story movies.
Since his debut in Toy Story in 1995, Buzz has become an icon and was featured in all of the franchise’s movies. All four of the films received rave reviews from critics, and both Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4 won the Best Animated Feature Film at the Academy Awards in their respective years. In fact, Toy Story 3 remains one of only three animated films to be nominated for Best Picture. With such a high pedigree, Lightyear has some big shoes to fill, particularly if it has the potential to continue the Toy Story franchise in a new way.
The first batch of reviews for Lightyear have arrived ahead of the film’s June 17 release, and most are on the positive side in praising the film’s fun adventure story. A lot of praise comes from the animation and visual aesthetics of the film. Yet a common criticism leveled at Lightyear is that it doesn’t live up to the original Toy Story film series standards. Here’s a roundup of reviews for Lightyear.
Ben Kendrick, Screen Rant
Lightyear is a clever expansion of Pixar’s beloved Toy Story franchise – packed with fun moments, warm sentiment, and downright gorgeous animation.
Owen Gleiberman, Variety
Taken on its own eager-to-please terms, the movie is a winning diversion. But given that it’s a spinoff of the Toy Story series… it should be noted that this is one of those Pixar movies that feels like it has 50 percent Disney DNA.
David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter
This is a funny spinoff with suspense and heart, a captivatingly spirited toon take on splashy live-action retro popcorn entertainment.
Matt Singer, ScreenCrush
Even if it never matches the magic of Toy Story, it does provide a satisfying 100 minutes at the movies.
Hoai-Tran Bui, SlashFilm
“Lightyear” may not reach the heights of the great sci-fi movies that it pays tribute to … But it’s a visually impressive, escapist riff on the sci-fi epic that, at the very least, might become the favorite movie of some kid, somewhere.
David Fear, Rolling Stone
It is, in essence, a light, breezy, better-than-average Disney movie that just happens to feature a most-valuable Pixar player, while barely feeling like a Pixar movie at all.
Amelia Emberwing, IGN Movies
Lightyear features striking visuals, strong performances, and a love-out-loud lesbian relationship that we’re thrilled to see on screen. All of those things deserved a stronger story, though.
Rachel Leishman, The Mary Sue
Lightyear does a great job of giving us an understanding of why Andy would suddenly love this Buzz Lightyear toy more than he does Woody the Cowboy, who had been with him from the start.
David Ehrlich, indieWire
Bursting onto the big screen with huge “this project was announced during a shareholders meeting” energy, Lightyear is exactly the kind of gratuitous property-mining that corporate streamers were invented to support.
Ross Bonaime, Collider
Lightyear is still an extremely fun action sci-fi film that is better than most animated films released in a given year, and will bring a smile to fans of this character. But it also is the first time a Toy Story film has truly felt inessential.
Tasha Robinson, Polygon
The Pixar craft is on full display, as MacLane and his team fill the screen with a polished, immersive world full of emotive, likable characters. But they’re up against so many past Pixar successes that mine similar emotions and ideas.
Kyle Anderson, Nerdist
While Lightyear plays like a fun, surprisingly heady science fiction adventure, its references (and subversions) of Toy Story lore actually hold it back from true Pixar greatness.
Robert Daniels, Inverse
If you’re looking for a movie that’ll conjure the imagination in the same way Toy Story did, then you’ll leave disappointed.
Scott Mendelson, Forbes
Pixar’s ‘Lightyear’ is just good enough to justify its artistic experience despite obviously crass commercial motivations.
Currently, Lightyear is sitting at an impressive 84% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, although that is quite a bit lower than the Toy Story films, with the lowest one being Toy Story 4 at 97%. Lightyear appears to be coming in on the low end of Pixar ratings on the site as well, only sitting above all three Cars films, Brave, The Good Dinosaur, and Monster’s University. However, in a studio that is filled with all-time classics that are beloved by audiences of all ages and has only one film in their entire filmography that earned a rotten rating (Cars 2), Lightyear is still going to end up on the positive side among critics.
Lightyear is Pixar’s grand return to cinemas after Disney chose to release the studio’s last three films – Soul, Luca, and Turning Red – as Disney+ originals. All three of those films scored high praise from critics with 95%, 91%, and 94% respectively on Rotten Tomatoes, with some calling Turning Red one of Pixar’s best. While Lightyear may not live up to the high expectations placed upon it as both a Pixar film and a Toy Story film, it appears it accomplishes what it sets out to do and make an exciting science fiction film that will capture and captivate young audience members.
Sources: Various [see links above]
