{"id":24866,"date":"2022-06-16T00:12:06","date_gmt":"2022-06-16T07:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=24866"},"modified":"2022-06-16T00:12:06","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T07:12:06","slug":"lightyear-delivers-heartfelt-science-fiction-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=24866","title":{"rendered":"LIGHTYEAR Delivers Heartfelt Science-Fiction Fun"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Running Time: 104 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This animated feature from Disney and Pixar opens at\ntheaters on Friday, June 17th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those familiar with Pixar Films will know that the 1995 hit Toy\nStory<\/em> was the animation studio\u2019s first full-length feature. It involved a\nyoung boy named Andy, whose toys came to life whenever he wasn\u2019t in his room.\nOver the years, several well-received sequels have followed. While the studio\u2019s\nnew effort Lightyear<\/em> does have a direct connection to the franchise, it\nis quite different from a traditional follow-up. A title card at the beginning\nof the movie explains that this is the movie that young Andy saw and loved,\nmaking his Buzz Lightyear action figure a personal favorite in the household.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This film introduces viewers to bold and brash pilot Buzz\nLightyear (Chris Evans), who has been entrusted alongside his commanding\nofficer Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) to get a ship full of travelers across the\nuniverse. When they find themselves marooned on a hostile world 4.2 million\nlight years from Earth, the guilt-ridden lead vows to do everything possible to\nget their ship working again. He learns that the space hyperdrive test flights\nrequired have a major drawback, but the stoic hero continues until he succeeds.\nAlas, in his absence it is revealed that a sinister figure named Zurg (James\nBrolin) has invaded the planet with an army of robots. In order to save the day,\nLightyear must enlist the help of a young cadet named Izzy (Keke Palmer), his\nown robotic therapy cat SOX (Peter Sohn) and a few other outcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As mentioned, there is no direct connection between this\ntitle and the Toy Story<\/em> movies, except that the main character has a few\nmannerisms and lines shared with the action figure. This may upset fans of the\nseries hoping for more toy-related shenanigans, but the concept actually allows\nthe filmmakers the opportunity to tell a different kind of adventure. In truth,\nthis is a fairly straight-forward science fiction picture that takes a more\nserious approach to its story. There are laughs to be had, but the focus is on\na pilot dealing with an impossible situation, and trying to be a hero but\nmissing out on friends and a full personal life in the process. The\ncomplications of taking part in these test flights do provide interesting drama\nand a bit of introspection as his relationship with Alisha changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Much of the comedic relief comes in the form of SOX. The character\nis a robotic cat with AI and it really makes an impression. Naturally, it\u2019s\namusing to see a cute animal with enormous eyes deliver data and personal\nadvice with an analytical mind very much in contrast with its appearance. And\nmore effective jokes come when SOX estimates Lightyear\u2019s odds of success and\nhis own existence is put into danger. Gags involving the leads and Izzy\u2019s pals\nare more of the hit-and-miss variety, but thankfully SOX is always around to\neke some humor out of the situations.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movie also looks gorgeous, with some wonderful visuals\non the strange planet featured, including an unusual plant-like species that is\na great nuisance to the leads. There are also some epic shots of the\nprotagonist flying through space. And the invading robots are appropriately\nintimidating (although not so scary as to terrify young viewers). It seems that\nCGI-animation continues to seemingly advance further and further every year,\nwith this title being no exception. Some of the footage on display looks as\nconvincing and dynamic as any live-action sci-fi feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Admittedly, there are a few minor issues with the movie. While the central theme and heart of the story is engaging, the reveal of the villain, the exposition and action that follows this turn feels a bit more routine. And since the movie is weightier in tone and its humor relies more on interactions and comments between lead characters, kids might not be as enamored with this movie as they would be with the series that inspired it. Still, for this reviewer, a movie that appears completely unconnected and tonally dissimilar from the franchise that inspired it is a breath of fresh air. Lightyear <\/em>doesn\u2019t reach the top of the Pixar stratosphere, but it\u2019s a heartfelt and enjoyable movie that should impress science-fiction enthusiasts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 104 minutes This animated feature from Disney and Pixar opens at theaters on Friday, June 17th. Those familiar with Pixar Films will know that the 1995 hit Toy Story was the animation studio\u2019s first full-length feature. It involved a young boy named Andy, whose toys came to life whenever he wasn\u2019t in his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":24871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[209,697,1455,3720,4301,5922,7283,11558,12378,12380,12381,12382,16005,16155,17775,18035,18856,23158,23627],"class_list":["post-24866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-209","tag-action","tag-animated","tag-buzz-lightyear","tag-chris-evans","tag-disney","tag-family","tag-keke-palmer","tag-lightyear","tag-lightyear-film-review","tag-lightyear-movie-review","tag-lightyear-review","tag-peter-sohn","tag-pixar","tag-science-fiction","tag-sequel","tag-spin-off","tag-toy-story","tag-uzo-aduba"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24866\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}