$51 million and second place is considered a failure these days. Poor Buzz, he can’t catch a break. In Lightyear, Buzz crashed the ship that left everyone in his crew stranded. And now, Buzz may have torpedoed the chances of anymore spinoffs and origin stories of the characters in Toy Story. So what happened? How in the world did the even more badly reviewed Jurassic World Dominion manage to hang onto the box office crown with nearly $59 million.
Misleading Advertising
When I first saw the teaser of Lightyear, I wasn’t excited at all. The only two things that convinced me to give it a try was Chris Evans and its link to Toy Story. If this has some relation to Toy Story, then its gotta be good, right?!? Besides the very brief statement at the start of the film clarifying that Lightyear is the movie about Buzz Lightyear that led to Andy becoming obsessed with Buzz, the timelines don’t add up. Toy Story was released in 1995. Lightyear has obvious 2022 sensibilities. There’s also no sign of Toy Story anywhere. Where did Toy Story go? Isn’t this movie about Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story?
No Memorable Cute Characters
The adorable, squish, and sweet toys from Toy Story are nowhere to be found in Lightyear. Sox, the robotic orange cat is perhaps the closest thing, but even then, Sox doesn’t really do cute things. He’s a brainy cat who speaks like an adult and doesn’t do silly and funny things like a Lotso Bear or Slinky Dog. Come to think of it, none of the characters are cute.
Pearl Clutching Traditionalists
The “replacing” of Tim Allen with the more engaging and youthful Chris Evans turned off a lot of parents who want to hang onto the old school Buzz Lightyear. Those who identify as conservatives complained that it was Tim Allen’s Trump vote that led to his services not being needed for 2022 Buzz. And then let’s not forget the outcry over the lesbian relationship (which really was just a few moments on the screen). It’s sad and scary that in 2022, a cartoon kiss and depiction of a very real reality like two moms can spark such censorship.
Dark and Depressing
The look and feel of Lightyear is very dark and somber. Unlike the other very colorful and vibrant Pixar films like Toy Story, Inside Out, Finding Nemo, Turning Red, and so on, it’s as if the lights are never turned on at all throughout the movie. It’s all grimy and gloomy looking all of the time. There’s no catchy songs that express how the characters feel which is odd. Don’t most Disney films have catchy musical interludes or at least a dance number? Lightyear isn’t exactly a cheerful movie with a very happy ending. There is a resolution, but it’s not the outcome that we were all hoping for.
Who IS Buzz Lightyear?
When I think back to the movie, I don’t remember anything much about Buzz’s origins. Besides being an arrogant space ranger who doesn’t want to deal with inexperienced newbies, we have no idea who he was. If there’s anything missing from the plotline is that the titular character’s story is missing in action. We don’t know who his parents or siblings are. We don’t know where he was born or where he grew up from. More importantly, we don’t know why he chose to be a space ranger. There was an opportunity for us to understand Buzz beyond his space ranger duties, and that was never brought up. Even after he watched his best friend and mentor age before his eyes and ultimately die, there was no addressing his own mortality and his lack of a human life experience. He spent all his years going on the failed missions, but he never made any other friends. He never found a love. He didn’t even have any hobbies. But I guess we know why Alisha gifted him Sox.
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