Despite excellent visuals and the presence of a fun robotic cat, the Buzz Lightyear origin story fails to live up to the magic of the original Toy Story trilogy, says John Byrne.
What a disappointment. Not so much of a surprise though.
I remember coming out of Toy Story 4 fearing Disney were going to carve up the legacy of the magical Toy Story trilogy. Turn it into something like Star Wars or the MCU, churning out an endless series of spin-offs, sequels and prequels.
Things to be chewed-up and consumed rather than admired and loved.
My kids grew up watching those superb films, while I had flashbacks to my own early days, and oh how the tears flowed at the end of Toy Story 3 when Andy gave his beloved toys away. It was such a beautiful ending.
The three films were full of warmth, and a deep understanding of the childhood experience, particularly the unique bond formed between a youngster and their toys, and the fantastic world they share.
And then we we end up with this. Lightyear. A collection of focus group tick-boxes set to animated characters. I know, 'it's only a cartoon’, but the Toy Story trilogy - arguably better than The Godfather trilogy - was much more than that. It matters.
That’s not to say that Lightyear isn’t worth a look. After a turgid opening 30 minutes or so, the movie finally gets an injection of pace, storyline and supporting characters to liven up a rather dull Space Ranger called Buzz.
From that point on it’s a fun if predictable adventure as Lightyear and a bunch of misfits join forces to take on the baddies, discovering stuff about themselves along the way.
But if this is the film that made Andy fall in love with Buzz back in the 1990s (as claimed at the start), I'm beginning to reconfigure my attitude towards him. Young Andy's far too easily pleased.
A major plus is Sox, who kept me in the cinema when I was seriously considering a walk-out. A great supporting character, this robotic cat is one of the film’s two saving graces (hence the two-star rating). The other is the visuals. Lightyear looks fantastic.
But then, so did the Titanic.
