Lightyear ★★★

Angus MacLane

Starring Chris Evans, Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, Taika Waititi, James Brolin, Dale Soules

Buzz Lightyear returns to the big screen bigger than ever before and with a million times less plastic in a feature length origin story for the hero that retroactively inspires the beloved character of 1995’s Toy Story.

Whilst marooned on a hostile world, in an attempt to get his colony home, Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans) begins to test unstable fuel that will enable him to travel at light-speed and make up for his mistake that stranded them there. Throughout his mission, Buzz must overcome his need for success and trust in his team to save the day.

Anyone below the age of 12 will be able to enjoy this movie to its fullest value. It’s a worthy space adventure flick with all the action, humour and vibrancy expected of Pixar at this stage and a sure-fire hit with the kids. But if you’re old enough to remember the Toy Story trilogy and it’s sham of a sequel you begin to see the cracks in the space ranger armour that Pixar have crafted with Lightyear. Whilst the iconic dialogue and call backs to the dilutions of grandeur our Buzz is best known for provide a few odd smirks, the scent of familiarity overpowers the necessity of the movie as a whole. Lightyear is the Disney Cash Grab it’s designed to be, ticking all the boxes like a shopping list for your everyday groceries and very rarely reaching for the magic stars (a UK delicacy).

Whilst Chris Evans never feels out of place as this new ‘gorgeously animated’ Buzz, the role is and will always be commanded by the great Tim Allen. The complexity of the original character is the irony of his belief that he is a real space ranger - a trait lost in his human ‘counterpart’.

That’s not to say one of Lightyears’ lingering messages about perfectionism and dealing with your mistakes is not a welcome after-thought when you leave the cinema - something that will surely resonate with adults and parents and provide the movie with its own shred of originality.

Overall, Lightyear delivers all the scenes you’ve seen before exactly as you’d expect them to be in an attempt to sell more toys - but I did also find myself pleading with the writers not to kill a robot cat all the way through, so they must have done something right somewhere.

Lightyear available in cinemas now