Lightyear

Last night I got to see an early access screening of Lightyear and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie that inspired Andy to ask for the toy!  Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans) is a Space Ranger on a mission in uncharted space 4.2 million light-years from Earth when his ship is diverted to a planet.  He and his commanding officer Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Udubo) explore the planet, determine that it is hostile, and attempt to leave but they become stranded when the ship is damaged after Buzz ignores the advice of the autopilot navigator.  The crew eventually decides to search the planet for an energy source needed to achieve hyperspace so they can go home.  Buzz, who feels responsible for marooning the crew, conducts many test flights for each energy source but they last a few minutes for him and several years for everyone else.  After many years and many failed tests, he finally finds the correct energy source but when he returns he discovers that Alisha has died and the planet has now been overtaken by alien robots ruled by Emperor Zurg (James Brolin).  To rid the planet of these robots and get everyone back home he must accept the help of a ragtag group of inexperienced volunteers, including Alisha's granddaughter Izzy (Keke Palmer).  What I enjoyed most is that, while there are similarities to the Toy Story franchise (Buzz is a cocky and arrogant pilot who must learn to work with others as part of a team in order to succeed), this is a standalone movie with a powerful message about being so focused on a goal that you miss out on living your life and there is a montage where Alisha gets married, starts a family, grows old, and dies while Buzz flies the same test missions over and over again that will pull at the heartstrings.  Evans does a wonderful job voicing Buzz because he displays such a broad range of emotions.  I'm not sure why there is so much discourse about continuity because Tim Allen's version of the character is a toy inspired by the movie character so they are meant to be different (in my opinion).  The rest of the voice cast is also really good with Peter Sohn as the robotic cat Sox as the standout (this character is hilarious).  The animation is fantastic and the action sequences is space are thrilling (I loved all of the visual cues to other space movies, especially 2001: A Space Odyssey).  Finally, the score by Michael Giacchino (he is having a good year) really compliments the visuals.  I wouldn't call this a top-tier Pixar movie but I had a lot of fun watching it (and so did all of the kids sitting near me) so I would definitely recommend it.