If you’ve seen the Toy Story movies, you know that the character Buzz Lightyear is, along with Woody, his favorite toy. In this universe, Buzz comes from a movie that tells his story. Lightyear is that movie.
⚠️ This article will spoil the movie ⚠️
After watching the movie, I came away very disappointed. So here are the things I didn’t like:
The personality of the hero: from the original heroic arrogance to the humility and discretion of the new film
After watching this movie, I thought it seemed extremely different from what the character was in Toy Story. I know it was a toy, but it’s a toy whose personality is modeled after the hero in the stories. So it’s a toy that doesn’t have a personality of its own but is an exact replica of what it was in its own fiction.
We remember an arrogant, narcissistic character who is nevertheless a kind of cliché of the hero with a sparkling smile. He hardly questions himself and has an almost unshakeable self-confidence. He always seems to want to be the center of attention, which caused his rivalry with Woody’s character.
In the film, this is not the case. He is a humble character, discreet and always in questioning. Throughout the film, he will doubt himself, even towards the end, at the crucial moment of the denouement.
It is supposed to be a film about this character but he seems almost effaced, absent and above all, sad.
The willingness to change the personality of the hero, that is to say, from a solar, ambitious and adventurous character to a person who has to abandon his convictions one by one and ends up being resigned, has an iconoclastic scope. I had the impression that the film wanted to extinguish the hero’s figure in favor of a more realistic and psychological aspect, which profoundly changes the spirit of the character at the base and, by extension, those of Disney / Pixar heroes in general.
A hero forced to work as a team
The reason for his self-effacement is that Buzz is constantly surrounded. From the beginning of the film he has a very strong, determined teammate who gives him orders. I then asked myself… “but why don’t we make toys out of this character?”
In just a few minutes, I found that another character embodied Buzz better than Buzz himself.
But that’s not all. Later in the film, Buzz has to deal with a team of no-good, no-nonsense guys. Buzz ends up being their instructor to train them.
As the film progresses, it becomes clear that this is not a film about a hero, but a film about teamwork and the importance of delegation and trust. While the message is interesting in the absolute, it was not what I wanted to see in this film.
Of course, a hero can’t do everything alone and teamwork will take care of itself. But teamwork won’t be the center of the story and the hero can shine without fear of being erased, but that’s not the case in this film.
When you go to see a movie about Buzz, it’s because you want to see this brave and funny hero despite his ego… not a humble person who will find himself forced to train a team and stay with them.
A cold and dark atmosphere
When we imagine Buzz’s universe from the toy, we imagine the infinity of the universe, sparkling stars, thousands of planets to explore, all as diverse as each other!
This is far from being the case in this movie. Here, Buzz is stuck on an almost desert planet, wild and especially very dull. The general atmosphere is so sad… So much so that you almost forget that this is a children’s movie.
I still have a hard time realizing how dark the movie was. The gray and greenish colors don’t particularly transport us to a warm and interesting environment.
While this atmosphere may seem like a point that can take a backseat, it’s not because it’s what delineates the entire feel of the film. Colors are one of the most important aspects in cinema.
Ode to fatality and renunciation
The heart of my disappointment lies in this choice of scenario that I still have a hard time understanding.
As mentioned before, Buzz is stuck on a hostile planet and, at the beginning of the movie, he tries by all means to leave it.
This is one of the rare passages where he seems to act like a hero. Indeed, every time Buzz tries to find a way to leave the planet, it consumes years of life on the planet. Thus, as soon as Buzz returns after a failed attempt, he sees his entourage age and also sees a camp and a civilization being built on this planet. This reminds us of the scene in the movie Interstellar.
At the beginning of the movie, I honestly thought they were going to find a miracle solution to leave this planet, but it is not the case. At the end of the movie, it seemed inconceivable to me, but Buzz and his entire crew give up on leaving the planet and find themselves agreeing to live there.
I understand that the moral of the story is that sometimes we need to let go and realize that our surroundings can be good for us… but then again, this is an adventure movie about a hero who inspired kids like Andy from Toy Story.
Far from an adventure where the hero, by surpassing himself, finds a solution, even if it means sacrificing himself for others, we are in a story that is far too fatalistic.
Maybe this movie was meant to be close to reality, but I don’t think that was a good enough reason to try to teach children about renunciation.
In my opinion, the purpose of a children’s movie, besides making them dream and escape from everyday life, is to give them something to grow and develop. A simple and silly, but very effective “Believe in yourself and follow your heart” serves to give them confidence and a sort of message of hope, even if it is a far-fetched scenario.
I found this film particularly nihilistic and almost… harmful to children.
Perhaps it was actually a film for disillusioned adults?
One of the messages of the film would be to fight oneself to evolve with the times will have more impact on an audience that has already lived well and can be sensitive to this symbolism.
Conclusion: watch the series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command which was on Disney Channel and not this movie
In all seriousness, this series released in 2000 that I saw on Disney Channel gathers in my opinion all the elements to be a very good idea of what Buzz Lightyear is.
The 2022 movie has at least the merit of having taken some risks but its nihilistic and iconoclastic aspect do not make it, in my opinion, a good movie to represent the famous Buzz Lightyear.
