Lightyear
Cert: PG
★★★★★

Seeking to tell the origin story of Andy’s beloved Buzz Lightyear toy, Pixar’s latest addition to its hugely popular Toy Story Saga is a meta space adventure that pays homage to the space movie genre. Directed by Angus MacLane (Finding Dory), Lightyear is presented by Disney as the blockbuster film within a film the Toy Story characters would watch.

MCU favourite Chris Evans (Captain America, Knives Out) lends his voice to this new interpretation of Buzz Lightyear, taking over from Tim Allen who played the voice of the toy for 4 consecutive films. Meanwhile Keke Palmer (Hustlers), Jewish filmmaker Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit) and-’s Isiah Whitlock Jr. also star.

The story follows the trials and tribulations of Buzz, a heroic space ranger who is marooned on a hostile planet alongside his commander Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) and their crew. As Buzz attempts to find a way back home to earth through space and time, he soon realises that every minute he spends in space amounts to years for the rest of the crew back on the planet who now appear to be aging much faster than he is.

As time goes by, our hero finds himself face to face with a new enemy set on stopping him from carrying out his mission. Buzz is later joined by a group of ambitious recruits headed by Izzy (Palmer) who also happens to be the granddaughter of his late commander and friend Alisha. Meanwhile, Buzz finds a handy companion in the shape of a resourceful - and scene stealing -robot cat named Sox.

In true Pixar style, Lightyear delivers the right mixture of earnest and inclusive sentiment as well as some brilliantly thought-out gags for young and old. With some clever nods to some classic space sagas from Alien to Interstellar, MacLane and co-writer Jason Headley have delivered a love letter to the genre all the while bringing that unmistakable fuzzy feeling we’ve come to expect from Pixar’s ever expanding stable.

Aside from the obvious, and not so obvious, Easter eggs peppered throughout the film’s narrative, there is a beautifully touching idea about the importance of accepting one’s destiny which sits at the heart of this story. 

Overall, there is plenty here to enjoy for all the family and thanks to Pixar peerless storytelling style, this is yet again a film which manages to appeal to both young and old and is sure to have even the most hardened cinemagoers amongst us crying into their popcorn. Another wonderful and uplifting offering from the studio that can seemingly do no wrong.