Critics Dub 'Lightyear' A 'Crowd-Pleasing Effort' With A 'Messy' Plot

On June 17, “Lightyear” finally hit theaters.

Directed by Angus MacLane, the film boasts the voices of Chris Evans as Buzz Lightyear. The voice cast also includes the talents of Taika Waititi, James Brolin, and Keke Palmer. The synopsis for the film reads:

“Legendary space ranger Buzz Lightyear embarks on an intergalactic adventure alongside ambitious recruits Izzy, Mo, Darby, and his robot companion, Sox.”

On Monday morning, the comedy-adventure had a 76% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 86% audience score. Most of the reviews were fairly positive.

Aaron Neuwirth of We Live Entertainment wrote, “Referencing everything from the Toy Story films to Star Wars to Star Trek to even 1998’s Lost in Space, a whole lot of care went into making a movie that evokes the sci-fi films director/co-writer Angus MacLane grew up watching.” Neuwirth gave the movie a 7 out of 10.

Joey Magidson of Awards Radar wrote, “Lightyear should delight young audience members who don't usually get sci-fi like this, as well as older viewers who do. It's just a rock-solid Pixar outing, if slightly below some of their top-tier efforts.” Magidson gave the movie a 3 out of 4.

Brian Truitt of USA Today wrote, “Lightyear is a crowd-pleasing effort that doesn’t shoot for the moon but manages to be a nostalgic blast anyway.” Truitt gave the movie a 3 out of 4.

Jonathan Sim of ComingSoon.net said that “Lightyear contains the ingredients to become one of Pixar's best. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite reach those heights, but for what it's worth, this is an action-packed piece of sci-fi adventure with an entertaining ensemble of characters.” Sim gave the film an 8 out of 10.

Carla Hay of Culture Mix wrote, “The plot about time travel in outer space often gets messy, but the movie has good messages about teamwork and confronting the past without dwelling on the past. Some viewers will be annoyed by the time-jumping, while other viewers will enjoy the ride.”

David Fear of the Rolling Stone wrote, “It is, in essence, a light, breezy, better-than-average Disney movie that just happens to feature a most-valuable Pixar player, while barely feeling like a Pixar movie at all.”

However, not all the critics enjoyed the movie.

Alonso Duralde of The Wrap wrote, “Rather than play like a significant departure from the “Toy Story” films that spawned it, “Lightyear” instead emerges as a disappointing runner-up, capturing but a fraction of the comedy, thrills, and poignancy of its predecessors.”

Keith Watson of Slant Magazine called the film “a slickly produced but soulless spectacle whose jokey banter and space-opera action drowns out the story’s emotional beats.” Watson gave the film a 2 out of 4.

Robbie Collin of the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph wrote, “The problem with Pixar’s latest feature isn’t just that it’s the animation house’s dullest, dreariest, most spiritually empty to date. It’s that it fails even on its own painstakingly contrived open-goal terms.” Collin gave the movie a 1 out of 5.

Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, “Though Pixar's Toy Story series is consistently gripping and deeply emotional, this spin-off is flaccid, repetitive and emotionally dead, almost from its first moments.” LaSalle gave the movie a 1 out of 4.

Nicholas Barber of BBC.com wrote, “Whatever escapades young Andy imagined in 1995 when he was playing with his Space Ranger toy, they were bound to be more fun than this one.” Barber gave the movie a 2 out of 5.

David Ehrlich of indieWire wrote, “Bursting onto the big screen with huge ‘this project was announced during a shareholders meeting’ energy, Lightyear is exactly the kind of gratuitous property-mining that corporate streamers were invented to support.” Ehrlich gave the movie a C rating.

It seems that “Lightyear” failed to impress all critics, but for fans who love the “Toy Story” franchise – especially younger children – it seems like it’s worth a watch.