'Lightyear' Coming Summer 2022

[Sharon&Susan]

Since RT has been linked here a few times, it should be pointed out that audience ratings on other review sites aren't as positive.

Lightyear (2022)

Legendary Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear embarks on an intergalactic adventure alongside a group of ambitious recruits and his robot companion Sox.

letterboxd.com

Lightyear

The story of Buzz Lightyear and his adventures to infinity and beyond.

www.metacritic.com

 

[Magenta Panther]

Lightyear | Rotten Tomatoes

Legendary space ranger Buzz Lightyear embarks on an intergalactic adventure alongside ambitious recruits Izzy, Mo, Darby, and his robot companion, Sox. As this motley crew tackles their toughest mission yet, they must learn to work together as a team to escape the evil Zurg and his dutiful robot...

www.rottentomatoes.com

It’s not a smash hit- but it’s a movie it seems a lot of people enjoyed.

Well, and a lot of people enjoyed Treasure Planet - including me - but it was still a massive flop.

Just like Lightyear.

 

[The Mom]

I have deleted the personal attacks and argumentative posts.

 

[Dear Prudence]

I don't know if I would use Letterboxd or any other film rating site as any kind of assessment for how good films are. I am sure there were people who weighted the votes in either direction to suit their own purposes. Letterboxd is especially wrought with people who are obsessed with misusing large words lol. (Like if I see one more ego-bloated idiot using "gravitas," I am literally going to puke.) (I mean the highest rated review for Lightyear on Letterboxd is a man complaining about having to sit next to a child at a screening of a children's movie.)

At the end of the day, these movies are for children. Who probably can't rate them on movie sites because they're not old enough yet.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

At the end of the day, these movies are for children. Who probably can't rate them on movie sites because they're not old enough yet.

I don’t think Pixar movies are made specifically with children in mind. Some of them, like Soul and Wall-E, are arguably more for adults then children although they are still family friendly.

that’s like saying the parks are for children. That’s a slippery slope when used to justify poor quality and poor storytelling.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Lightyear's CineScore was A-.

So, with a random polling of opening weekend viewers, it got an OK score.

Taking the average of RT and IMDB audience scores (weighted by size), Lightyear gets a 60/100, which is OK.

It's OK.

 

[Dear Prudence]

I don’t think Pixar movies are made specifically with children in mind. Some of them, like Soul and Wall-E, are arguably more for adults then children although they are still family friendly.

that’s like saying the parks are for children. That’s a slippery slope when used to justify poor quality and poor storytelling.

I thought Lightyear was one of the films made and targeted specifically for kids.

 

[DCLcruiser]

I thought Lightyear was one of the films made and targeted specifically for kids.

Not at all. Perhaps for Middle School kids+.

 

[Disney Irish]

So I've gone back and thought about Lightyear, and while I liked the film here is what I come up with (and I'm sure there will be many that disagree with this, but this is my opinion).

Lightyear was an experiment to see if Disney/Pixar could make an original story with an existing property instead of a direct sequel. And despite the fandom complaints about Toy Story 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, etc. the general public just wants sequels to the existing properties not something original coming out of them.

My 2 cents anyways.....

 

[Minthorne]

Well, and a lot of people enjoyed Treasure Planet - including me - but it was still a massive flop.

Just like Lightyear.

At least Andy liked it.

 

[MarvelCharacterNerd]

So I've gone back and thought about Lightyear, and while I liked the film here is what I come up with (and I'm sure there will be many that disagree with this, but this is my opinion).

Lightyear was an experiment to see if Disney/Pixar could make an original story with an existing property instead of a direct sequel. And despite the fandom complaints about Toy Story 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, etc. the general public just wants sequels to the existing properties not something original coming out of them.

My 2 cents anyways.....

I think people just want a good movie. Original. Prequel. Sequel. In universe. Never before seen universe. Whatever. Something that appeals universally (as best as anything can these days) or at least broadly will connect broadly.

Otherwise, it's just niche no matter what it is or who makes it.

I personally never cared for the Toy Story films (blasphemy, I know). So I had no interest in Toy Story 2022. Or Toy Story 1980's via 1995 via 2022 or whatever.

I also no longer feel the need to watch everything Pixar or Disney or Star Wars just out of brand loyalty. She-Hulk is testing that theory with the MCU for me right now. lol

But if Lightyear had looked like anything other than some dark depressing space movie... with a cat... maybe I'd be more interested in watching it. And I say that as a fan of the Alien franchise (including the prequels) and someone who loves Event Horizon. lol But I skipped Interstellar for the same reason as Lightyear - looked drama and depressing. Pass.

 

[Disney Irish]

I think people just want a good movie. Original. Prequel. Sequel. In universe. Never before seen universe. Whatever. Something that appeals universally (as best as anything can these days) or at least broadly will connect broadly.

View attachment 662697

Otherwise, it's just niche no matter what it is or who makes it.

I personally never cared for the Toy Story films (blasphemy, I know). So I had no interest in Toy Story 2022. Or Toy Story 1980's via 1995 via 2022 or whatever.

I also no longer feel the need to watch everything Pixar or Disney or Star Wars just out of brand loyalty. She-Hulk is testing that theory with the MCU for me right now. lol

But if Lightyear had looked like anything other than some dark depressing space movie... with a cat... maybe I'd be more interested in watching it. And I say that as a fan of the Alien franchise (including the prequels) and someone who loves Event Horizon. lol But I skipped Interstellar for the same reason as Lightyear - looked drama and depressing. Pass.

I think Lightyear was good, and based on averages of the audience scores most thought it was good/ok also.

The issue though for others is that other than the blurb right at the beginning of the movie, and the character name, its not tied to the Toy Story franchise, at least not in the way that engages the public. Had it been the "toy" version of Buzz that was going on this adventure I think most of the public would have been on-board.

Anyways, its an experiment that I don't think Disney/Pixar will do again in the future. And to me that is sad, because I'd like them to take these type of chances more often. Its how we end up getting great content. Take a swing, sometimes it hits, sometimes it misses, and sometimes its a grand slam.

 

[Screamface]

The trailers look like they treat the character poorly, he is the butt of jokes, lacks agency and isn't very heroic. Why would people want to watch that? We live in an era of horrible writing and poor treatment of legacy characters and IPs. Most people understand that and the film looked like more of that.

The trailers for the film were all him being a silly fool, knocked to the ground, not knowing what was going on. Being disrespected, being made fun of, with most of the jokes being at his expense. With generic sci-fi CGI inbetween.

While I can't speak for most people, I assume most would want to see a rollicking Buzz Lightyear as a hero adventure. Something like the Buzz Lightyear scenes in Toy Story 2.

When they see a trailer and he's giving the captain's log and then a character immediately starts mocking him and he's low confidence, weak, embarrassed character in response. They switch off interest. That isn't Buzz. That isn't the way the Woody mocking Buzz worked because of the context of Andy's Bedroom compared to Buzz's real world.

For some reason people here find this hard to understand, or pretend they do. Whatever people picture a Buzz Lightyear film, the character in the trailers is not the Buzz they'd want to watch.

 

[GimpYancIent]

I thought Lightyear was one of the films made and targeted specifically for kids.

It gets a D grade. It missed the target. Definitely did not create the Buzz it was supposed to.

 

[erasure fan1]

We live in an era of horrible writing and poor treatment of legacy characters and IPs

Yup. It's the flavor of the day unfortunately. It's an extremely lazy way to do things. They know if they make a new character with the attributes they want, no one will care. So take a popular character and, bam, built-in audience. Hopefully people are starting to see through this.

 

[MarvelCharacterNerd]

Had it been the "toy" version of Buzz that was going on this adventure I think most of the public would have been on-board.

Had it been the toy version of Buzz, it would have looked brighter, cheerful and more fun and I probably would have watched it, even as someone who is not a big fan of that franchise. As someone who does enjoy the Buzz attraction at DL though, I think I'd've gotten a kick out of seeing a heroic Buzz Lightyear and the Space Rangers fighting Zurg. Pow! Splat! Whizzing by spaceships. Okay, that sounds fairly entertaining. With or without cat. And it sounds like the movie Andy would've wanted the toy from. Too bad I'm not in the multiverse that got: "Buzz vs. Zurg! The Space Ranger Movie!" instead of "Interstellar presents: Lightyear: Featuring: A Cat".

 

[Disney Irish]

Had it been the toy version of Buzz, it would have looked brighter, cheerful and more fun and I probably would have watched it, even as someone who is not a big fan of that franchise. As someone who does enjoy the Buzz attraction at DL though, I think I'd've gotten a kick out of seeing a heroic Buzz Lightyear and the Space Rangers fighting Zurg. Pow! Splat! Whizzing by spaceships. Okay, that sounds fairly entertaining. With or without cat. And it sounds like the movie Andy would've wanted the toy from. Too bad I'm not in the multiverse that got: "Buzz vs. Zurg! The Space Ranger Movie!" instead of "Interstellar presents: Lightyear: Featuring: A Cat".

Well as someone who actually did see the movie (in theaters) I would say you got "Buzz vs Zurg! The Space Ranger Movie with Special Guest Star Sox the Cat".

Its just wasn't "Buzz vs Zurg! The Space Ranger Movie Featuring Buzz from the Toy Story Franchise.".

I have long given up trusting trailers and critics for determining what movies I'll like. There have probably been thousands of movies I've watched over my lifetime where the trailer portrayed the movie one way only for it be completely different. There has also probably been the same amount of movies where critics panned a movie indicating I shouldn't like only for me to actually like it.

So basically what I'm saying is that just because a trailer or a critic indicates you shouldn't like a movie give it a chance anyways. And for this movie specifically I would say go in with an open mind. And if it makes it easier just think of it as separate from the rest of the Toy Story universe but with some fun Easter Eggs.

 

[MarvelCharacterNerd]

Well as someone who actually did see the movie (in theaters) I would say you got "Buzz vs Zurg! The Space Ranger Movie with Special Guest Star Sox the Cat".

Its just wasn't "Buzz vs Zurg! The Space Ranger Movie Featuring Buzz from the Toy Story Franchise.".

I have long given up trusting trailers and critics for determining what movies I'll like. There have probably been thousands of movies I've watched over my lifetime where the trailer portrayed the movie one way only for it be completely different. There has also probably been the same amount of movies where critics panned a movie indicating I shouldn't like only for me to actually like it.

So basically what I'm saying is that just because a trailer or a critic indicates you shouldn't like a movie give it a chance anyways. And for this movie specifically I would say go in with an open mind. And if it makes it easier just think of it as separate from the rest of the Toy Story universe but with some fun Easter Eggs.

Thanks, but just not interested in generic space CGI movie - with or without vague or not-so-vague references to other films. It's simply never called my name.

My gut instinct about previews/trailers is usually pretty spot on *for my specific tastes*. For example, currently I REALLY want to see The Invitation and 3000 Years of Longing as soon as those get to streaming (since I don't do theatrical anymore) as I expect to thoroughly enjoy both. When I know... I know.

 

[TP2000]

I thought Lightyear was one of the films made and targeted specifically for kids.

It's Pixar, so yes. It was rated PG. All of Disney and Pixar's animated motion pictures in recent years have been rated PG, whereas up until 10 years ago that fare was generally rated G.

But now Hollywood doesn't know how to tell any story without at least some violence or adult themes, so PG is the new G. Pixar is the perfect example of that change.

Lightyear was aimed at American families with children, but that demographic purposely stayed away from Lightyear. The miserable box office results for Lightyear and the hundreds of millions of dollars it lost for Burbank are the fallout from that.

 

[Ghost93]

But now Hollywood doesn't know how to tell any story without at least some violence or adult themes, so PG is the new G. Pixar is the perfect example of that change.

That's a load of crap. If anything, the MPAA has simply gotten stricter. If Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules and Mulan came out today and were made in the exact same way, there is no way they would be G rated as they were in the 90s. The Disney Renaissance movies were much more intense than more modern PG-rated Disney movies like Frozen, Tangled, Encanto, Wreck it Ralph and Moana. Studios opt not to pursue a G rating because G nowadays is seen as meaning "for preschoolers" where in the 90s and earlier it didn't have as much of a stigma.