Lightyear (2022)
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A space ranger must navigate the complexities of time dilation and a mysterious threat while stranded on a hostile planet.
The story
After a Star Command exploration vessel is forced to land on the unknown world T'Kani Prime, Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear and his commander, Alisha Hawthorne, find themselves marooned due to damaged equipment. While the crew attempts to survive and repair their ship, Buzz volunteers to test a new hyperspace fuel crystal. However, the journey is complicated by the effects of time dilation, causing years to pass on the planet for every moment spent in space. Buzz must navigate these temporal shifts and a growing threat to their safety while attempting to find a way home.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
A Star Command vessel lands on T'Kani Prime, where Buzz Lightyear and Alisha Hawthorne are marooned after a crash. Buzz begins testing a hyperspace fuel crystal, but each test causes years of time dilation to pass on the planet. Over 66 years pass, during which Alisha's colony grows and she eventually passes away. When Buzz performs a successful test, he and his robotic companion, Sox, skip 22 years into a future where the planet is invaded by Zyclops robots led by Zurg. Buzz joins forces with a new group of survivors—Izzy, Mo, and Darby—to fight the invasion. During the conflict, Zurg is revealed to be an older version of Buzz from an alternate timeline who traveled back to prevent the crew from being stranded. He demands the fuel to travel further into the past. Buzz refuses, leading to a battle where Zurg is defeated. Buzz ultimately accepts T'Kani Prime as his home and forms a new team of heroes.
- First release year
- 2022
- Runtime (minutes)
- 105
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Angus MacLane
- Writers
- Angus MacLane · screenplay; Angus MacLane · story; Matthew Aldrich · story; Jason Headley · story; Jason Headley · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Chris Evans · Buzz Lightyear; Keke Palmer · Izzy Hawthorne; Peter Sohn · Sox; Taika Waititi · Mo Morrison; Dale Soules · Darby Steel; James Brolin · Buzz Lightyear / Zurg; Uzo Aduba · Alisha Hawthorne
- Genres
- animated; science fiction; action
- Themes
- Heroism; Sacrifice; Time; Identity
- Tone and mood
- Epic; Serious; Action-oriented
- Premise and plot tags
- Spin-off; Origin Story; Space Opera; Time Travel
- Source material / true-story basis
- Toy Story film series
- Franchise connections
- Toy Story
- Content notes
- Same-sex kiss
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics but was considered a box-office disappointment due to high production costs.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 60 · scale: 100 · review count: 57; PostTrak · score: 85% · scale: percentage
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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