Lightyear - Movie Review - Fun but frustratingly frivolous

I love Toy Story, who in this day and age does not? However, one thing I'm sure we can all agree on is that, at this point in time, it's a franchise that's better off being left alone. I was content with just the perfect original trilogy, and was very unimpressed with the fourth entry, even after numerous rewatches where I've tried to convince myself otherwise. So, the prospect of more from this franchise doesn't seem attractive to me in the slightest. But, Lightyear had me intrigued. 

While this does represent Pixar's reluctance to completely let go of what is definitely their most lucrative property, for what it was, I thought it looked rather good. Tonally, it looked to be distinct from their usual offerings, almost more in line with a Star Wars film, which excited me as Pixar have lately felt burdened by a need to appeal to children in the audience. Also, the way it presented itself as the in-universe film about the character of Buzz Lightyear was also intriguing, so there was much to get me excited about giving this a watch when it came out. 

In the film, after accidentally stranding his crew on a dangerous, uncharted planet, Buzz Lightyear sets out on a mission to find a way to get everyone home safely. But, this proves to be a difficult task when his methods are unsuccessful after many years of attempts, as well as when a new threat emerges in the form of an army of robots led by Emperor Zurg.

In hindsight, I can safely say that my hopes for what Lightyear would end up being were probably a bit unrealistic. From a tonal perspective, it's not the distinct film I imagined it would be based on the trailers; it's very much in line with what you'd expect from modern Pixar. This isn't a huge problem, but it is quite a let down as I was looking forward to seeing this studio make something that felt refreshing. One thing that is very problematic about this is the humour in the film. Forgive me for sounding like a broken record, but this is another Pixar film with some really weak and kind of obnoxious humour. It's not completely devoid of laughs, but there are lots of jokes that just don't land. Again, having a more grounded film would've largely marginalised this aspect, which is another reason why I was keen for this film to be tonally distinct. 

What sinks Lightyear the most, however, is that it just doesn't have a compelling story. Buzz has a fairly standard "arrogant hero who needs to learn to be a team player" arc over the course of the film, which wasn't especially engaging and even made him an unlikeable character at times. There are individual story threads that are interesting - one of the characters named Izzy feels she must live up to the legacy of her grandmother (who was friends with Buzz) but is conflicted due to her fear of going into space, an obstacle she is forced to overcome in a really great scene during the third act. There's also a part where, due to the nature of Buzz's mission and the way time flows differently across space, he has been forced to watch his friends grow old and pass away while he remains the same age, similar to Interstellar, and that leads to quite a touching moment. But, on the whole, the narrative just didn't do much for me as it was mostly dull and predictable. 

With all that being said, there is much to like in the film. The animation is spectacular as usual, and it gave way to some very well crafted action set pieces. I found the character design quite unremarkable compared to Pixar's recent works, but I do appreciate how the film wasn't overly cartoony in its overall mannerisms, it definitely felt more grounded. This would've been even better if the tone aligned with it, but it's still nice to see anyway. The voice acting was solid - Chris Evans was a very natural fit for Buzz, not feeling like he was given the role purely because of name recognition but rather because he can successfully replicate the demeanor of the character close enough to Tim Allen's iconic version but different enough so you can recognise this isn't the goofy action figure who believes he is a space ranger, but rather actually is that very space ranger. Some of the new characters were fun, especially Sox, a robot cat who behaves a lot like C-3PO, which was entertaining. 

The last thing I'll touch upon is the nostalgic aspect of the film. I've complained a lot recently about films being overly reliant on nostalgic novelties to win over audiences, and favouring such aspects over compelling stories / themes. Lightyear is no different, as it has a ton of callbacks to the Toy Story films in the form of dialogue that is repeated verbatim as well as sequences that directly mimic certain actions and shot movements. It is evident that the film is relying on the novelty of being a Buzz Lightyear-led film too excessively, as it prioritises exercising the fact that it is over telling a good story. However, I can excuse this for a few reasons. One, it's all very naturally integrated into the film; it makes sense for Buzz to say and do things just like he did in the original films as he is technically the same character that he was then, after all. But, in addition to this, I don't really care so much as these moments all put a smile on my face. I tried to resist it as I know I'm being part of the problem by getting on board with fan service in place of anything new and interesting, but I can't help it. The familiar nature of Buzz on the big screen was enough to make me happy, so even though I would've liked something more substantial, I at least got something pleasant out of seeing this film. 

Speaking of big screens, after a string of Pixar films that skipped cinemas and went straight to Disney+, it was so nice to see a new film from them in the cinema again! The last time was Onward, over two years ago, just before COVID kicked off, so this was obviously more than welcome, especially when also considering that some of the direct-to-Disney+ releases like Luca and Turning Red came out at times when cinemas were generally a suitable option.

To summarise, Lightyear is a solid and enjoyable spin-off from a beloved series. It is disappointing that it didn't fulfill the potential it displayed from the trailers as a more grounded and distinct film compared to the usual Pixar output, and it is also unfortunate that it lacked an engaging narrative, but the absolutely wonderful animation and familiar sight of such a terrific character was enough for me to have a good time with it. That being said, I do hope this studio continue what they had going up to this point with more original films that hopefully start to be a little more audacious, as that is certainly where my interest lies, but this was still perfectly fine nonetheless. It doesn't come close to any of the original three Toy Story films, but I did enjoy it more than Toy Story 4 as the wrongdoings of this film as a standalone piece are slightly easier to look past.

I'm going to give Lightyear a 7.0/10

Jurassic World Dominion - Movie Review - A dino-sized disappointment

When it comes to the Jurassic films, I'm on the more positive end of the spectrum compared to a lot of people. Like many, I love the original film and it was a big part of my childhood, and while none of the follow-ups have ever recaptured its brilliance, they all mostly offer plenty of fun and exciting set pieces with amazing effects used to create the dinosaurs. So, I was of course looking forward to the supposedly final installment in the series, with its very interesting set-up and the return of the original cast members. 

In the film, after dinosaurs have been set loose on the mainland, a power struggle now exists between them and humans. Navigating this in various ways are Owen and Claire with their adopted daughter Maisie, as well as Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, and Ian Malcolm. 

I was excited to see where this film would take the series for a few reasons. Firstly, even though I do enjoy the Jurassic World films, I am conscious that their narratives have been very derivative and inelegant a lot of the time. Fallen Kingdom in particular is a very messy and padded film that felt like it took a series of very forced and contrived means to get the dinosaurs from living on Isla Nublar to roaming around the mainland. Because of this, I assumed that the filmmakers were simply desperate to get the series to this point because they had an interesting story they wanted to tell with it, which I can imagine being true as the prospect of dinosaurs and humans having to co-exist in a modern setting is very interesting. It's also a set-up that doesn't largely borrow from one of the original trilogy films, unlike its two predecessors. This was enough to get me excited. 

It's very disappointing therefore to see that almost all this potential went to waste. Dominion does hardly anything interesting with its set-up, it just feels like the writers are doing the bare minimum. The battle for dominance between humans and dinosaurs is hardly given any exploration; it isn't even the main source of conflict in the film, as we instead have another boring corporate villain character exploiting the scientific research for their own gain, this time with biologically manufactured locusts of all things. Additionally, there's more ridiculous nonsense about dinosaurs being weaponised and sold on the black market thrown in too. In other words, it's all more of the same stuff that the previous films offered. Why was this? Why didn't the film take advantage of the endless enticing possibilities of having a power struggle between humans and dinosaurs? Why not make it a pseudo-dystopian / survival film or just something else that's completely different? Additionally, the narrative is split into two main plotlines, and the way they intertwine is so disjointed most of the time. I could potentially look past a dull narrative if it was at least streamlined, but this just makes it worse. I guess we now know why the previous Jurassic World films were borderline remakes of narratives from the original trilogy, because when this creative team is forced to make up something of their own, it's an absolute mess.

One of the notable selling points of this film is the return of the original Jurassic Park cast, namely Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum. It's nice to have them back in these roles for sure, but the film unfortunately does absolutely nothing interesting with them. If all you wanted was to just see these characters again, I suppose you'll be satisfied, because that's about all there is to them. This is yet another instance of nostalgia being capitalised on, but even as a fan of the Jurassic films who was ready to be completely pandered to and wanted to have the biggest grin on my face throughout, I felt very little from their presence. I didn't even smile when they first walked on screen, which is usually a given for me when it comes to stuff like this. There's obviously some innate charm to them, especially Jeff Goldblum, who never fails to make me laugh, but very little work done by the film around them. Most unfortunately, the film isolates them from the newer cast members. As I mentioned with the narrative being split into two main seperate plotlines, one involves the present characters and the other involves these ones, and they only come together towards the end. 

This is sad because when all the characters do eventually collide, there are some really charming and funny exchanges between them. It was nice to see Owen interacting with Alan and Ian, in some ways that were really charming. I wish we got to see more of that as that's a big part of what makes legacy sequels like this good. For example, in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, it's not just fun to see Han Solo and Chewbacca back on screen, it's fun to see how they interact with the new characters, showing the generations both old and new colliding in endearing ways. The same can be said for how Spider-Man: No Way Home handled bringing the older Spider-Man actors back; it didn't just have them show up, it derived some really entertaining interactions and compelling drama from their presences in relation to the main characters. Here, very little of that is apparent, which is a massive shame. 

Of course, the main attraction with any of these films has stayed consistent from the very beginning, that being the dinosaurs. Jurassic Park's groundbreaking visual effects used to create these creatures still hold up to this day, and I can't see them becoming dated any time soon. The Jurassic World films obviously have more advanced effects behind them in terms of their CGI, while also maintaining the usage of animatronics in places. Here, obviously they're all still amazing. The details on all these creatures, whether they be a digital or tangible effect, are all exceptional, truly the best they have ever been.

That being said, the dinosaur set pieces in this film are a mixed bag overall. There are individual sequences of exciting antics throughout, such as a giant flying dinosaur attacking a plane, a feathered one with long claws prowling through a forest as one of the characters crawls into water, and a chase with a smaller feathered one that occurs on a slowly cracking frozen lake. These were all well executed, but often ruined by being a little too brief and thus not leaving as much of an impact as they could have, almost as if they only existed so the film had a variety of things to cut between in the trailer. There are also some that are quite badly executed; most notably a chase through the narrow streets of a city, which was so choppily edited and poorly captured. But, the climax gives the action all the breathing room it needs to be truly awesome, and it was. In typical Jurassic fashion, the final obstacle is a great big carnivore, and while this film didn't dedicate much time to building up to this creature's appearance in the same way the last two films did for theirs, it was still really cool, and having it fight against other enormous dinosaurs was terrific. It also probably helped that this was the only point where I cared about the characters, as I started engaging with them more once the two seperate sets got united.

In addition to some cool moments, there are a handful of beautiful moments too. The one that stuck out to me the most was a very simple scene where two long-necked dinosaurs (forgive my usage of 'Land Before Time' terminology, I'm not so good with dinosaur names now compared to when I was younger) slowly walk through falling snow as a small crowd watches, and while nothing special is happening, I found it so enchanting nonetheless. The third act takes place in a forest consumed by fire, and there are more beautiful shots of silhouetted dinosaurs against the large flames. A lot of these are enhanced in their greatness by the score, which has been consistently great across not just all the Jurassic World films, but almost every film in this franchise. The Jurassic World theme in particular is terrific because it's effective when it's soft and slow, as it is in many of these moments, or when it's loud and boisterous, and even though it isn't as iconic as John Williams' original theme, I think it's almost as powerful. Jurassic Park has many moments of awe and wonder, and even though nothing here is able to match those, I'm glad to see they're still somewhat apparent. 

Overall, it saddens me to say that Jurassic World Dominion was very disappointing. Individual moments and set pieces as well as occasional instances of charming character interaction make it a fairly enjoyable and passable watch overall, but the messy narrative that barely takes advantage of such an intriguing set-up and does so little to service bringing back veterans of this franchise beyond them just appearing for nostalgic novelty really weighs it down. It all just screams missed opportunity; it could've been a distinct and satisfying way to wrap a franchise that otherwise hasn't been consistently great overall, but it feels like they didn't even try. Perhaps my hopefulness was misguided based on the reputation of this series, but considering where it began and the possibilities of where it could've ended, I can't help but feel like this should have been much better than it was. 

I'm going to give Jurassic World Dominion a 6.0/10

Top Gun: Maverick - Movie Review - An exhilarating and emotional big screen experience

Top Gun from 1986 is alright. Some enjoyable flying sequences, a memorable soundtrack, and a sort of novelty from seeing such a young Tom Cruise, but nothing really that special. However, it is certainly a very popular film among many people, so when I heard a sequel was on the way over thirty years later, I thought I knew exactly what it would consist of, that is to say, what every other sequel to a culturally popular film made a decade or two later consists of - an experience that is almost identical through repetitive plot points and an excess of callbacks and references to that original film, capitalising on the audience's nostalgia. I watched the original film for the first time in preparation for Maverick and wasn't overly impressed, so I wasn't so sure if I'd get much out of the sequel. But, it got some amazing responses so maybe I would.

After thirty years, Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell returns to Top Gun, but this time to train the next generation of pilots in preparation for a dangerous mission. Among these new pilots is the son of Goose, who goes by Rooster. 

Between this film and the original Top Gun is such a bizarre shift in quality. The first film is, as I said, just kind of decent. This, on the other hand, is genuinely terrific stuff, even in the eyes of someone like me who isn't especially attached to this world and these characters. 

The major factor is that the action sequences in the fighter jets are absolutely excellent. From the goosebumps you get at the sound of the engines starting up to your hands gripping the side of your seat at all the high-speed dogfights and insane manoeuvres, they're just spectacular. A big part of this is how they're constructed; I'm not an expert, but from what I've heard, I believe most of what is seen on screen is practical effects, with little reliance on CGI / greenscreen. This is believable because all these sequences have a certain heft to them, they feel so grounded in reality, which amplifies the tension at hand. Tom Cruise is a very admirable figure in the film industry today, as he's clearly someone who wants to preserve the traditional crafts of filmmaking in the midst of CGI being most dominant, as well as the cinematic experience at a time when streaming is becoming most dominant. If you plan on watching this film, catch it on a big screen instead of waiting for it to come to your TV, it's at its best in the cinema. 

Beyond that, the film also does a good job investing the audience from an emotional standpoint. The original film did barely anything to make me care about how the death of Goose affected Maverick, but this film really made me care about such based on how it incorporates Rooster into the narrative, and the emotional beats involving them all feel earned and sincere, as well as satisfying. I equally have no investment in the relationship between Maverick and Val Kilmer's character, but through a really endearing scene with the two in this film, I found myself with a big smile on my face at the two. It's easy for films like this to make the fans in the audience feel something, as most of the time the mere sight of familiar characters is enough to satisfy some, but to do so for very detached audience members like myself isn't as simple, so I'm impressed that this film managed to do so. 

Part of why I found myself so engaged is that the film was actually somewhat unpredictable. I expected it to just be the same plot as the original but with a new coat of paint, but it wasn't. At a time when we've seen films like The Matrix Resurrections or Ghostbusters: Afterlife, that being sequels made many years after their predecessors that just repeat the original narratives / themes in slightly varied ways, this was such a relief. Parts of the film are deliberately mimicking the original for sure, but the narrative, for the most part, contained what felt like developments as opposed to retreading familiar ground, which is what the best sequels do. Maverick's arc in this film is distinct from his previous one - instead of being a young and arrogant pilot who has to rein in his confidence, he's an experience flyer who has to get over a trauma from his past. He definitely has elements of the character in the first film, but grows in distinct ways.

Overall, I'm glad I was able to enjoy this as much as I did. Top Gun: Maverick may be a sequel to something that isn't particularly amazing, but it in itself is really awesome. The action is well-crafted and the characters are well defined. It's the quintessential summer blockbuster for this year, so I highly reccommend you give it a go even if you couldn't care less about its predecessor. 

I'm going to give Top Gun: Maverick an 8.5/10