This is hack scifi, the science fiction of the lesser pulp magazines. The characters are stereotypes, as are the situations. There is no originality of consequences. The 'what if?' here is pedestrian and, yes, hackneyed.

With all the great and inventive writers who have been, and are still, working in the genre, the fact that Disney and Pixar are wasting millions on a so-so script that actors can voice while trawling through social media is grossly wasteful, artistically unethical and an insult to the audience.

Writer-director MacLane claims to have done his research, "I did a lot of research, breaking down the nature of genre thrillers," says MacLane. "I knew Buzz would have to face a big problem, and I liked the sci-fi element of time dilation." Clearly, what he didn't do, was understand what he was looking at. When STAR TREK GENERATIONS was released, the production notes revealed the writers had done a statistical analysis of the most popular STAR TREK episodes and copied the premise. It seems that MacLane has done the same.

Lightyear 2022 movie still Buzz, Alisha & Sox; Festivale film review

This movie is a time-filler. A bit of innocuous baby-sitting for parents who feel that they have better things to do than introduce their offspring to all the joys and wonders of great and clever and silly-but-hilarious ideas that exist in well-executed fiction.

There are tens of thousands of hours at least of better films and televised stories available to which to expose youngsters. Stories that span over a hundred years of film craft. Stories that entertain the audience and engage their minds and their souls.

LIGHTYEAR is a sad and cynical demonstration of corporate story-telling as product. Not much flash and no substance. Life is too short to waste anyone's time watching this.

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by Ali Kayn Due for Australian release 16 Jul, 2022 (2022-07-16) Ali Kayn is a freelance photojournalist and the founding editor of Festivale Online Magazine. Festivale was founded in October, 1996 to promote Melbourne and Victoria, provide mentorship to developing writers, an outlet for talented fans, and a test bed for software and hardware under review. She lives in Melbourne, Victoria with a garden full of birds. Ali Kayn contributor page For more about Ali Kayn click here For credits and official site details, see below Search Festivale for more work by the film-makers below. See also: Toy Story 2 (1999) First Look; Toy Story 3 (2010) Recent Disney Animated Films: For more recent reviews and first looks, see this month's column in Festivale. We also post news, reviews and trailers to Reel Life's Facebook page and trailers and clips on our YouTube Channel. Join in the discussion on Facebook

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Just the facts: Title: Lightyear (2022) Written by: Angus MacLane & Jason Headley Directed by: Angus MacLane Music by: Michael Giacchino Running time: 100 min Rating: PG (U.S. PG) The Players: Chris Evans, Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, James Brolin Official website: https://movies.disney.com/lightyear IMDb entry For session times of current films, use the cinema listings on the Movie links page. For scheduled release dates, see the coming attractions section. For more information about this movie, check out the internet movie database. For the latest additions to Festivale, check out the change history section.