mehtarohit87

When the reviews started to come out and IMDB ratings dropped, I was surprised to see the disappointment among the viewers. In the mix bag of disappointment, people complained about the movie being boring, not funny, not like Toy Story, lacking Pixar feel, etc.

Finally, the movie came to Disney+ and I had to see where the disappointment was coming from. In my understanding, the disappointment is coming from some set expectations of what a Pixar Toy Story movie "should" be. I did not have those expectations. The trailers made it obvious that they were taking a more serious direction with the film and after watching the movie I was satisfied with the choice. For those who have not seen it, my recommendation will be to keep the following things in mind:

Do not think of this as a Toy Story universe because it is not. This is a mature film not really entertaining for the young ones. But if you are looking for a family friendly sci-fi, this is a solid movie. This is the story of the character that inspired the toy. The story is heartwarming and challenging. Lightyear is struggling at deeper levels to form connections and have a sense of belonging while dealing with issues of incompetence. These mature themes make the film engaging and deeper than what most of the reviews claim.

I found the movie to be a solid sci-fi movie with mild humor sprinkled throughout. It is a family movie which is rare for good sci-fis. Chris Evans was the perfect choice for the voice. I can see why Tim Allen would not have justified the role because this is a much younger and less sure Lightyear. Tim Allen has more authority in his voice and Evans captures the self-doubt really well.

Some minuses: Taika Waititi was not used as effectively. There were opportunities for more humor with him but the situation in the movie were usually tense when his incompetence was more jeopardizing than funny. While the degree of humor, in my opinion, was justified, I do feel some character work could have helped cater to a younger audience.

Overall, if you would like to see how Lightyear came to find his confidence, identity and style, this is a satisfying movie.

You make a comedy show about news in a time when you could do some wonderful humor on the on-going social problems and use it as a platform to help people understand divisive issues. Instead the showrunners chose to make a naïve show with silly jokes and banal comedy that has been overdone. It clearly comes from a place where people are ignorant of their own privilege to be in a position where they have access to such programming and still this is what they choose to share with the world.

I fell into the trap of following some good actors from a new wave realism in India. I liked Ayushman in Dum Laga ke Haisha, so I followed him here. While this film is guised as realism visually, in narrative terms it is still a stale 90s-00s Yashraj mindset film (usually based on a romcom they like in Hollywood). Characters make unrealistic filmy choices that helps the film mark itself as non-realism.