As the film opens, there is a brief connection between past and present where the characters from “Toy Story” are preparing to watch the new Buzz Lightyear movie. Then the movie starts and introduces us to Buzz and his partner, Warp Darkmatter. Three LGMs (Little Green Men), the three-eyed characters first introduced in the “Toy Story” claw machine, are missing and it is the duty of the Space Rangers to find them and bring them home. During this battle with first crater monsters then Zurg robot soldiers, Warp discovers the LGM’s unifying source, then he dies – only to return later in the movie. “No one dies in this movie, they just get really big boo-boos,” to borrow from another Disney film.
We meet the Space Ranger Cadets – Princess Mira Nova and her “ghosting” powers, XR the robot, and the large creature Booster, when Buzz returns to Star Command. From there, “Buzz Lightyear of Star Command” becomes a buddy flick as our heroes try to retrieve the LGM’s Uni-mind, which Zurg has stolen to take over the universe. I won’t give away the ending, but suffice it to say this is Buzz’s movie and it’s advertising the new television series of the same name. Of course the heroes win.
As a writer and a frequent movie watcher, I was glad to see basic elements of good movie writing woven into the script. There were points introduced in the beginning that resurfaced near the end, like Buzz’s rigid observance of protocol; there were plot twists and several character conflicts, and there was indeed a plot and complete scenes throughout the film.
I won’t lie, though. This isn’t Oscar-winner "Silence of the Lambs" – thank Disney for small favors. There are some plot points that are quickly introduced because, it seems, someone realized in the final cut that they hadn’t really introduced a particular motivation so they added a couple of lines. But, heck, this is a kids’ film. Okay, I’m taking a page directly from the Star Command Handbook here and being completely honest: I love Disney films. Not just on my account, of course. As the mother of two young sons I have noticed how Disney films capture their attention for the entire length of the movie. Amazing. Even “Pokemon” can’t do that.
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