Film censorship in Malaysia has become a talking point in recent months, owing to certain clashes between film studios and the local censorship board. The latest to raise the ire of the censors was “Thor: Love and Thunder”.

It was ultimately Disney’s decision to pull the plug on the superhero flick, likely because the board had had issues with parts of the film that they demanded be left on the cutting-room floor.

So, with the entertainment powerhouse refusing to budge, Malaysian audiences have been deprived of a box-office smash or two. “Thor”, however, wasn’t the first this year to receive the short end of the stick – Pixar’s “Lightyear” did.

While it never played in local theatres, the good news is that Malaysians can now catch it via streaming on Disney+ Hotstar, with no cuts and a somewhat bewildering 18+ rating.

Pixar’s 26th feature-length animation is a spinoff of the “Toy Story” series, acting as an origin story for the character of Buzz Lightyear, voiced this time around by Chris Evans and not Tim Allen.

When the space ranger unintentionally causes the colony ship he was piloting to be marooned on a distant planet, he is determined to make up for the faux pas, and embarks on several test flights to find the perfect fuel to get the vessel up and flying again.

But with each test flight he takes, he returns having not aged a day, while the people he knows and loves on the planet have seen years gone by. (It’s all very sci-fi, to do with time dilation and what-have-you.)

As Lightyear gradually loses those he cares about to old age, things get worse when a hostile robot army attacks the new generation of colonists, leaving the space ranger and a team of lackwits and convicts to save the day.

Now, before going any further, one must talk about the one scene that ostensibly prevented this film from ever reaching local cinemas.

In a “blink-and-you-will-miss-it” moment in the first quarter, Lightyear’s colleague and friend, Alisha Hawthorne, exchanges a smooch with her same-sex partner.

Now, whatever your personal thoughts on the matter, it is rather unbelievable that a scene this brief and trivial caused such a kerfuffle. It’s truly a shame that young, innocent Malaysians had to be protected from such disturbing and confronting displays of affection.

Moving on – is “Lightyear” good or bad? Well, for all the brouhaha, it’s really smack in Pixar’s “ehhh” category. It’s no stinker like “Cars 2”, but it’s also not praiseworthy like, say, “Inside Out”.

In fact, one might say it’s inoffensive – except, clearly, for that “terribly offensive” instance that caused it to be shelved from the silver screen in the first place.

Curiously, “Lightyear” creates a strange problem for itself early on. It opens with the words, “In 1995, a boy named Andy got a Buzz Lightyear toy for his birthday. It was from his favourite movie. This is that movie.”

This is clearly intended to tie the film in with the “Toy Story” series, which makes sense – but what doesn’t gel is the fact that this feature is, as such, meant to be from the 1990s.

Movies from that decade have a certain distinctive and campy feel to them – think “Independence Day” and “Space Jam”. In that regard, “Lightyear” does not in any way resemble a ’90s film whatsoever, and the fact that Pixar portrays it as such does it a disservice.

Also, going back to that one controversial scene, it’s rather unlikely that a ’90s kid’s action film would have been daring enough to depict a same-sex relationship. The whole idea that this is a film Andy would have watched is preposterous.

Plot-wise, “Lightyear” is not exactly a masterpiece, what with the trope of the protagonist not getting along with a team of enthusiastic but unskilled sidekicks.

While the side characters are meant to be fun, they aren’t memorable enough to have their names stick around in your head once the end credits roll (except for Socks, the adorable robot feline who truly is the film’s MVP). And some might find it grating that Lightyear is reduced to being a glorified babysitter for half the movie.

If there’s any sequence worth remembering, it’s the montage in the early half where Buzz keeps returning to discover everyone he knows and loves has aged and passed on.

It is a heart-wrenching response to the idea of immortality being a blessing: watching everyone you know and love wither away might be a fate worse than death.

Other than that, though, “Lightyear” is a movie. Not good, not bad – just… a movie.

‘Lightyear’ can be streamed in Malaysia on Disney+ Hotstar… as long as you’re 18 and above.